Practice Management Consultant

Northwestern Mutual•Milwaukee, WI

About The Position

The practice management compensation consultant specializes in helping Financial Advisors design incentive plans that attract top talent, ensuring alliance with SEC, FINRA, and state insurance regulations. This role requires balancing the talent demands of the financial advisors with complex governance, risk mitigation, and compliance standards. As an integral consulting partner between the Home Office, Field Supervision, and Financial Advisors, you will lead challenging, complex compensation conversations and provide direct consultation and guidance to align the interests of the employing Financial Advisor and the Enterprise.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration or equivalent combination of education and experience preferred.
Minimum five years of progressively responsible experience in financial services or other business administration functions.
Minimum 2 years organizational and project management skills with ability to prioritize, lead, manage, and collaborate in multiple projects.
Demonstrated ability to prioritize consulting and project work and make the outputs visible and transparent with both the client and key internal stakeholders.
Strong leadership, decision-making and team-building skills.
Ability to prioritize workload and seek support when appropriate, as well as work within a larger team.
Strong communication skills (oral and written) with ability to make presentations and create written reports.
Strong interpersonal skills with demonstrated ability to establish rapport at all levels of the home office and third parties including consultants and potential partners.
Strong analytical and research skills with proven ability to absorb complex information and independently solve problems in a dynamic environment.
High degree of self-motivation with leadership and initiative in sharing information, contributing towards group goals and accepting responsibility for results.
Ability to influence leaders and stakeholders without direct authority, using sound reasoning and credibility.
Sound decision-making skills ability to use a mixture of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment to arrive at a conclusion or recommendation.
Proactive, consultative mindset with the ability to identify and assess any emerging risks or trends.
Individual contribution leadership behavior focus: Solve for the Client; Lead with Enterprise Vision; Play to Win.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with Northwestern Mutual Field audience

Responsibilities

Lead consultant on compliant team compensation incentive plans leveraging best practices.
Lead and influences outcomes in situations involving elevated complexity and ambiguity.
Subject matter expert on compensation strategies.
Lead and/or support the development, implementation and maintenance of policies, procedures, resources, and training to support growth of sophisticated practices and drive business results.
Adhere to compliant requirements.
Work independently to review, provide feedback, and guide advisors on their team member compensation incentive plans.
Formulate recommendations and solutions while balancing competing interests and meeting expectations of Career Advisors, Field Supervision, and Home Office Compliance and Legal.
Lead alignment with internal stakeholders.
Assist Network Office Supervisors in individual case circumstances.
Provide advisor perspective and challenge conventional thinking.
Identify and anticipate issues and conflicts; escalate to law and enterprise stakeholders as needed to resolve issues and move teams forward on a timely basis.
Identify resource and process improvement opportunities, recommend and implement actions to address them.
Drive continuous improvement and operational efficiency.
Develop content and present to Network Offices, study groups, etc. on team compensation.
Assist Design and Execution team in creating resources for the field.