Licensing & Commissions Operations Consultant

Group 1001

1d•Remote

About The Position

Group 1001 is seeking an experienced Consultant, Licensing & Commissions Operations to serve as a subject matter expert and operational lead within our licensing, appointment, and commission functions. This role is responsible for coordinating day-to-day operations, driving process efficiency, supporting regulatory compliance, and helping align our systems and workflows with industry best practices and competitor benchmarks. The successful candidate will bring deep expertise in broker licensing lifecycles, state appointment management, commission administration, block transfers, firm mergers, mass producer changes, and workflow optimization within the annuity, life insurance, or retirement products space. This consultant will partner across business units, technology, vendor management, and compliance teams to support system enhancements, contribute to call center efficiency initiatives, coordinate outsourced operations activity, and help build a scalable, audit-ready function.

Requirements

6–8 years of progressive experience in insurance, annuity, or retirement products operations, with significant focus on licensing, appointments, and/or commissions.
2–3 years in a senior, lead, or SME role with informal mentoring or coordination responsibility.
Hands-on experience supporting block transfers, firm mergers, and mass producer change events in an annuity or insurance environment.
Demonstrated experience contributing to workflow automation and system enhancement initiatives, with measurable efficiency outcomes.
Solid knowledge of state insurance licensing and appointment requirements, NIPR processes, and producer onboarding lifecycles.
Experience coordinating with outsourced operations vendors, including SLA tracking and performance follow-up.
Working knowledge of regulatory and compliance frameworks (e.g., Regulation 60, CIP, SOX/SOC1, 38a-1, supervisory controls).
Strong communication, stakeholder coordination, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, or related field (or equivalent experience).
Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) certification.
Series 6 designation; Series 26 (Registered Principal) is a plus.

Nice To Haves

Experience with annuity and group retirement products is preferred.

Responsibilities

Oversee and advise on the full broker licensing lifecycle, including individual and mass broker updates, state appointments, training compliance, and termination processing across all jurisdictions.
Support commission operations, helping ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payment processing, reconciliation, and reporting for producers and distribution partners.
Execute nationwide licensing reconciliation and state appointment reporting to maintain regulatory accuracy and audit readiness.
Serve as a subject matter expert (SME) and key point of contact for licensing and commission-related inquiries from internal stakeholders, producers, and state regulators.
Lead and advise on the execution of block transfers of business between broker-dealers, firms, or distribution partners — including data validation, contract realignment, appointment updates, commission redirection, and producer/client communications.
Support the operational impact of firm mergers, acquisitions, and rebranding events, helping ensure seamless transition of producer hierarchies, licensing records, appointments, and commission structures with minimal disruption to in-force business.
Direct and oversee mass producer changes — including bulk hierarchy moves, broker-dealer changes, channel realignments, name/entity changes, and large-scale terminations or appointments — with robust controls, audit trails, and reconciliation against internal systems and state records.
Contribute to the development of standardized playbooks, checklists, and project documentation for block transfer and merger events to ensure consistent, repeatable, and compliant execution.
Partner with Legal, Compliance, Distribution, IT, and external counterparties to coordinate timing, data exchanges, and regulatory notifications associated with these high-impact events.
Help maintain strong producer and firm communication protocols before, during, and after transitions.
Contribute to initiatives that enhance licensing, appointment, and commission systems so they match or exceed the capabilities offered by industry competitors.
Partner with IT and product owners to identify gaps in current platforms and help shape the design and prioritization of system enhancements — including capabilities that support efficient block transfers, mergers, and mass change events.
Champion automation and workflow improvements to reduce manual effort, accelerate processing, and improve data accuracy across licensing and commission functions.
Help benchmark internal capabilities against peer firms and inform the roadmap for closing capability gaps.
Help maintain and improve standardized operating procedures that remove redundancies, improve oversight, and enable scalable automation.
Identify bottlenecks across the licensing-to-commission value chain and recommend workflow improvements that increase throughput, accuracy, and compliance integrity.
Support performance and control frameworks that drive SLA adherence, audit readiness, and regulatory examinations.
Partner with the call center team to support efficiency improvements, including knowledge base development, self-service enablement, and first-call resolution.
Maintain regulatory reference materials and SME content that empower call center representatives to resolve producer and broker inquiries quickly and accurately — particularly during block transfer, merger, and mass change events that drive elevated call volume.
Analyze call drivers tied to licensing, appointments, and commissions, and help execute root-cause solutions that reduce inbound volume and improve producer experience.
Execute the state appointment renewal review process, ensuring timely renewals, accurate fee remittance, and alignment with state-specific regulatory requirements.
Reconcile appointment records across internal systems of record (licensing platform, commission system, agent/producer database, CRM) to eliminate data discrepancies and ensure a single source of truth.
Maintain ongoing monitoring routines to detect and resolve misalignments between internal systems and state regulator records (NIPR/state DOI feeds), with heightened controls following block transfers, firm mergers, and mass producer changes.
Manage day-to-day partnership with outsourced licensing, commission, and call center vendors, helping ensure partners meet SLAs, quality standards, and compliance requirements.
Support continuous improvement with outsourcing partners — helping refine playbooks, escalation paths, and quality assurance processes.
Maintain clear, consistent communication routines with outsourcing vendors, including operational check-ins, performance tracking, issue escalation, and change communication.
Coordinate outsourcing partner readiness ahead of large-scale block transfer, merger, and mass producer change events.
Ensure licensing and commission activities comply with applicable federal and state regulations, including state insurance department requirements and FINRA/SEC rules where relevant.
Support quarterly internal examinations, SOX/SOC1 controls, supervisory frameworks, and external audits with thorough documentation and process integrity.
Partner with Compliance, Legal, and Internal Audit to help mitigate risk and strengthen the control environment.
Serve as a go-to expert and informal mentor to team members on licensing, appointments, commissions, and complex change events.
Provide guidance, training, and knowledge transfer to peers and junior staff.
Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and producer/broker focus.