Onboarding Experience Manager

Cetera Financial Group•Dallas, TX

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The RIA Integration Manager leads the end-to-end due diligence and integration process for Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firms being acquired into our parent company. Operating as the primary point of contact for the selling firm from Letter of Intent (LOI) through full integration, this role serves as the deal quarterback — balancing rigorous operational execution with the steady, human-centered relationship management that complex advisory firm transitions require. This role typically manages four to six concurrent acquisitions, ranging from sole practitioners to advisory teams of up to twenty professionals. The Integration Manager works as a peer alongside specialists on the RIA Integration team (account transition, vendor and software transition, technology transition) and coordinates closely with more than twenty internal partner groups including Corporate Development, Legal, Compliance, Brokerage Operations, Finance, HR, IT, InfoSec, and senior leadership. This is a hybrid role with occasional travel (approximately 10–25%) for selling firm visits and internal meetings. The position reports to a Senior Manager on the RIA Integration team.

Requirements

Emotional steadiness under operational pressure. A proven ability to lead a rigorous and sometimes emotionally charged transition process while keeping the other party engaged, confident, and not overwhelmed. This is the single most important attribute for the role.
Relationship management excellence. Ability to engage selling advisors at a human, personal level while maintaining full professionalism.
Concurrent project management. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects on tight, parallel deadlines with frequent task switching, without dropping balls.
Collaborative, team-oriented operating style. Genuine preference for working with and through a team rather than operating in a silo. Treats peer specialists as partners, not subordinates. Leverages collective knowledge before improvising.
Process discipline. Follows documented playbooks and templates consistently across deals. Documents decisions and plans diligently. Comfortable contributing to playbook improvements rather than working around them.
Transparent upward communication. Keeps management informed proactively of status, issues, and risks.
Strong written and presentation skills. Produces clear, polished written communications and professional-quality presentation materials.
Bachelor’s degree

Nice To Haves

5+ years of financial services experience, with meaningful exposure to advisory firm transitions, onboarding, or M&A integration.
Working understanding of brokerage and advisory operations including ACATs, broker-dealer transitions, tape-to-tape transfers, re-papering, ad review, advisory product lines, and core day-to-day office operations.
Prior experience with financial industry acquisitions — particularly RIA or wealth management firm M&A integration.
Experience navigating ambiguity in an evolving organizational structure (e.g., business unit consolidations, process redesigns).
Familiarity with RIA-specific custodians and platforms (Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing) and advisory technology (Orion, Tamarac, and similar).
Project management or process improvement credentials (PMP, Six Sigma, or comparable).

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary point of contact for the selling firm from LOI through completion of integration, building and maintaining a relationship of trust at both a personal and professional level.
Guide selling advisors and their teams through what is often one of the most significant transitions of their careers — maintaining rigor and pace in the process while keeping the seller engaged, informed, and confident, not overwhelmed.
Read the room. Recognize when to lean into operational momentum and when to slow down for relationship reassurance, without compromising deal timelines or process integrity.
Provide a light-touch presence during prospecting and discovery (flagging potential integration risks early) and after integration exit (continuity check-ins to ensure the advisor is thriving in the new environment).
Partner closely with Corporate Development and Legal during due diligence; orchestrate the due diligence questionnaire process, review responses, and surface findings that inform deal terms and integration planning.
Translate diligence findings into a comprehensive integration plan tailored to the selling firm’s size, complexity, and culture.
Identify and escalate operational, technological, or cultural risks that may affect deal viability or integration success.
Lead the integration plan from signing through go-live and beyond, coordinating across more than twenty internal partner groups including Brokerage Ops, Accounting, Advisory Billing, Commissions, Compliance, Corp Dev, Facilities, Finance, HR, InfoSec, IT (DSS and Infrastructure), L&R, Legal, Procurement, Client Ops, Financial Planning, Investments, Marketing, People & Culture, Tax, Technology, Trading, Training, and Wealth Management.
Collaborate as a peer with RIA Integration team specialists in account transition, vendor/software transition, and technology transition. Influence and align without positional authority — success depends on credibility, communication, and shared accountability.
Apply familiarity with RIA and broker-dealer operations, including ACATs, broker-dealer changes, tape-to-tape transfers, re-papering requirements, ad review, product lines, client servicing, and core advisory technology.
Adhere to documented standard processes, templates, and integration playbooks. Check in with peers to align on standard practices and leverage known solutions before improvising.
When risks or issues arise, draw on the team—peers, leadership, and partner groups—rather than working through them in isolation. Surface and escalate early.
Maintain the integration plan as a living, working document. Record decisions, plans, and key communications consistently across all deals so that institutional knowledge is captured and results are repeatable.
Keep management proactively informed of deal status, risks, and issues. Provide transparent, well-organized executive status updates — leaders should never be surprised.
Produce written communications and presentation materials at a professional standard for selling firms, internal partners, and senior leadership.
Capture cross-deal pattern recognition and lessons learned. Identify recurring issues, surface trends, and contribute observations that improve outcomes across the portfolio.
Track and report on integration metrics including deal health, milestone timelines, seller satisfaction, and integration completeness.