Director of Editorial & Research (Financial Planning)

Kitces.com is hiring a Director of Editorial & Research to lead the content team of nerds behind the Nerd’s Eye View blog, the series of Kitces podcasts, and Kitces Research. This is a people-first leadership role. The Editorial & Research team is made up of 7 high achievers who want to keep growing, and your most important job is to help them do it: develop each person, unblock them so they can do their best work, support them as they pursue and grow into their specialized expertise paths, help them professionally adapt as their growth changes their own role and demands on their time, and build a team that can make bigger impacts over time. If what motivates you is watching the people you lead outgrow their roles and move up within the organization, keep reading. You’ll also own the process that turns the team’s work into one deep-dive article or podcast every day, and one deep-dive research study every six months. That means seeing problems before they arrive (today, this week, this month, and 6–12 months out) and making sure everything we publish truly matters to the financial advisors who read it. The mission of Kitces.com is to help real financial advisors be better and more successful, creating a 100X multiplier effect for our work and the number of consumers we can positively impact with the power of financial planning delivered by a Kitces-supported financial advisor to their clients. To achieve this mission, Kitces.com publishes the leading financial planning industry blog Nerd’s Eye View and the Financial Advisor Success, Kitces & Carl, and Financial Advisor Technician podcasts, producing award-winning commentary on financial planning strategies and practice management trends for financial advisors ranked as the most Influential, Objective, Relevant, and Useful content amongst any online media publication for financial advisors. Our Members Section provides additional white papers, webinars, training Courses to master essential skills, virtual live Summits and CE Intensives, and the opportunity for financial planning professionals to earn Continuing Education credits, and we are invited to speak regularly at financial advisor conferences across the US and around the world to present our analysis and insights. Unlike traditional media sites, though, Kitces.com deliberately generates no revenue from advertising or sponsored content. Instead, we remain solely focused on creating value directly for our advisor readers in the form of one single deep-dive article each day, strengthening the awareness of and integrity of the Kitces brand through our quality and relevant content, and being compensated directly from our readers both on our site (for those who join our Members Section, hire us to speak and consult, or purchase Kitces Research), and through our co-owned financial services solutions for consumers (who may engage with our related financial advisory firms) as well as our business solutions for financial advisors themselves (for whom we have a number of businesses providing service and technology solutions for advisory firms). What You’ll DoThis fully remote, Director-level position (work from anywhere in the United States) reports to Managing Director Rachel Zeller and works directly with Editor-in-Chief Michael Kitces while leading the Editorial & Research team.Grow and develop the team• Lead, develop, and hold accountable the members of the Editorial & Research teams. Our weekly L10s, 1:1s, quarterly check-ins, and annual reviews are tools for growth, not just status updates, and training and development sit at the heart of our ‘Get Your Nerd On’ Core Value.• Build a growth path for each team member specific to the desired expertise they wish to cultivate, and measure your own success by how the team members develop and the team as a whole grows: new skills, bigger responsibilities, and people ready for their next role, expanding the reach, impact, and business success of the platform.• Map out future full-time and contractor seats as the team expands, and eventually hire and develop the people who fill them.Keep things running by seeing what’s coming, at every horizon• Today and this week: keep the content pipeline full by curating a healthy number of pitch submissions and the publishing and podcast production process on schedule by holding people accountable to their committed deadlines, with every piece properly edited and reviewed by Kitces Nerds, meeting Kitces editorial standards, and fulfilling our CE commitments to Members.• This month: manage the editorial calendar, prioritizing which topics to publish when (or at all), and coordinate with on-team and Guest authors so their work lands on time.• The next 6–12 months: plan ahead for our four rotating independent research studies, the development and maintenance of our Resources, and the team capacity we’ll need, spotting risks early and heading them off before they become problems so the content continues to flow steadily.Guard relevance for our audience• Vet every prospective topic against one question: does this matter to practicing financial advisors right now? You’ll own our QNR (Quality, Nerdiness, Relevance) standard and make final topic and author selections with the approval of the Editor-in-Chief.• Stay close to the advisor community, understanding what’s changing in advisors’ work, their clients’ needs, and their businesses, and bring that insight into every editorial decision.Also on your plate• Track and report on readership of our blog and Research studies, podcast downloads, Resource usage, and how well our content meets QNR, and use that data to make continuous improvements.• Identify, recruit, and manage external Guest Post writers, including relationships, agreements, and timely delivery.• Establish and manage content syndication partnerships with industry publications, and field permission requests for re-use of Kitces content.Future opportunitiesThis seat will function as part of the Management Team on long-term tactical plans for the organization. Over time, there will be an opportunity to join the strategic Leadership Team and take part in quarterly and annual strategic planning.Who You AreYou’re a leader first. You get energy from developing people, you make sure the team’s to-do lists get done but think in horizons, and you have are ready to quickly learn what financial advisors need to know.Required• A track record of leading high-performing teams (including creatives) and building a strong team culture, with specific examples of people who grew under your leadership.• Experience managing an ongoing process with both short- and long-term variables and a variety of stakeholders (internal, cross-departmental, and external), including examples of problems you anticipated and headed off.• A sharp sense of what matters to financial advisors, grounded in prior experience in the financial services industry and/or completion of the CFP education requirement.• Examples of short-term projects you independently identified, prioritized, and executed that rolled up to company goals.Preferred• Familiarity with social media platforms and content management systems such as WordPress.How you workYou’re autonomous and comfortable working virtually with limited supervision, committed to continuous learning, organized and detail-oriented, service-minded and collaborative, and adaptable in a changing environment.Logistics• Candidates must be legally authorized and available to work primarily within the United States. Kitces.com does not sponsor visas at this time.• Candidates must be able to work at a computer for up to 8 hours a day and travel to two in-person retreats per year (January and June).Compensation and Benefits• Base salary $117,000–$140,000/year based on experience• Available bonus up to 12% of base salary, determined by meeting key Members Section and other business metrics• $3,000 budget for additional training/skills education• $4,000 conference budget• $1,000 budget for technology hardware/software or related office materials, starting with a company-provided computer for your home workspace• Paid membership in a relevant membership association and for a relevant professional designation or certification• 20 days of paid time off for combined vacation and sick time• 6 national holidays and 2 floating holidays• Participation in company-subsidized health insurance (an employee-only HSA-eligible plan is covered 100% by the company)• Company contribution of $50/month to either an HSA or FSA account• Participation in the company 401(k) plan• “No meeting” WednesdaysWhat It’s Like Working at Kitces.comWe’re a team that lives by our values, supports one another, and is committed to the community we serve. The successful candidate will share our Core Values:• Do the Right Thing• Advisors First• Be the Trusted Source• No A$$holes• Get Your Nerd OnWhen on Slack calls, video is expected as we believe hearing voices and seeing faces makes for stronger communication and connections. We lean on technology tools to get things done and protect our time. An example is our use of the delayed-send on Slack messages. While anyone might have a great idea pop up at any time, we are careful to make sure messages are only sent during regular business hours to respect the work/home boundaries of our work-from-home (or work-from-anywhere) team. As a company we try to front load meetings to the beginning of the week so that the end of the week can be more focused on Deep Work to maximize our personal productivity.