Total Portfolio Analytics & Investment AI Strategy Lead

The Investment Strategy Department at Northwestern Mutual seeks a Total Portfolio Analytics & Investment AI Strategy Lead to advance total portfolio management and AI strategy for the company’s General Account. This role supports a long-term, diversified investment approach for the approximately $327 billion General Account, ensuring financial strength, policyowner value, and the ability to meet long-duration insurance obligations.

About the role

This position is responsible for building and owning the analytics strategy, data, and decision-support tools that power total portfolio management. The role integrates data from public and private investments, external managers, and internal strategies to deliver insights on asset allocation, risk, liquidity, performance, and rebalancing. The ideal candidate combines deep financial market knowledge with strong technical capabilities in data engineering, analytics, and AI/ML, partnering with investment leaders, engineering, technology, and cross-enterprise teams to drive scalable capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead total portfolio analytics strategy: Build and maintain analytical frameworks supporting strategic and tactical asset allocation, portfolio construction, liquidity planning, risk budgeting, rebalancing, and scenario analysis across public and private assets.
• Drive Institutional Investments AI strategy and adoption: Identify, prioritize, and lead AI-enabled opportunities to improve investment decision-making, automate workflows, and create scalable capabilities.
• Partner with engineering and enterprise teams: Collaborate with engineering, data, technology, risk, compliance, and enterprise AI partners to translate investment needs into technical requirements and align delivery priorities.
• Build and maintain data models: Work with data engineers to onboard total portfolio data sources, integrate public and private market data, design repeatable data models, and establish data quality checks and documentation.
• Develop interactive data visualizations: Create dashboards and portfolio views using Power BI, Streamlit, or similar tools to help investment leaders understand exposures, performance, risk, and liquidity.
• Apply quantitative methods: Define and execute analytics strategies for portfolio models, including optimization, risk budgeting, scenario analysis, and performance attribution for multi-asset portfolios.
• Improve existing systems and workflows: Identify gaps in current investment data, analytics, AI, and reporting processes to reduce manual work and improve decision-making speed.
• Manage and develop talent: Lead a small team of analysts and data professionals by setting priorities, coaching, and ensuring accountability for department objectives.
• Collaborate effectively: Work with portfolio managers, investment strategy leaders, traders, operations, risk, and enterprise partners to advance total portfolio capabilities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field (Finance, Economics, Statistics, Computer Science, or Engineering); advanced degree (MS/PhD) or progress toward CFA designation is a plus.
• 7-10+ years of relevant experience in multi-asset or total portfolio analytics within asset management, allocator, or consulting, with exposure to both public and private markets.
• Experience leading, managing, or mentoring a small team, with the ability to set priorities and create accountability.
• Strong understanding of asset allocation, portfolio construction, risk management, liquidity management, performance measurement, and attribution across asset classes.
• Proficiency in SQL and Python (or R), with experience using modern data warehousing platforms like Snowflake or Redshift.
• Experience building dashboards and analytical tools using BI tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or Streamlit.
• Familiarity with investment platforms like Aladdin, Bloomberg, eFront, or Yardi.
• Familiarity with machine learning, AI-enabled workflows, model governance, or production analytics environments.
• Ability to partner with engineering, technology, risk, compliance, and data governance teams to move capabilities from concept to production.
• Ability to distill complex analysis into clear narratives for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Structured thinker with strong analytical rigor; comfortable operating in ambiguity and balancing strategic and tactical priorities.
• High ownership, curiosity, and bias for action; collaborative and adaptable with a commitment to quality and controls.

Skills

• Adaptive Communication: Conveys complex information to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Attention to Detail: Focuses on accuracy and quality in work, spotting and correcting errors proactively.
• Financial Market Monitoring: Tracks and analyzes financial market data, trends, and events to inform investment decisions.
• Industry Knowledge: Demonstrates expertise in regulatory considerations, market trends, and competitive landscapes.
• Risk Evaluation: Assesses risks in relation to organizational objectives and determines acceptable risk levels.

About the team

The Investment Strategy Department partners across Institutional Investments to support total portfolio decision-making, asset allocation, liquidity planning, risk management, and long-term investment outcomes for Northwestern Mutual’s General Account. The Investment Data Office advances trusted data, governance, analytics, AI, and decision-support capabilities. This role sits at the intersection of investment strategy, data, technology, and enterprise AI, translating business needs into scalable capabilities.

Pay

The standard pay structure is shared transparently, with final salaries based on skills, experience, market conditions, and location. For roles in California, Colorado, New York City, Washington, or outside Corporate locations, additional compensation and benefits information is available.

Benefits

• Flexible work schedules
• Concierge service
• Comprehensive benefits
• Employee resource groups