SVP, Operations - Client Experience

Acumen Financial Advantage

2d•Remote

About The Position

The SVP, Operations – Client Experience is a senior leader responsible for the performance, quality, and strategic direction of AFA’s client-facing operations. This role has direct oversight of the Case Management and Client Success functions ensuring seamless execution across the full client lifecycle, from new business and underwriting through policy placement, in-force service, and long-term relationship management. The SVP serves as a key operational partner to AFA’s principals, regional managers, and advisors, driving accountability, cross-functional alignment, and continuous improvement across AFA’s client service delivery model that are central to client retention and satisfaction. This role brings together operational discipline, people leadership, and a genuine commitment to the client experience and is comfortable navigating both internal process challenges and advisor- or client-facing conversations when the situation calls for it.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in operations, client service, or case management within financial services, insurance, or executive benefits.
5+ years of people leadership experience, including managing managers or multi-function teams.
Strong knowledge of life insurance products (UL, IUL, VUL, Whole Life) and executive benefit structures (SERPs, split-dollar, COLI/BOLI).
Demonstrated ability to lead and scale multi-function operations in a remote, high-growth environment.
Proven track record of driving process improvement, service quality, and team accountability.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills; comfortable presenting to principals, advisors, and clients.
High proficiency with CRM systems, reporting tools, and remote collaboration platforms.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a co-leadership or shared accountability model.
Established BGA and carrier relationships with Pacific Life, Penn Mutual, Nationwide, or similar.
Prior experience at a financial services firm serving credit unions, healthcare, or nonprofit organizations.

Responsibilities

Lead, develop, and hold accountable a team of 3–5 direct reports including the Head of Case Management and Head/Director of Client Success, and their respective teams.
Set clear performance expectations, KPIs, and service-level standards across all functions under scope.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and client-centric excellence across the operations organization.
Partner with HR and principals on hiring, succession planning, and team development.
Conduct regular performance reviews and provide ongoing coaching and development support to direct reports.
Provide strategic oversight of the end-to-end case management and underwriting function, ensuring cases move efficiently from submission through policy placement.
Monitor case volume, cycle times, and carrier performance metrics; identify and resolve bottlenecks.
Serve as a senior escalation point for complex, high-value, or stalled cases that require executive intervention.
Partner with Case Design to optimize outcomes on sophisticated SERP, split-dollar, COLI/BOLI, and executive-benefit cases.
Ensure compliance with state regulations, carrier guidelines, and internal SOPs across the case management function.
Oversee the Client Success team’s delivery of proactive, high-touch service to AFA’s credit union, healthcare, nonprofit, and executive-benefits clients.
Ensure clients receive timely updates, accurate in-force reporting, and consistent execution throughout the lifecycle of their programs.
Monitor client, satisfaction, and retention indicators; intervene on at-risk accounts as needed.
Partner with Regional Managers and advisors to support key account strategy, annual reviews, and post-implementation engagement.
Serve as a senior escalation point for complex client service issues or relationship-sensitive situations.
Design, implement, and refine workflows across Case Management and Client Success to improve efficiency, accuracy, and service consistency.
Analyze operational data, trends, and KPIs to surface bottlenecks, capacity gaps, and improvement opportunities.
Partner with Operations and Technology to enhance CRM utilization, reporting infrastructure, and workflow automation.
Drive scalability and process discipline as AFA’s client base and team size grow.
Develop and maintain SOPs across both functions to support consistency and audit readiness.
Lead capacity planning and resource allocation across Case Management and Client Success to ensure alignment with business growth and service expectations.
Represent the operations organization in advisor and client conversations when senior operational authority is needed.
Participate in key client reviews, stewardship presentations, or escalation calls in partnership with Regional Managers.
Build and maintain strong working relationships with carrier underwriting and new business leadership teams.
Serve as a credible operational voice in cross-functional and principal-level strategy discussions.
Act as the senior operational decision-maker in high-impact client or advisor situations.
Provide regular reporting to principals on case volumes, client health, team productivity, carrier performance, and operational risk.
Contribute to firm-wide operational strategy, including capacity planning, technology investments, and service model development.
Support forecasting and long-term scalability planning across both functions.
Identify emerging risks or trends in the client experience and bring forward data-informed recommendations.