Senior Specialty Operations Professional

Job Description

Cetera is currently seeking a Senior Specialty Operations Professional for our Fee for Service Operations team located in Des Moines, IA or St. Cloud, MN. This is a unique opportunity to join our team in providing operational support and world-class customer service to our clients and financial advisors across our Individual Consulting Programs, including Financial Planning and Participant Advice. There is potential for this to be a hybrid role based on a successful training period.

Core Responsibilities:

Provide operational support to financial advisors and their clients across our Individual Consulting Programs, including Financial Planning Fee for Service and Participant Advice, ensuring high-quality service delivery at every touchpoint.
Receive, review, and process client agreements submitted via mail, fax, document imaging upload, or the AdvicePay platform, ensuring all fields are accurately entered and validated against source documents in our internal database.
Perform thorough good-order reviews of incoming paperwork, cross-referencing form data against database records to confirm accuracy and completeness prior to releasing commission payments.
Process and reconcile multiple payment types including physical check deposits, commission file batches, ACH debits and credits, and wire transactions, ensuring all billing activity is properly documented and reported.
Run and maintain operational reports to support billing facilitation, payment processing, and workflow tracking, with proficiency in Excel functions including VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, pivot tables, and related analytical tools.
Partner with internal stakeholders including Program Managers, the AdviceWorks team, and Compliance to ensure all processed transactions meet regulatory and broker-dealer compliance standards.
Responsible for low to mid-level escalations, partnering with the Operations Team Lead and leadership to research, communicate, and resolve issues in a timely manner.
Proactively identify and resolve potential operational problems before they escalate, demonstrating sound analytical and critical thinking skills across daily work functions.
Respond to inquiries from internal and external customers via email, Support Center tickets, and outbound phone calls, providing first-level contact resolution in a timely and professional manner.
Perform detailed research on customer accounts as requested and deliver accurate, timely responses to advisors, clients, and internal partners.
Support the development and maintenance of written procedures and workflow documentation, leveraging tools such as Microsoft Visio to help organize and improve team processes.
Comply with all team processes, procedures, regulatory requirements, and service level agreements while consistently achieving quality metrics.
Cross-train on additional queues and operational workflows to support team capacity and continuity.
Complete other duties as assigned.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Ability to multi-task
Flexible and adaptable to change
Strong communication and organizational skills
Positive role model to colleagues
Highly responsive to coaching and training
Independent; able to work and resolve complex issues with minimal guidance
Ability to learn quickly and multi-task effectively in a fast-paced environment
Team player attitude
Energetic and results-oriented
Strong analytical and critical thinking skills with a keen attention to detail
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, pivot tables, and data analysis functions
Proficiency in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint
Working knowledge of Microsoft Visio and ability to document procedures and workflows
Basic understanding of API concepts and system data flow
Familiarity with broker-dealer and advisory compliance rules and practices
Ability and willingness to place outbound phone calls to advisors and clients to resolve issues proactively

Desired Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Bachelor's degree
Series 99, 6, or 7 licensed
Demonstrated experience delivering excellent problem resolution, organizational and follow-up skills
Ability to multi-task while staying on track with regulatory deadlines, field inquiries, and internal assignments
Knowledge of AI tools and prompting techniques as applied to operational workflows
Experience with financial services platforms such as AdvicePay, AdviceWorks, Salesforce, or similar systems

Minimum Required Education & Experience:

High School Diploma or GED
1 years' experience in the financial industry
1 years of experience with MS Office tools
Licensing (if applicable)

#LI-Hybrid