Sr Operations Digital Technology Product Manager

About The Role

Baird is an employee-owned wealth management, capital markets, asset management and private equity firm. Leveraging our deep expertise and broad skills, we're dedicated to providing the best advice and service to our individual, corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. Our Operations team is seeking a member for its Operations Strategic Support team. The Operations Strategic Support team is an established group with a mission to scale the organization, enhance the associate and client experience, and improve productivity through technology and process improvement.

The Operations Technology Product Manager will be expected to play a leading role in creating and delivering on the Operations digital strategy, align with our Private Wealth digital strategy, and execute on the day-to-day operations of our digital Client Onboarding applications, and Client Communication Modernization effort. This position will collaborate with Operations leadership, PWM leadership, Wealth Solutions Group experts, IT, marketing, FA’s and CS’s, and various corporate resource groups as well as clients ensuring the Firm’s current and future online needs are met. The role may evolve to include other responsibilities as priorities change.

The Impact You'll Make

• Develop and drive a cohesive digital strategy for Operations based on multiple business partner’s input and work to communicate a consistent and simplified message that supports wealth management objectives within the industry.
• Serve as the Client Communication Modernization product owner, overseeing the project portfolio, strategic roadmap, and Client Communication Modernization Center of Excellence.
• Serve as the Client Onboarding product owner overseeing the Associate and Client Experience Simplification (ACES) delivery team project portfolio and strategic roadmap.
• Maintain a long-term, strategic focus by being familiar with related platforms and capabilities, understanding end-client, operations, and advisor needs, participating in roundtable committees, managing product enhancements, and helping to drive and measure product usage.
• Ensure a customer centric online approach is taken, ensuring clarity, simplicity and effectiveness of communication that is in line with brand personality and objectives of the Firm and measurable results.
• Create and maintain client journey maps, the client onboarding journey map, functional designs, prototyping, requirements definition, test planning, project execution, training coordination, and documentation of operational support procedures.
• Collaborate regularly with PWM branch focus groups when developing new features and products or product enhancements.
• Collaborate and regularly partner with key constituents when developing new offerings or product and process enhancements (Operations Leadership, PWM Leadership, Wealth Solutions Group, IT, Compliance, Marketing, and PWM Councils).
• Collaborate closely with Wealth Solutions Baird Online and CRM teams to ensure portfolio and strategy alignment.
• Change Management and Adoption
• Oversee training deliverables in collaboration with Operations, PWM, and Marketing and Communication to create the collateral needed for adoption including educating and training front-line resources on platform capabilities.
• Manage relationships and conduct business reviews with third party vendors.
• Advocate for firm-specific enhancements and influence vendor product roadmap based on Baird’s needs.
• May be asked to assume additional responsibilities as project portfolio needs dictate.
  
  

What You'll Bring To Baird

• Bachelor’s degree required preferably in a technical area of study.
• 5 years experience in online, ecommerce or related background.
• Business understanding of the Wealth Management industry and trends.
• Technical skill set with the ability to translate for the non-technical end-user.
• Advanced analytical skills with the ability to perform complex problem solving.
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation and influencing skills leading to trusting relationships with business partners and their leadership team.
• Demonstrated relationship builder; able to establish both internal and external working relationships in order to identify and implement strategies for business growth.
• Change agent who is able to work effectively and collaboratively in a team environment and with associates at all levels and in all areas of the firm.
• Ability to identify issues and trends in order to anticipate change and provide recommended comprehensive solutions and remedies.