Senior Specialty Operations Professional

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 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)