Virtual Financial Planning Client Operations Specialist

About the role

We seek someone to join our team in a critical role: Operations Specialist. Our firm takes our operations and client service seriously, and we are looking for an enthusiastic team member dedicated exclusively to those important functions.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with Financial Planners and Wealth Advisors to manage all operational and administrative aspects of our client relationships.
• Alongside Geometric’s existing Operations Specialists, take ownership of all operational workflows. For example, our onboarding process for new clients involves over 200 steps. While some steps are to be completed by the client, some by the client’s Wealth Advisor, some by the Financial Planner, and some by the Operations Specialist, we would expect that the Operations Specialist would “own” this process, ensuring that it progressed on schedule and that everyone was completing their necessary tasks.
• Maintain and update client records in the firm’s CRM software (PractiFi).
• Collaborate on creating new, and maintaining existing, workflows in our CRM.
• Communicate with Geometric’s custodians (primarily Charles Schwab) to ensure that the operational needs of our clients and firm are handled quickly and correctly.
• Manage all client forms (mostly paperless). The nature of wealth management requires a lot of electronic form-filling and e-signature gathering for both new and existing clients.
• Help to manage our firm’s portfolio database software (Orion Advisor Services) to ensure that client portfolios are accurately tracked and reported.
• Serve as a “jack of all trades”. Be willing to accept any administrative tasks that allows our team to focus on the client.
• Continually search for ways to improve the firm’s processes, and to speak up when they are found.
• Help to recruit, hire, train, and mentor others on the Operations team as the firm continues to grow.

Qualifications

• Candidates must have Bachelor’s degree.
• We seek a candidate with at least 1-2 years of relevant work experience, but we are open to conversations with great candidates with less or no experience.
• We seek a candidate who already understands the operational needs of an independent wealth management firm, either from direct prior experience working for a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) or from working for a related party (custodian, bank, vendor, etc.), but again, we are open to conversations with great candidates who have no direct experience.
• Exceptional organizational skills. You should be the type of person who develops processes to ensure that everything remains organized and that nothing ever falls through the cracks.
• Airtight reliability. Always doing what you say you will do, when you said you will do it. When you take ownership of a task or project, everyone else on the team should feel comfortable knowing that it is taken care of.
• Clear and confident communication, particularly when writing. This is especially important given the remote nature of our firm.
• Aptitude for and comfort with technology. Both the ability to effectively use existing technology and the willingness to think strategically about how new technology could be used to improve our internal processes.
• Service-minded, both in service to our clients and to the rest of our team.
• Fun to work with and enjoyable to be around.

Benefits

• Flexible work schedule.
• Health insurance. At the beginning of the month following your start date, you will have the option to participate in our company-sponsored medical plan, with Geometric paying for at least 2/3 of the premiums. Geometric also offers dental, vision, and long-term disability benefits.
• 401(k). Including 5% company match with immediate vesting.
• Paid parental leave (either (a) 12 weeks full-time or (b) 8 weeks full-time + 8 weeks half-time) after welcoming biological or adopted children. This applies to both mothers and fathers.
• Professional development sponsorship. The firm values life-long learning and provides an annual stipend to full-time employees to pursue relevant professional development opportunities including obtaining credentials, attending conferences and taking continuing education classes.
• Portfolio management. For those who want it, Geometric will manage your investment portfolio at no charge using the same platform that we use for clients. (Note that this does not include broader, comprehensive financial planning or tax services.)
• Tech/home office needs. Geometric will supply work-related technology (hardware and software) as well as a stipend for furnishings or other items needed to make your home office comfortable and productive and secure.
• Wellness Wednesdays. Our team chooses not to work for a portion of every Wednesday afternoon. Instead, we each do something fun – ideally something outdoors and physical. We believe this makes us healthier, happier, and ultimately more productive.
• Sabbaticals. Geometric offers “no work allowed,” fully-paid, five-week sabbaticals after seven years with the firm (and every five years thereafter).

Culture

Our firm is small, friendly, and informal. Our team strives to uphold our four core values and we look for others who value these same principles. Excellence: We are service-oriented, and we put our clients’ interests ahead of our own. We take pride in the excellence of our team, our service, our analyses, and our deliverables. Overcommunication: We value open, honest, and thoughtful communication and take extra time to ensure that our communications are clear. Continuous Improvement: We embrace the fact that our firm – and each of us individually – will always be a work-in-progress. There is no end state; only a journey of getting better. Support and Balance: We choose to work with people who are positive, supportive, and kind. We value our own mental and physical wellness, and we care about the wellness of our colleagues. Diversity and Inclusion: We believe that a team performs better when its members bring diverse perspectives. We strive to provide an inclusive environment for those of any race, religion, ethnic origin, gender identity or expression, age, physical disability, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, military service, medical history, or any other status. All are welcome and supported here.