Supervisor, Operations | Retirement Plan Services | Southfield, MI

Retirement Plan Services Team Supervisor

We're looking for a strong people leader to supervise our Retirement Plan Services team, delivering high-quality administrative and operational support for retirement accounts, including IRAs and qualified plans. This role provides daily direction, sets clear performance goals, and ensures service excellence, productivity, and compliance with policies and regulatory requirements. The supervisor collaborates across internal teams and with key stakeholders to resolve complex issues, enhance processes, and support business objectives, while serving as a subject matter expert on retirement plan regulations. They will coach and develop team members, manage performance, and lead process improvement initiatives to drive efficiency and consistently deliver high-quality results in a fast-paced environment. This position follows a hybrid-friendly schedule, so you get the best of both worlds flexibility and collaboration. In office days will be three per week averaging 12 days per month in our Southfield, MI Corporate Office.

Responsibilities:

• Partners with cross site peers and managers to establishes performance goals for department; collaborates with and directs associates to meet or exceed these goals
• Acts as an information source for associates and ensures training and development occurs
• Plans, assigns, monitors, reviews, evaluates and leads the work of associates
• Oversees team morale and plans for appropriate team building activities and rewards and recognition
• Handles performance management including career development and progressive discipline of direct reports
• Interviews and hires associates who possess the core competencies of the position to strengthen the department and mitigate turnover
• Serves as knowledge resource for internal and external associates with respect to IRAs and other retirement plan issues
• Keeps current on legislative and regulatory changes impacting retirement products or accounts and initiates appropriate actions to minimize regulatory exposure and risk and to protect the liability of the department, firm, clients and advisors.
• Serves as liaison between retirement plans department and financial advisors, Raymond James Legal and Compliance departments and associates to resolve escalated problems as needed
• Initiates the evaluation of current processes and systems to recommend productivity and efficiency enhancements; performs operational testing of system enhancements for accuracy and usability; trains users on new systems
• Organizes and schedules both onsite and offsite training activities to help drive high quality service and performance
• Prepares training materials, or assists others with preparing training materials
• Supervise others working within established operational systems.
• Contribute to the development of annual and longer-term business plans; forecast performance against business key performance indicators (KPIs); develop business cases for key activities/projects; and estimate the financial and human resources required to deliver performance targets.
• Communicate the local action plan; explain how this relates to the function's strategy and action plan and to the broader organization's mission and vision; motivate people to achieve local business goals.
• Develop and propose own performance objectives; take appropriate actions to ensure achievement of agreed objectives, using the organization's performance management systems to improve personal performance. Or manage and report on team performance; set appropriate performance objectives for direct reports or project/account team members and hold people accountable for achieving them, taking appropriate corrective action where necessary to ensure the achievement of team/personal objectives.
• Supervise a team providing administrative and service operations support and have deep expertise in the service operations provided by that team.
• Develop short- or medium-term work schedules in order to achieve planned commitments. Approve overtime or use additional resources as needed.
• Identify shortcomings in existing processes, systems, and procedures, and use established change management programs to address them.
• Work within established procedures to achieve specified goals.
• Advise managers how to apply a wide variety of existing procedures and precedents.
• Help others get the most out of internal communications systems by offering support and advice.
• Keep track of risk parameters, identifying any deviations and reporting them to more senior colleagues. Involves working within established risk management systems.
• Track budgets and report variances to more senior colleagues.
• Provide coaching to team members to develop their skills.
• Identify, within the team, instances of noncompliance with the organization's policies and procedures and/or relevant regulatory codes and codes of conduct, reporting these instances and escalating issues as appropriate.

Knowledge of:

• Rules and regulations of the IRS and DOL pertaining to IRAs and qualified plans
• Fundamental financial planning and investment concepts, practices and procedures used in the securities industry
• Investment concepts, practices and procedures used in the securities industry
• Financial markets and products

Skills:

• Interpreting policies and conveying decisions diplomatically to advisors and support staff, particularly when/if the decisions negatively impact the end-clients
• Providing support and guidance for retirement plan efforts
• Reviewing materials for compliance with rules and regulations
• Gathering information and preparing oral and written reports
• Making rule-based and analytical decisions
• Interpret and apply retirement plan regulations and identify and recommend solutions to problems and procedural changes as appropriate
• Work under pressure on multiple tasks concurrently and meet deadlines in a fast-paced work environment with frequent interruptions and changing priorities
• Provides guidance and training to others on planning, organizing, prioritizing and overseeing activities to efficiently meet business objectives.
• Provides guidance and training to others on developing appropriate plans or performing necessary actions based on recommendations and requirements.
• Provides technical guidance when required on developing, monitoring, interpreting and understanding policies and procedures, while making sure they match organizational strategies and objectives.
• Applies comprehensive knowledge while providing guidance and training to others on using clear and effective verbal communications skills to express ideas, request actions and formulate plans or policies.
• Provides technical guidance when required on interpreting and applying knowledge of laws, regulations and policies in area of expertise.
• Provides technical guidance when required on analyzing data trends for use in reports to help guide decision making.
• Provides technical guidance when required on reviewing and creating relevant, lucid and effective reports.
• Identifies, assesses, prioritizes and manages risks and provides technical guidance when required.
• Uses comprehensive knowledge and skills while guiding and training others on meeting high customer service standards.
• Independently engage in strategic planning.
• Shift into and out of a mental mindsets associated with assessing the facts and circumstances of the current situation and/or environment and making the appropriate/innovative adjustments to thinking and work habits to thrive in any scenario.
• Manages and applies safe systems of work and provides technical guidance when required.
• Negotiates and provides technical guidance when required on how to help the organization by obtaining consensus between two or more internal or external parties who may have different interests.
• Provides technical guidance when required on managing projects and/or programs within desired cost, time and quality parameters.
• Plan, organize, and execute the steps it takes to achieve a goal to achieve higher efficiencies.

Licenses/Certifications

• SIE required or ability to obtain within 120 days (as required by FINRA), provided that an exemption or grandfathering cannot be applied.
• Series 99 required, or ability to obtain within 120 days (as required by FINRA). Persons holding Series 6, 7, 17, 37 or 38 or those who hold principal-level registrations: Series 4, 9/10, 14, 16, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 51, and 53 would be qualified to register as an Operations Professional (Series 99) without passing the examination.

Education

Bachelor's: Finance, High School (HS) (Required)

Work Experience

General Experience - 3 to 6 years, Manager Experience - 13 months to 3 years

Certifications

s99 - Operations Professional Examination - Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Securities Industry Essentials Exam (SIE) - Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

Travel

Less than 25%