Senior Estate Planning Strategist - (San Diego, Orange County)

About Mercer Advisors

For more than 40 years, Mercer Advisors has been helping families amplify and simplify their financial lives by integrating financial planning, investment management, business management, tax, estate, insurance, and more, all managed by a single team. We deliver comprehensive care once reserved for only the wealthiest households. Today, we serve over 42,800 families across 110+ cities in the U.S. Ranked the #1 RIA Firm in the nation by Barron’s for two consecutive years, Mercer Advisors is an independent fiduciary legally bound to act in our clients’ best interests.

Mercer Advisors offers a workplace that stands apart in the financial industry. More than half of our employees and client-facing professionals are women, reflecting the clients we serve. With a flexible, national footprint, we build our teams around exceptional talent—wherever they are.

About the Role

The Estate Planning team is part of our Wealth Solutions group, a dynamic environment of professionals dedicated to providing and implementing planning strategies for high-net-worth clients. This role is hybrid in the Orange County/San Diego areas.

Responsibilities

• Serve as an in-house estate planning resource to wealth management teams and clients nationwide.
• Maintain a book of ultra-high-net-worth clients.
• Review and summarize existing estate planning documents.
• Remain current with estate, trust, and tax legislation nationwide.
• Support business development through networking, leading presentations, drafting publications, and assisting in prospective client meetings.
• Conduct research on nuanced and specialized estate planning topics.
• Manage a service specialist, including overseeing day-to-day tasks, training, calendars, time management, coaching, and mentoring.
• Mentor and coach estate planning strategists.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Role as Attorney under Advanced Services Law Group, Inc. (ASLG)

• Meet with clients to design, implement, and fund complex estate planning, wealth transfer strategies, and sophisticated estate and gift tax mitigation.
• Draft estate plan documents, including irrevocable trusts (GRATs, IDGTs, ILITs, SLATs, CRTs, QPRTs), revocable trusts, wills, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and funding-related documents.
• Advise on estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax strategies.
• Coordinate with wealth advisors, tax experts, and other professionals to ensure seamless execution of wealth strategies.
• Prepare and review deeds and real property transfer documents.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor (JD).
• LL.M. in Taxation or Estate Planning strongly preferred.
• Licensed to practice law in at least one state.
• Ability to interpret and convey complex estate planning topics to wealth management teams and clients.
• 8-12 years of legal experience in estate planning and deep technical expertise.
• Proven track record of handling planning matters for high-net-worth clients.
• Ability to travel up to 25%.

Schedule

This professional role requires availability during standard business hours of Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM. At times, the role may require early or late hours to meet business tasks and deadlines for external and internal client needs. All non-exempt roles are required to record working time daily, including a 30-minute unpaid lunch period.

Working Conditions

This position may be in a professional office environment or a dedicated home office workspace free of interruptions. Basic technology needs will be provided. Routinely involves sitting and standing for periods of time. No heavy lifting over 10 lbs.

Pay

Actual base pay within this range will be based on factors including geographic location, relevant experience, education, skills, and licenses/certifications. This position is also eligible for incentive compensation.

Base Pay Range: $175,000 - $200,000 USD

Benefits

• Company-paid basic life and AD&D insurance.
• Company-paid short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• Supplemental life, AD&D, short-term disability, accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity insurance.
• Three Cigna medical plans, including two high-deductible health plans and a traditional co-pay medical plan.
• Kaiser medical plans available in California.
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with company contributions if enrolled in a high-deductible health plan.
• Two comprehensive dental plans.
• Vision insurance plan.
• Dependent Care Savings Account for child and dependent care.
• 14 company-paid holidays, including a full week off at Thanksgiving.
• Generous paid time off program for vacation and sick days.
• Employee Assistance Plan.
• Family Medical Leave.
• Paid Parental Leave (8 weeks).
• Maternity benefits utilizing company-paid short-term disability, supplemental short-term disability, and Parental Leave (8 weeks).
• Adoption Assistance Reimbursement Program.
• Company-paid concierge services for aging parents, young children, and life’s challenges.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with both Traditional and Roth options, per-pay-period match, and an after-tax option.
• Pet insurance.
• Personalized financial planning and guidance from Mercer Advisors professionals at preferred employee pricing.