Director of Firm Technology & Adoption

Northwestern Mutual-Twin Cities; Mendota Heights (MN); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwestern Mutual-Twin Cities is seeking a Director of Firm Technology & Adoption to close the gap between the technology available to advisors and the technology advisors actually use. This role partners with the agency's top firms to assess needs, prioritize tools, and lead training that turns adoption into measurable gains in productivity, efficiency, and client experience.

This leader will coordinate with network and home office technology partners to drive adoption agency-wide, maintain

Qualifications

• BA/BS or equivalent with 5+ years in technology consulting, adoption or training.
• Deep understanding of the technology landscape available to advisors, including AI tools.
• Proven experience coaching individuals and teams through technology or process change.
• Strong consultative skills to build the business case for tools, not just features.
• Ability to design and facilitate training for individuals and groups.

Responsibilities

• Partner directly with top firms to assess current technology use, workflows, and gaps.
• Conduct coaching conversations with advisors and teams to understand goals and how technology can help.
• Develop firm-specific technology roadmaps, prioritizing impact and adoption ease.
• Design and deliver hands-on training that drives sustained adoption beyond initial exposure.
• Establish and report adoption metrics and outcomes for each firm engagement.
• Coordinate with technology and enablement resources across the organization to align efforts.
• Maintain a cadence of firm visits, follow-ups, and ongoing learning to close adoption gaps.
• Pursue continuous learning to stay current on emerging technology trends and apply insights.

Skills

Technology consulting

Adoption/change management

Training and development

Consultative skills

Communication skills

Relationship building

Education

BA/BS or equivalent experience

Job description

Director of Firm Technology & Adoption

The Director of Firm Technology & Adoption exists to close the gap between the technology available to advisors and the technology advisors actually use. This role partners with the agency's top firms to assess their needs and opportunities, prioritize the right tools in the right order, and lead the training that makes adoption stick - turning adoption into measurable gains in productivity, efficiency, and client experience. This person also takes lessons learned from those firm partnerships and coordinates with network office and home office technology partners to help drive adoption agency-wide.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner directly with top firms in the agency to assess current technology use, workflows, and gaps.


• Conduct initial and ongoing coaching conversations with advisors and their teams to understand professional goals and how technology can support them.


• Develop firm‑specific technology roadmaps, prioritizing tools based on impact and ease of adoption rather than availability alone.


• Design and deliver hands‑on training that drives real, sustained adoption - not just initial exposure.


• Establish and own adoption metrics and reporting for each firm engagement, measuring efficiency gains and improved client deliverables against baseline.


• Manage and respond to feedback on recommended technology changes from firm leadership and broader agency stakeholders.


• Translate lessons learned from top‑firm partnerships into broader trainings and resources for the rest of the agency.


• Coordinate with other technology and enablement resources across the organization to align efforts and avoid duplication.


• Maintain a recurring cadence of firm visits, team check‑ins, and follow‑up sessions to ensure adoption gaps are identified and closed.


• Pursue continuous learning to stay current on emerging technology trends, using those insights to drive ongoing improvement initiatives across the agency.

Qualifications

• BA/BS or equivalent experience, with 5+ years in technology consulting, adoption/change management, or training and development, ideally within financial services.


• Intimate, up‑to‑date understanding of the full technology landscape available to advisors and their teams - from established platforms to newly released AI tools.


• Demonstrated experience coaching individuals and teams through technology or process change, not just delivering training content.


• Strong consultative skills - able to make the business case for a tool, not just demonstrate its features.


• Proven ability to design and facilitate training for both individuals and groups.

• Experience establishing and reporting on adoption or performance metrics.


• Comfortable managing multiple concurrent relationships and priorities across firms and teams.


• Able to move fluidly between hands‑on, firm‑level work and broader organizational initiatives.


• Strong communication and relationship‑building skills with senior stakeholders.

Key Results This Role Drives

• Increased Productivity - advisors and their teams spend less time on manual or duplicative work as a result of better technology use.


• Increased Efficiency - faster, smoother workflows across the firms this role supports, with adoption gaps identified and closed on an ongoing basis.


• Better Client Deliverables - technology adoption translates into a measurably stronger client experience, not just internal process improvement.


• Clear, prioritized technology roadmaps adopted and in active use by top firms.


• Higher adoption rates for new technology rollouts compared to historical baselines.


• Training resources and best practices successfully scaled across the broader agency.