Senior Specialist, Onboarding & Cultural Integration

About the role

We are seeking a highly organized, detail-oriented Senior Specialist, Onboarding & Cultural Integration to own the firmwide onboarding experience end to end. This role ensures every new team member—across all service lines, levels, and locations—has a seamless, welcoming, and well-coordinated start at Cohen & Co.

The Senior Specialist partners closely with Talent Acquisition, IT/End User Technology, Admin Operations, P&C Business Partners, service line Pod Leaders and Training Leads, the M&A integration team, and the broader Learning & Development team to align onboarding plans with what each group needs from its people in the critical first week and beyond.

Responsibilities

Coordinates biweekly lateral onboarding of approximately 5–10 new hires, moving to a weekly onboarding cadence effective January 1, 2027.

Manages three large campus hire and intern classes each year (approximately 50 new hires per class), requiring close, advance coordination with Talent Acquisition.

Supports merger and acquisition integrations, partnering with the M&A team on cultural and logistical onboarding for acquired groups.

• Firmwide Onboarding Ownership & Coordination: Own the end-to-end onboarding process for the entire firm, including lateral hires, campus hires, interns, contractors, and international team members.
• Campus & Intern Class Coordination: Partner closely with Talent Acquisition to plan and execute large campus hire and intern classes.
• Service Line Alignment & First-Week Readiness: Partner with each service line to tailor onboarding plans that match what each group needs from employees in their first week.
• Influencing & Stakeholder Engagement: Partner with Team Managers to actively engage in the onboarding process and establish mutually agreed timelines and proactive communication norms with P&C Business Partners and Talent Acquisition.
• M&A / Acquisition Integration Support: Support the integration of incoming team members from the firm’s merger and acquisition activities.
• Learning Systems & Technical Enablement: Work with the learning technology team to ensure accurate LMS setup, enrollments, and learner records for each new hire.
• Process Improvement & Modernization: Identify inefficiencies and pain points across the onboarding process and lead efforts to streamline and modernize it.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Experience leading onboarding initiatives in a growing company (required).
• Strong attention to detail and advanced organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent onboarding plans and deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships and influence cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority.
• An eye for process improvement and the ability to streamline and modernize existing workflows.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to interact effectively with all levels (intern to partner).
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information professionally.
• Ability to work independently as an individual contributor while collaborating across teams.
• Requires 3 days per week in office at any Cohen & Co location.

Preferred: 2–3 years of experience directly handling onboarding programs, experience working in a professional services firm, experience supporting M&A / acquisition integration, experience coordinating high-volume campus or cohort onboarding classes, familiarity with LMS platforms (e.g., LCvista), Workday, Asana, MS Teams, and AI/Copilot tools.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in onboarding and experience working in a growing company.

Skills

Strong attention to detail, advanced organizational skills, ability to build strong relationships, influence cross-functional stakeholders, and streamline existing workflows.

Benefits

Our offerings go beyond standard options, including time off outside of your standard PTO to give back to the community, annual discretionary merit increases and bonuses, talent development resources to tap into growth opportunities, and so much more!

Pay

Estimated Base Range: $70,000 - $90,000 Base compensation offered to candidates are determined based on factors such as candidate's relevant skillset, experience, licensure, and certifications, as well as job responsibilities, geography, market considerations, and organizational needs.