Client Service Associate

Northern Lights Advisors, Inc.; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 82,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

401(k) match

Discretionary bonus

Paid time off

CE stipend

Hybrid in-office

Job summary

Northern Lights Advisors, Inc. in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood is seeking a Client Service Associate. This non-advisory, operations-focused role supports opening accounts, moving money, and maintaining data integrity across Schwab, Orion and eMoney.

You will be a consistent, trusted point of contact for a small, high-net-worth client base. Die role emphasizes completing tasks without chasing, attention to detail, and collaboration with advisors on the operations workflow.

Qualifications

• Two or more years in RIA or wealth management operations.
• Experience with Schwab custodial platform and portfolio accounting.
• Ability to finish tasks without supervision and track commitments.
• Attention to detail and data integrity mindset.
• Willingness to speak up when something doesn’t look right.

Responsibilities

• Open and maintain client accounts at Schwab, including new accounts, registration changes, ACATs, transfers.
• Prepare money movement: wires, ACH, journals and distributions per firm procedure.
• Build trades and rebalances in Orion for advisor approval.
• Reconcile custodial records with portfolio accounting and investigate breaks.
• Maintain consistent client data across Schwab, CRM, Orion and eMoney.
• Run the quarterly review and reporting cycle mechanics to avoid slips.
• Take client requests directly and follow through to completion.

Skills

RIA operations

Follow-through

Detail orientation

Assertive communication

Tech curiosity

Tools

Schwab

Orion

eMoney

Job description

Northern Lights Advisors is a fee-only, fiduciary registered investment advisor that works hybrid from an office in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. We manage approximately $350 million for high-earning technology professionals, executives, and high-net-worth multi-generational families. We are a small, senior team and the work is highly collaborative and client-focused — no call centers, no account tiers, no handing clients off.

About the Role:

We are hiring a second Client Service Associate because the operational side of the firm is growing fast. This role will join a function being built properly for the first time: a new operations manager and CRM, as well as a small book of acquired client relationships coming on board. The work is well-defined; the surroundings will keep moving for a while yet.

This is where the firm’s operational work actually gets done. Accounts open, money moves, trades get built, data stays accurate, and the service calendar happens on time because someone made each of those things happen, on a specific day, without being chased.

You will attend client meetings, but have no advisory responsibility — that sits with our advisors. However, we are a small firm where clients deal with the same few people every time, and you will be one of them.

What This Position Will Do:

• Open and maintain client accounts at Schwab — new accounts, registration changes, ACATs, transfers.
• Prepare money movement: wires, ACH, journals and distributions, in line with firm procedure.
• Build trades and rebalances in Orion for approval by the advisor who owns the relationship.
• Reconcile custodial records against portfolio accounting and research the breaks.
• Keep client data consistent across Schwab, the CRM, Orion and eMoney.
• Run the mechanics of the quarterly review and reporting cycle so nothing slips.
• Take client requests directly and see them through — the loop closes with you.

How We Work With AI:

We are unusually far along on this for a firm our size. AI is connected to our email, calendar, document storage, accounting and payments systems, and our CRM is AI-native by design. We use it for research, analysis, drafting, reconciliation and for building repeatable internal processes. For this role it means the routine work — audits, reconciliation checks, exception reports, first drafts — increasingly runs itself, so your attention goes to the exceptions. You do not need a technical background or prior AI experience. You need curiosity, judgement about when to trust a tool and when to check it, and the discipline to verify output before it reaches a client record.

Desired Qualifications:

• Two or more years in RIA or wealth management operations. You have worked inside a custodial platform — Schwab preferred — and a portfolio accounting system. You know what an ACAT is, what NIGO means, and why a reconciliation break matters
• Someone who finishes things without being chased. We weigh this most heavily. We are hiring the person who closes loops and tracks their own commitments.
• Someone who is genuinely detail-driven. Billing errors and data breaks compound quietly. We want someone who finds the small discrepancy interesting rather than annoying.
• Someone who is not afraid to speak up. In an operations seat the control that matters most is someone willing to say “this does not look right” to a person more senior. We would rather hear it ten times and be wrong nine times.
• Someone who is steady when the queue is long. Three urgent things at once is a normal Tuesday.
• Someone curious about technology. You want to work with AI, not around it.

What This Role Is Not:

There is no book of clients and no advisory responsibility. You prepare trades; you never approve them. Your manager owns process design and billing — you will be asked what is wrong with a process and expected to say, but you do not answer for it.

Where It Can Go:

The seat can deepen into operations, toward the systems and process ownership our operations manager holds. It can move toward planning support. Or it can stay what it is and get very good at it — which is a legitimate answer and not a lesser one. What we will not do is describe a path in order to get you to accept the job. If you want a direction, raise it in the interview and we will be straight about whether we can offer it.

A Note on Licensing:

This is a non-advisory operations seat. No securities licensing is required. Series 7, 63 and SIE are broker-dealer licenses, are not relevant to our fee-only model, and are not an advantage. If you hold or later pursue the Series 65, CFP® or CFA®, we will support it, but it is not a requirement.

Compensation And Working Arrangement

• Base salary $82,000 – $90,000, depending on depth of RIA operations experience, plus a discretionary annual bonus.
• Medical, dental and vision from the first of the month after thirty days
• 401(k) with a 3% company match after 90 days, plus discretionary profit sharing
• 20 days of paid time off in your first year, with paid holidays on top
• $2,000 annual continuing education stipend
• After a two-week in-office training period, the role is hybrid and based in our Ballard office at 1448 NW Market Street. This is a Seattle-area role and regular in-office presence is required; it is not a remote position

Selected candidates will meet the team, starting with our founder and the manager you would report to. Our process also includes a Kolbe A Index, a detail-orientation assessment, and the Caliper Essentials assessment. We use these to understand fit in both directions — you receive your own results and we discuss them openly. They inform how we would work with you; they are not pass-or-fail gates. Reasonable accommodations are available on request for the application and assessment process.

Northern Lights Advisors Inc. is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of Washington, California, Virginia, District of Columbia and in other jurisdictions where exempted. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

Assets under management of approximately $350 million are stated as of September 2026 and will fluctuate with market conditions and client activity.

Northern Lights Advisors is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.

CFP® and Certified Financial PlannerTM are certification marks owned by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. CFA® is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute. This posting is not an offer of employment or a contract of employment.