Practice Management Operations, Senior Specialist

Northwestern Mutual Group; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 65,000 - 98,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwestern Mutual is seeking a Senior Principal responsible for evaluating staff incentive compensation plans and ensuring compliance with federal, state, and product regulations. You will audit plans, provide independent recommendations, and support field leadership with strategic insights.

The role requires FINRA Series 6 & 26, 3–5 years in financial services, and strong Excel skills. Location is Milwaukee, with a focus on governance and enterprise alignment, offering growth within a

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of proven experience in insurance, investment, or financial services.
• FINRA Series 6 & 26 required or obtained within 6 months.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
• Strong Excel proficiency and Microsoft Office skills.
• Knowledge of compliance, contracts, licensing, and registration.

Responsibilities

• Review and audit staff compensation incentive plans.
• Provide recommendations balancing stakeholders and expectations.
• Identify issues and elevate to law and enterprise stakeholders as needed.
• Educate and train Enterprise stakeholders and supervision team members.

Skills

FINRA Series 6

FINRA Series 26

Auditing

Excel Proficiency

Regulatory Compliance

Decision Making

Relationship Building

Project Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Excel

Job description

About the Job: Working directly with Advisor Practices/Practice Management, Distribution Performance, Field Leadership and Financial Advisors, you will evaluate short and long-term staff incentive compensation plans and provide direct feedback and guidance. To support the Career Advisors growth objectives and to reward and retain field talent, play a subject-matter expert role to support understanding and compliance with federal, state and product regulatory requirements. Identify and address conflicts of interest and align interests to that of the client in keeping with the Enterprise value of "doing the right thing". Leverage adept skills to interpret NM’s field compensation framework including insurance, investment brokerage and advisory compensation and field management compensation information.

What You'll Do:

• As a FINRA registered principal, exercise independent decision-making authority on behalf of NM, NMIS and the Wealth Management Company for the review, approval, and audit of staff compensation incentive plans.
• Formulate recommendations and solutions while balancing competing interests and meeting expectations of Career Advisors, Field Supervision, and Distribution Performance.
• Identify and anticipate issues and conflicts; elevate to law and enterprise stakeholders as needed to resolve issues and move teams forward on a timely basis.
• Conduct audits and collect evidence of payment artifacts in accordance with firm policy and NMIS books & records.
• Assist the local Supervision team in individual case circumstances and collaborate to creatively resolve questions and issues.
• Educate and train Enterprise stakeholders and supervision team members as needed.
• Lead and/or participate in projects and continuous improvement efforts.

What You'll Bring to the Role:

• Bachelor's Degree Preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• FINRA Series 6 & 26 required or obtained within 6 months.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of proven experience in insurance, investment, or financial services industry.
• Compliance and/or contract, licensing, and registration experience and/or knowledge preferred.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office with strong emphasis on Excel proficiency.
• Ability to prioritize workload and seek support when appropriate, as well as work within a larger team.
• Sound decision-making skills with the ability to use a mixture of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment to arrive at a conclusion or recommendation.
• Strong critical-thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Exercises tact and diplomacy; proven success in establishing effective relationships.
• Individual contribution leadership behavior focus: Solve for the Client; Customer Focus; Play to Win.

Skills You Have:

• Attention to Detail - Focuses on specific details to spot and correct errors in advance of them being found and surpass quality expectations. Performs work with thorough proofreading for presentation, content, accuracy, and overall quality.
• Collaborative Partnership & Planning - Facilitates collaboration, communication, coordination, and planning among individuals and teams with diverse expertise; documents aligned priorities, responsibilities, and shared outcomes.
• Decision Making - Applies judgment by evaluating relevant information against defined criteria; documents risks, priorities, tradeoffs, and expected outcomes; takes timely action; monitors results against established measures; and adjusts the approach based on evidence.
• Policy & Procedure Management - Analyzes current policies and procedures, identifies gaps or areas for improvement, and develops and implements new policies and procedures to address those gaps. Ensures compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards, as well as effectively communicates policies and procedures to employees and stakeholders. Understands the various components of a workflow, identifies bottlenecks, and implements improvements to increase productivity, reduce costs, and streamline operations.

This position has been classified as a Registered Representative under NMIS guidelines and requires fingerprinting.

Series 26 - FINRA, Series 6 - FINRA Compensation Range: Pay Range - Start: $65,440.00 Pay Range - End: $98,160.00 Geographic Specific Pay Structure: Structure 110: $72,000.00 USD - $108,000.00 USD Structure 115: $75,280.00 USD - $112,920.00 USD

The standard pay structure is listed but if you're living in California, New York City or other eligible location, geographic specific pay structures, compensation and benefits could be applicable, Grow your career with a best-in-class company that puts our clients' interests at the center of all we do.

We believe in fairness and transparency. It's why we share the salary range for most of our roles. However, final salaries are based on a number of factors, including the skills and experience of the candidate; the current market; location of the candidate; and other factors uncovered in the hiring process.

Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds. We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.

At Northwestern Mutual, we believe relationships are built on trust. That our lives and our work matter. These beliefs launched our company over 160 years ago. Today, they're just a few of the reasons why people choose to build careers at Northwestern Mutual.

Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds. We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.

What started in Milwaukee, WI has grown into 7,000+ home office professionals split across 3 campuses: New York City, Franklin and downtown Milwaukee (HQ) - each one bringing with it its own unique talent and culture. In a company with such a long and storied history, this may be the most exciting and important time to be a part of Northwestern Mutual as we are growing our digital and tech capabilities and are always on the lookout for bright, tech-savvy candidates.