Business Process & Strategic Initiatives Specialist, Transfer Agency

The Northern Trust Company; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 103,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

The Northern Trust Company in Chicago is seeking a Business Process & Strategic Initiatives Specialist. This role partners with leaders to identify and implement strategic initiatives that improve efficiency and employee experience.

You will drive process redesign, automation opportunities, and governance enhancements across the Transfer Agency, while balancing day-to-day operations. The successful candidate will lead cross-functional projects, deliver measurable outcomes, design future-state

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 3-7 years of experience in process improvement, business analysis, project management, organizational effectiveness, consulting, or a related field.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives without direct authority.
• Excellent verbal, written, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Ability to influence and build relationships across multiple levels of the organization.
• Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, Design Thinking, or Continuous Improvement.
• Experience with Power BI, Power Automate, SharePoint, Visio, or other process documentation and analytics tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic initiatives that improve operational effectiveness, scalability, and business performance.
• Support technology implementations and business transformation programs, including readiness, adoption stabilization, and benefit realization activities.
• Design and implement future-state operating models, including process redesign, role alignment, governance, and workforce readiness.
• Partner with stakeholders to identify and prioritize process improvement opportunities.
• Facilitate workshops, working sessions, and stakeholder discussions to drive alignment and decision-making.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, workflows, operational procedures, and governance frameworks.
• Identify opportunities to leverage automation, analytics, and emerging technologies to improve productivity and service delivery.
• Create performance metrics, dashboards, and reporting to measure outcomes and support management decision-making.
• Develop and deliver training, communication, and change management materials that support stakeholder adoption and sustained organizational change.
• Monitor initiative results, measure realized benefits, and recommend continuous improvement opportunities.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Communication skills

Influencing

Organization

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Power BI

Power Automate

SharePoint

Visio

Job description

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world's most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.

Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.

With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world's most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Position Summary

The Business Process & Strategic Initiatives Specialist partners with business leaders and stakeholders to identify, design, and implement strategic initiatives that improve organizational effectiveness, streamline processes, and enhance the employee and client experience.

This role is responsible for advancing strategic priorities across the Transfer Agency through process optimization, change implementation, automation opportunities, governance enhancements, and business transformation initiatives. While maintaining awareness of day-to-day operations, the primary focus of the position is to improve how work is performed, identify opportunities for greater efficiency and effectiveness, and deliver initiatives that support long-term business objectives.

The successful candidate will influence cross-functional teams, facilitate strategic discussions, and deliver measurable business outcomes through process redesign, data-driven decision making, and effective change management.

Working Model: Hybrid

We have a balanced hybrid working model to ensure you get the flexibility you need, and the successful candidate will spend their time between working in the office and working from home.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead strategic initiatives that improve operational effectiveness, scalability, and business performance
• Support technology implementations and business transformation programs, including readiness, adoption stabilization, and benefit realization activities
• Design and implement future-state operating models, including process redesign, role alignment, governance, and workforce readiness
• Partner with stakeholders to identify and prioritize process improvement opportunities
• Facilitate workshops, working sessions, and stakeholder discussions to drive alignment and decision-making
• Develop and maintain process documentation, workflows, operational procedures, and governance frameworks
• Identify opportunities to leverage automation, analytics, and emerging technologies to improve productivity and service delivery
• Create performance metrics, dashboards, and reporting to measure outcomes and support management decision-making
• Develop and deliver training, communication, and change management materials that support stakeholder adoption and sustained organizational change
• Monitor initiative results, measure realized benefits, and recommend continuous improvement opportunities

Qualifications

• Required
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 3-7 years of experience in process improvement, business analysis, project management, organizational effectiveness, consulting, or a related field.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives without direct authority.
• Excellent verbal, written, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Ability to influence and build relationships across multiple levels of the organization.
• Strong organizational and project coordination skills.
• Preferred
• Financial services, asset servicing, transfer agency, operations, or corporate business support experience.
• Experience with process improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, Design Thinking, or Continuous Improvement.
• Experience with Power BI, Power Automate, SharePoint, Visio, or other process documentation and analytics tools.
• Exposure to governance, risk management, audit, or control-related initiatives.
• Experience supporting organizational change or transformation programs.
• Experience supporting technology implementations and organizational change initiatives

Success Measures

• Successful delivery of strategic initiatives and transformation efforts.
• Successful implementation of future-state operating models and technology-enabled processes
• Measurable improvements in business processes and employee experience.
• Increased process efficiency, consistency, and scalability.
• Reduction of manual work through process redesign and automation opportunities.
• Enhanced visibility into business performance through meaningful reporting and metrics.

Salary Range

$103,000 - 175,200 USD

Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust pro