Financial Planning Strategy and Implementation Sr. Consultant
At Northwestern Mutual, we are strong, innovative and growing. We invest in our people. We care and make a positive difference.
Summary
Northwestern Mutual continues to focus on financial planning as a central part of our client experience and the way our advisors help clients achieve financial security. As part of the larger Advice Practice, this team plays a vital role in this work by focusing on:
- Setting and promoting the philosophical approach of personal financial planning at Northwestern Mutual. NM's overall planning philosophy, setting best practices around planning, creating planning assumptions, creating definitions (e.g. a "complete" fact finder), ensuring planning facilitates sales, and more!
- Defining, and empowering other teams to drive change in how our financial advisors should ideally deliver planning. This includes: measuring and identifying high priority areas for field development efforts, providing expertise for field-facing training materials/programs/schools, helping write planning language advisors could use with clients, and more!
- Partnering with internal stakeholders to help them incorporate financial planning in their work. This might include acting as a subject matter expert for other areas of the company, helping other teams integrate planning into their efforts, presenting to teams and communicating planning to the larger organization.
Individuals on this team should have a background in financial planning, strong communication skills, are highly motivated, and have the ability to independently drive initiatives. Planning is broad and has a lot of internal stakeholders; this team needs to network, identify and engage others across the organization, use diplomacy to balance multiple points of view, and often influence without formal authority. Individuals on this team should be up-to-date with the financial industry's practices, products, and strategies; as well as have the ability to research and confidently create best practices and stances around complex financial planning topics (leveraging the knowledge of other teams when needed). This team celebrates curiosity, enthusiastic debate, being open to thinking about things in a new way, and the ability to get a bit "nerdy" while still being able to zoom out and communicate complex topics clearly and succinctly. Remote employees will be considered, but as there will be a need for strong advocacy with teams across the company, local placement is preferred.
Primary Duties & Responsibilities
- Responsible for designing and creating standards, best practices and guidance for how advisors do financial planning, including Northwestern Mutual's Financial Planning Philosophy (FPP). so that financial planning drives overall corporate objectives and bring Northwestern Mutual's strategy to life with our field and clients
- Responsible for integrating Northwestern Mutual's Financial Planning Philosophy into all planning content and ensuring all content regarding financial planning being produced by the Home Office aligns with the FPP
- Provides proactive support for ensuring that Northwestern Mutual corporate objectives and strategy are being integrated into PX financial planning software, and PX training and adoption materials
- Participate in developing requirements for PX planning software and content used by advisors regarding financial planning with responsibility for ensuring PX aligns with the FPP and planning best practices
- Analyzing data related to financial planning and PX and developing insights and hypotheses regarding the role of financial planning by advisor and clients in driving Northwestern Mutual strategy
- Provides support for PX Engineering in providing use cases; assisting in developing and conducting user acceptance testing
- Create financial planning standards and planning philosophy to ensure they reflect best practices and methods of planning, consistent with Northwestern Mutual strategy
- Analyzing and research on methods of financial planning involving integration of insurance products in a financial plan for determining methods that deliver better outcomes for clients for purposes of informing planning best practices and developing strategy regarding financial planning
- Preparing case studies on best practices for financial planning for use by Advisors or other stakeholders in preparing material for advisors, clients, home office stakeholders
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree required
- Certifications or designations related to financial planning are preferred, including CFP®, CFA, ChFC, CLU
- At least five years of previous experience in areas where planning subject matter expertise was used
- Knowledge of financial services or advice or planning industry preferred
- Knowledge and experience with Northwestern Mutual advisors, or other experience relevant to understanding Northwestern Mutual objectives preferred
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Some familiarity with financial planning software is preferred
Grow your career with a best-in-class company that puts our client's interests at the center of all we do. Get started now!
W e are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
If you work or would be working in Colorado or outside of a Corporate location, please click here for information pertaining to compensation and benefits.