Head of Succession Planning

Flat Fee Recruiter; Liverpool; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Self-employed fee-sharing

Partnership opportunity

Job summary

Flat Fee Recruiter is working with a UK independent financial advisory firm to appoint a Head of Succession Planning – Wills, Trusts & Probate. This is a partnership-style opportunity to build and lead a new succession planning proposition, with access to an established client bank and flexible, self-employed fee-sharing arrangements.

You will shape services, pricing and future team structure, with scope for long-term partnership for the right candidate.

Qualifications

• Full STEP qualification and/or current TEP status.
• Ideally at least 5 years' relevant experience across estate planning, wills, trusts, probate or estate administration.
• Strong technical knowledge of inheritance tax, trusts and succession planning.
• Significant practical experience managing a variety of private client and estate cases.
• Experience dealing directly with executors, trustees and families.
• Ability to manage complex cases independently.
• Previous leadership, management or senior technical responsibility.
• Strong client-facing and relationship-building skills.
• Commercially minded and entrepreneurial.
• Ability and willingness to generate new business.
• Experience developing professional referral relationships.
• Confidence working collaboratively with financial planners and other professional advisers.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the succession planning proposition.
• Advise and support clients across wills, LPAs, trusts, estate planning, probate and estate administration using Arken and Exizent.
• Deal with inheritance tax planning, lifetime gifting and post-death planning.
• Support executors, trustees and beneficiaries through the estate administration process.
• Prepare estate information, inheritance tax documentation and estate accounts.
• Manage complex and high-net-worth estate cases.
• Liaise with HMRC, financial institutions and other professional advisers.
• Coordinate with authorised external professionals where reserved legal activities arise.
• Identify succession planning opportunities within the existing client bank.
• Build relationships with solicitors, accountants and other professional introducers.
• Generate new business and support networking, professional and client events.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring across the wider financial planning team.

Skills

STEP/TEP

Leadership

Estate planning

Business development

Client relations

Tax knowledge

Education

STEP/TEP

Tools

Arken

Exizent

Job description

Head of Succession Planning – Wills, Trusts & Probate

• Location: Liverpool / Chester / Hybrid
• Engagement: Self-employed / Partnership
• Remuneration: Competitive fee-sharing arrangement, with partnership opportunity
• This is a unique, partnership-style opportunity to build and develop a new team, so remuneration is flexible and will be shaped around the right person, their experience and the value they bring.

About Our Client

Our client is an independent financial advisory firm providing financial planning and wealth management advice to individuals, families and business owners across the UK and internationally.

They have an established client bank with growing demand for inheritance tax, estate planning and intergenerational wealth services. They are now developing a dedicated succession planning proposition covering wills, trusts, estate planning, probate support and estate administration.

They are looking for an experienced private client professional to lead and grow this area of the business.

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity to build and lead a new succession planning proposition within an established financial planning firm.

You will benefit from access to an established brand, office infrastructure, an existing client bank and a regular source of potential estate planning and probate work.

Working closely with the Managing Partner and wider financial planning team, you will help shape the development of the succession planning proposition, including its services, processes, pricing, client proposition and future team structure.

For the right individual who successfully develops and grows the proposition, there will also be scope to discuss a longer-term partnership opportunity within the succession planning proposition.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the succession planning proposition.
• Advise and support clients across wills, LPAs, trusts, estate planning, probate and estate. administration using dedicated software such as Arken (Wills) and Exizent (Estate administration).
• Deal with inheritance tax planning, lifetime gifting and post-death planning.
• Support executors, trustees and beneficiaries through the estate administration process.
• Prepare estate information, inheritance tax documentation and estate accounts.
• Manage complex and high-net-worth estate cases.
• Liaise with HMRC, financial institutions and other professional advisers.
• Coordinate with authorised external professionals where reserved legal activities arise.
• Identify succession planning opportunities within the existing client bank.
• Build relationships with solicitors, accountants and other professional introducers.
• Generate new business and support networking, professional and client events.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring across the wider financial planning team.

About You

Our client is looking for an experienced private client professional who combines strong technical knowledge with commercial ambition and an entrepreneurial mindset.

• Full STEP qualification and/or current TEP status.
• Ideally at least 5 years' relevant experience across estate planning, wills, trusts, probate or estate administration.
• Strong technical knowledge of inheritance tax, trusts and succession planning.
• Significant practical experience managing a variety of private client and estate cases.
• Experience dealing directly with executors, trustees, beneficiaries and families.
• Ability to manage complex cases independently.
• Previous leadership, management or senior technical responsibility.
• Strong client-facing and relationship-building skills.
• Commercially minded and entrepreneurial.
• Ability and willingness to generate new business.
• Experience developing professional referral relationships.
• Confidence working collaboratively with financial planners and other professional advisers.

What's on Offer

• The opportunity to lead and build a new business area from an early stage.
• Access to an established financial planning client bank.
• Existing inheritance tax and estate planning opportunities.
• Opportunity to build and lead a future succession planning team.
• A commercially attractive self-employed fee-sharing arrangement.
• Potential longer-term partnership opportunity for the right individual based on the growth and success of the business.

You must be authorised to work in the UK. No agencies, please.

Other suitable skills and experiences include: Estate Planning Consultant, Private Client Adviser, Wills and Probate Practitioner, Trust and Estate Manager, Probate Manager, Senior Estate Administrator, Head of Private Client, Succession Planning Adviser, Inheritance tax planning, Business development, Head of Private Client, Head of Wills and Probate, Wills, Trusts & Probate – Head of Department, Private Client Partner.

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