Technology Solutions Manager

Baird Equity Asset Management offers high-quality actively managed investment strategies to institutions and individuals through both Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) and Mutual Funds. Our strategies are managed by experienced investment teams with proven track records within focused areas of the market. Today, our business offers a Specialized Asset Management service to high-net-worth investors and five institutional products - Mid Cap Growth, Small/Mid Cap Growth, International, Global, and Equity Opportunity. We currently manage over $11 billion in assets and expect continued growth over the coming years.

About the Role:

We are seeking a highly engaged technology professional with the strengths to understand our business purpose and strategy and manage a broad set of responsibilities critical to the day-to-day operation and continuous improvement of our technology environment. Essential duties include owning and prioritizing our technology backlog, coordinating work with Baird IT and external vendors, serving as SME of our department's technology solutions, meeting regularly with end users, and project managing cross-functional initiatives. The successful candidate enjoys cross-team collaboration and is comfortable and effective at communicating with individuals at all levels - the ability to drive results through others is critical. To thrive in this position, candidates must have an entrepreneurial mentality and the desire to build a business while building their career in Equity Asset Management.

The Impact You'll Make:

• Works with leadership to understand key business objectives and craft relevant and effective technology solutions to enable meeting those objectives through collaboration with IT and external vendors.
• Maintains the department's technology backlog and prioritizes work. Must be comfortable assessing and articulating the ROI of prioritized work.
• Coordinates prioritized work with Baird IT team and/or external vendors and monitors progress, ensuring work is moving at an appropriate place. Active, engaged involvement in all IT team ceremonies is a must (sprint planning, daily standups, refinement meetings, etc.).
• Conducts regular meetings with technology end users to understand business needs, including ongoing feedback loops to keep end users aware of progress. Must be comfortable weighing and articulating competing priorities across end users.
• Communicates the status and benefits of technology initiatives to management.
• Acts as subject matter expert of existing technology solutions (both internal and external) and serves as first point of escalation for troubleshooting issues.
• Evaluates current state of department technology and identifies new technologies or upgrades/enhancements to existing technology that could improve our business.
• Coordinates department technology support needs.
• Builds strong relationships with both internal and external technology partners.
• Serves as project manager for large technology initiatives (and potentially non-technology initiatives as assigned):
  • Frequent interaction with end users to understand needs, provide status updates, navigate change management, etc.
  • Tracks project work, next steps, deadlines, dependencies, etc. Schedules meetings, keeps track of take-aways, and holds project team accountable for take-aways.
  • Facilitates cross-functional dialogue to keep work moving or remove blockers.

What You'll Bring to Baird:

• The desire and ability to deliver unmatched service - our clients come first
• Entrepreneurial - Cares deeply about serving our clients and our team; continuously seeks ways to make our department better through people, process, and technology
• Strong business acumen - Capable of understanding our business purposes and priorities; appreciates that technology is an important tool in developing business solutions
• Highly collaborative - Thrives on bringing people together and setting a positive tone for the team
• Drives results - Strong organization, project management, and follow through; can be counted on to execute; holds themself accountable; pursues tasks with energy and a high sense of urgency; seeks solutions especially in the face of setbacks
• Inspires trust - a confident, effective communicator who is thoughtful and detail-oriented; builds trust at all levels through collaboration, integrity, accuracy, and reliability; a high focus on quality is critical
• Strong leadership tendencies - willingness to develop newer associates, takes time to provide the context behind the work, effectively provides and receives constructive feedback, problem solves people issues, displays vulnerability, provides recognition to others
• Problem solver - can identify resolutions to new or unforeseen priorities with minimal guidance; thoroughly analyzes relevant factors, probes for answers, and anticipates all possible outcomes
• Intellectually curious - a relentless learner who enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks and proactively seeks out the resources and knowledge needed to expand subject matter expertise
• Track record of success - consistently identified as a top performer; grasps new concepts quickly, deals with complexity comfortably; intellectually sharp and capable, high standards for work output
• Broad technical understanding of various IT topics required (software/data engineering, software/data architecture, etc.). Python/C#/SQL/Power BI/Salesforce knowledge preferred. Equivalent experience will be considered.
• Bachelor's degree in business or technology majors preferred. 5+ years of professional experience required.
• SIE and Series 7 & 66 licensed or ability to obtain after hire.

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