Commission Manager

U.S. Bank • Saint Louis, MO

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

This Commission Manager will lead commission operations for our retail introducing broker-dealer. This position is responsible for overseeing the administration, reconciliation, accounting, reporting, and payment of commissions associated with annuities, life insurance, packaged products, and advisory fee programs. This person will manage a team of commission operations professionals and serve as a key partner to Financial Advisors, Sales Leadership, Product teams, Finance, Accounting, and external product sponsors. This role requires strong leadership, operational expertise, analytical skills, and a commitment to accurate and timely advisor compensation in a highly regulated financial services environment. The Commission Manager will play a critical role in maintaining operational excellence, supporting advisor satisfaction, ensuring financial reporting accuracy, and driving continuous process improvement initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance (preferred) or related field, or equivalent work experience
• Six or more years of accounting experience
• Experience in broker-dealer operations, advisor compensation, commission administration, wealth management operations, or related financial services roles.
• 3+ years of demonstrated leadership experience managing employees and operational processes.
• Strong knowledge of advisor compensation and commission structures across annuities, life insurance, packaged products or mutual funds, and advisory fee programs.
• Experience with commission administration systems, financial reporting tools, accrual accounting, and account reconciliations.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, reconciliation, and organizational skills.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel proficiency.
• Excellent communication and relationship management capabilities.
• Ability to travel up to 10% for team meetings, business partner engagement, vendor meetings, training, and industry events.
• Experience within a retail introducing broker-dealer, wealth management firm, insurance broker-dealer, or bank-owned investment services organization.
• Working knowledge of FINRA and SEC regulatory environments.
• Experience supporting large financial advisor networks or multiple distribution channels.
• Background in commission accounting, compensation accounting, or financial operations.
• Experience leading technology implementations, business process redesign, or automation initiatives.
• Professional certifications relevant to operations, finance, or financial services.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the end-to-end commission process for annuity, life insurance, packaged product, and advisory fee business lines.
• Ensure commission data is accurately received, validated, reconciled, and loaded into the commission processing system.
• Manage commission payment cycles and review exception reporting to ensure timely and accurate advisor compensation.
• Monitor commission trends, identify discrepancies, and implement corrective actions when necessary.
• Review and resolve complex advisor inquiries related to commission calculations, payment timing, chargebacks, and compensation adjustments.
• Serve as the escalation point for commission-related issues and provide timely resolution.
• Coordinate with insurance carriers, mutual fund companies, advisory platforms, and other product sponsors to research and resolve missing commission payments, discrepancies, and processing errors.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Support accurate commission reporting for sales management, financial reporting, and advisor compensation purposes.
• Prepare and review commission-related reporting and analytics for management and business partners.
• Prepare monthly commission-related general ledger journal entries, account reconciliations, and supporting analyses, as needed.
• Prepare, review, and maintain advisor compensation accruals to support accurate monthly and quarterly financial reporting.
• Perform reconciliations and variance analysis to support the appropriate recognition of advisor compensation expense and related liabilities.
• Partner with Finance and Accounting teams on month-end and quarter-end close activities related to advisor compensation expense, accruals, commission liabilities, and balance sheet support.
• Lead commission-related projects, system enhancements, automation initiatives, and operational improvement efforts.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen controls, improve efficiency, and reduce operational risk.
• Develop and maintain policies, procedures, and documentation supporting commission operations.
• Assist with new product launches, compensation plan changes, and strategic business initiatives.
• Ensure commission activities comply with company policies, compensation programs, regulatory requirements, and audit expectations.
• Support internal and external audit requests and maintain appropriate documentation and controls.
• Evaluate risks within commission processes and implement sustainable solutions to enhance operational effectiveness.

Benefits

• Healthcare (medical, dental, vision)
• Basic term and optional term life insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Pregnancy disability and parental leave
• 401(k) and employer-funded retirement plan
• Paid vacation (from two to five weeks depending on salary grade and tenure)
• Up to 11 paid holiday opportunities
• Adoption assistance
• Sick and Safe Leave accruals of one hour for every 30 worked, up to 80 hours per calendar year unless otherwise provided by law

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: Associate degree