Senior Associate - Planning, Strategy & Research

Senior Associate

Aspiriant is recruiting a Senior Associate for our Planning Strategy & Research (PS&R) group. PS&R serves as the central hub for Aspiriant's wealth planning innovation and client experience. This is a nationwide search, with the opportunity to be located in our San Diego office or our other office locations (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mountain View, Irvine, Austin, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, or New York). The Senior Associate will report to the Chief Client Officer.

The Senior Associate role is a distinctive opportunity for someone who loves wealth planning and wants to apply that expertise in a broad, scalable way. Rather than working directly with clients, the Senior Associate will help design and evolve our wealth planning platform, developing tools and insights that advisors rely on every day to ensure we deliver a consistent, high-quality, intimate client experience.

This is a non-client-facing role without any direct business development duties by design. It is well suited for an individual with prior client-facing experience who seeks to extend that impact across the firm. The Senior Associate partners closely with the Practice (e.g., the firm's client-facing professionals) and participates with Client Service Operations, Technology, Compliance and other departments to solve complex challenges, improve how the firm operates and bring new ideas into practice.

PS&R's mission is to help advisors foster intimate and durable client relationships that enable clients to achieve their goals, experience peace of mind and live life well. The team builds and maintains the wealth planning platform that helping advisors with the tools, training and processes that make exceptional client service impression intuitive, coordinated and deeply personal.

Here are some examples of PS&R initiatives to demonstrate the range of our work:

• Prepare quarterly meeting materials that advisors in the Practice can adapt for client conversations
• Develop wealth planning conventions and guidance for consistent use across the Practice
• Design and refine the new client onboarding process
• Improve how the Practice supports clients through major life events, ensuring a thoughtful, caring, and well-coordinated experience in partnership with Client Service Operations, Compliance, and Finance
• Lead the annual client survey process, including related client communications and internal updates
• Coordinate with our Investment Strategy & Research and Client Service Operations Teams to support the Practice with centralized resources during times of crisis (i.e., severe wildfires and other natural events, tariff concerns, etc.)
• Work closely with our Client Service Operations and Compliance teams to develop and integrate new steps into our processes to be compliant with new and ongoing regulations

We are Aspiriant, a leading, independent, 100% employee-owned wealth management firm. Our core values guide us to seek out a broad range of perspectives, talent, and backgrounds to achieve our mission; one where all staff contribute to and share our success. We recognize, respect and value the contributions of each employee, and we strive to cultivate a work environment that strikes an agreeable balance between our professional and personal lives.

• Collaborative work environment where together we achieve more
• Environment supportive of learning and growing your career
• Continuing education assistance program
• 401(k) with company match
• Bonus program
• Company contribution up to 95% for health insurance
• Hybrid work arrangement

How you will contribute:

As part of PS&R, the Senior Associate plays a central role in equipping advisors across the firm to deliver exceptional, highly personalized client experiences. The role will assist with the following:

Drive wealth planning innovation and insight

• Help monitor emerging trends, strategies and regulatory developments in wealth management and translate them into actionable guidance for the Practice
• Contribute subject matter expertise to develop scalable planning approaches across areas such as retirement, education funding, insurance, charitable giving and complex balance sheet strategies

Build tools, processes and intellectual capital

• Design and refine the frameworks, templates and other materials that advisors use to guide client conversations
• Strengthen the firm's planning wealth planning services by improving processes, enhancing usability and increasing consistency across the Practice
• Balance standardization with flexibility to ensure advisors can deliver both high-quality and highly personalized advice

Enable and help advisors across the Practice

• Develop a deep consideration of advisor workflows, challenges and opportunities to identify areas for meaningful improvement
• Serve as a trusted internal partner, offering guidance, feedback and hands-on support to elevate planning quality across the firm
• Partner with Learning & Development to design and deliver training that strengthens both technical knowledge and relationship management capabilities

Collaborate across the firm to enhance the client experience

• Work closely with Compliance, Client Service Operations, Investment Strategy & Research, Technology and other departments to evolve our platform and processes
• Contribute to firm-wide initiatives that improve how we help clients through both everyday planning and complex life events

Create content and extend the firm's voice

• Develop client-facing and internal content, including presentations, articles, and webinars, that make planning concepts accessible and actionable
• Partner with Marketing to ensure alignment with the firm's brand and strategic priorities
• Represent the firm externally where appropriate, contributing to our reputation as a thoughtful leader in wealth planning

Is this you?

An ideal candidate will be motivated by our mission to empower families to take control of their financial lives, live their values with clarity and peace of mind and achieve their long-term goals. This role is not client facing. Instead, it plays a critical behind-the-scenes role by supporting advisors who work directly with clients. The right candidate will bring prior wealth management advisor experience along with a strong desire to focus their career on enabling others to deliver exceptional, highly personalized client service.

We seek individuals who share Aspiriant's values and vision and who thrive in a collaborative, intellectually rigorous and compassionate environment. A strategic partner once compared us to a "cocker spaniel," and we embrace that comparison. Our client relationships are grounded in professionalism and strengthened by warmth, care, and authenticity. This role contributes to that experience by equipping advisors with the tools, insights and support they need to serve clients with distinction. The attributes and talents that lead to success in the role are:

Knowledge:

• Strong technical knowledge of wealth management and a passion for financial planning, including areas such as retirement, charitable giving, education funding, and insurance
• Intellectual curiosity and accountability, with a desire to deepen expertise and contribute meaningfully within a team environment

Skills:

• Excellent listening and relationship management skills
• Strong attention to detail and follow-through
• Effective project management, with the ability to prioritize across multiple responsibilities
• Commitment to continuous growth and development of leadership capabilities

Abilities:

• Clear and effective communication skills, both written and verbal, including presentations
• Ability to collaborate across functions and build strong working relationships
• Proactive and adaptable, with a willingness to take ownership of a wide range of responsibilities
• Capability to identify and improve processes to enhance client service and firm efficiency
• Innovative, goal-oriented mindset aligned with Aspiriant's core values and culture

Experience and Education:

We consider a range of experience and educational backgrounds that demonstrate the ability to succeed in this role. Typical qualifications include:

• Bachelor's degree, preferably in business, finance, economics, tax, or financial planning
• CFP designation required
• Three or more years of experience in a wealth management firm serving high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients
• Experience contributing to a wealth management committee within an RIA is strongly preferred
• Proficiency with financial planning tools such as eMoney
• Demonstrated experience across the full financial planning process, including discovery, data gathering, analysis, plan development, implementation, and monitoring
• Strong analytical capabilities and sound professional judgment
• Excellent personal and professional references

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

Primarily sedentary work in an office with minimal distractions; walking throughout the office. Learn and memorize tasks; execute tasks independently; apply knowledge and use judgment to manage situations. Occasionally exert up to ten pounds of force to lift