Senior Technology Specialist

About the Role

At Garde Capital, wealth management is a process, not an event. We begin with a comprehensive evaluation of each client’s full financial picture, create a detailed roadmap, and remain by their side with ongoing reviews, education, and progress updates. Our service model is about more than customer service; it’s about lifelong relationships built on trust, competence, and security. It’s the Garde Way.

We are hiring a senior individual contributor to own Technology, Business Intelligence (BI), Business Process Automation, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the firm. Reporting directly to the COO, this role is accountable for the day-to-day reliability and security of our technology environment, the accuracy and scalability of our data and reporting, the continuous improvement of core business processes, and the practical, safe adoption of AI across the organization.

A core mandate of this role is to improve and refine the firm’s technology, data, and process stack: identifying, implementing, and rolling out new systems and automations that improve client service and operational efficiency, while systematically redesigning or sunsetting legacy tools, manual workflows, and inefficient processes. This is a hands-on leadership role without direct reports. Success requires strong judgment, execution ability, experience with process improvement and workflow automation, comfort partnering with third-party vendors/MSPs, and the ability to drive change through influence in a lean, regulated business.

Our core stack includes Tamarac, Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Okta/EntraID, Power BI, and emerging AI tools (e.g., Copilot/ChatGPT), alongside a broader suite of RIA and security applications.

Our IT Support Model

We partner with a third-party managed service provider (MSP) for ongoing IT support. The MSP delivers proactive maintenance to keep our systems secure, reliable, and high-performing, as well as a responsive service desk for day-to-day troubleshooting. The Senior Technology Specialist serves as the internal owner of our technology environment and primary liaison to the MSP, focusing on roadmap, standards, escalations, and continuous improvement rather than front-line ticket work.

Key Responsibilities

Technology Ownership & Modernization

• Working closely with the CEO and COO, serve as the primary owner of the firm’s technology function, ensuring reliable, secure operations for a 20-person hybrid workforce.
• Maintain and execute a 12-month technology roadmap aligned with firm strategy, client needs, and regulatory obligations, including sequencing of new implementations and retirement of legacy systems.
• Lead the full lifecycle of technological improvements and change: identify gaps/opportunities in the current stack, evaluate and select new tools/vendors, run pilots with clear success metrics, migrate data/workflows as needed, decommission legacy tools and ensure clean cutover
• Own critical internal IT operations in partnership with our MSP, including: managing user access/rights and privileges, overseeing onboarding/offboarding and equipment provisioning, managing laptop lifecycle standards and coordinating refreshes with the MSP
• Lead firmwide cybersecurity program execution in partnership with Compliance: security policies and controls, annual risk assessments and vulnerability testing, incident response and breach procedures, audit evidence prep and remediation
• Own business continuity and disaster recovery procedures for technology: backup strategy, restoration testing, and recovery standards, annual BCP/DR tests and documented results
• Ensure the technology ecosystem integrations are stable and scalable across key platforms (e.g., portfolio/accounting, CRM, custodians, billing/reporting tools).
• Create and maintain internal technology documentation, SOPs, and an accessible knowledge base to reduce recurring issues and improve self-service.
• Drive adoption and change management for new systems, ensuring training, documentation, and accountable usage standards are in place.

Business Intelligence (BI) Ownership & Evolution

• Own the firm’s reporting and analytics function, ensuring data accuracy, consistency, and usability across the business.
• Modernize and streamline the BI stack over time, including upgrading data flows, automating manual reporting, and retiring redundant or low-value reports/tools.
• Manage and deliver recurring BI outputs, including: Assets, Revenue, Advisor Compensation, Returns vs. benchmark analysis
• Produce ad-hoc reporting and analysis for leadership and advisors using CRM, portfolio/accounting, custodial feeds, and other systems.
• Maintain clean, reconciled data across platforms and proactively resolve data breaks and discrepancies.
• Develop and maintain data definitions, dictionaries, and standardized metrics (“single source of truth”) for key firm KPIs (AUM, flows, revenue, pipeline, client segmentation, advisor productivity).
• Build and automate dashboards and scheduled reports in Power BI to reduce manual effort and improve reliability.
• Maintain appropriate BI permissions, ensuring sensitive data (compensation, revenue, client PII) is protected and access is role-based.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ownership & Deployment

• Serve as the firm’s AI lead, responsible for safe, practical adoption of AI tools and workflows.
• Contribute to and maintain the firm’s AI framework, including: approved tools and use cases, data handling and confidentiality rules, human-review and supervision standards, record retention and compliance requirements
• Evaluate and recommend new AI tools; run structured pilots with clear success metrics.
• Implement AI solutions embedded into existing workflows (CRM, meeting notes, client communications, operations processes), and retire duplicative or ineffective AI experiments/tools.
• Lead the AI Center of Excellence: role-based training for advisors, operations, and leadership, prompt and workflow playbooks, adoption monitoring and continuous improvement
• Track and report AI ROI and adoption to the COO (time saved, quality improvement, risk reduction).

Qualifications and Experience

Required

• 7 years of hands-on experience in technology operations, systems administration, BI/data, and/or business process automation, ideally in a regulated financial services environment.
• Track record of modernizing a tech stack: evaluating options, selecting tools, leading implementations/migrations, and decommissioning legacy systems.
• Strong cybersecurity and governance fundamentals (access control, incident response, risk assessments, record retention) and comfort working in compliance-heavy contexts.
• Practical experience improving business processes and building workflow automations (e.g., Power Automate, Zapier/Make, custom scripts, APIs/webhooks).
• Proficiency with BI/reporting tools and data work, including Power BI (required) and experience with SQL and/or ETL/ELT and data modeling.
• Demonstrated experience evaluating and safely deploying AI tools in real business workflows.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to influence, train, and support non-technical colleagues as a senior individual contributor.

Preferred

• Experience in an RIA, wealth management, fintech, or other professional services firm.
• Experience with data and BI architecture and/or low-code automation platforms at the firm or department level.
• Experience partnering closely with MSPs or other vendors delivering core IT services.

Compensation

Starting base salary range: $100,000–$140,000 per year, depending on background, skills and relevant experience. Additional performance-based bonus opportunities available, along with competitive benefits.