Description
We are currently recruiting for a National Financial Planning practice that are looking for a Head of Administration (Southern Region) The candidate will be based in either Bath, Essex, Kings Lynn, London or Reading. The ideal candidate will be highly experienced in managing operations teams/ Senior IFAA’s across multiple locations within the financial services environment. IO knowledge is important.
Purpose
Working as a member of the management team of the operations division, the main focus areas of this
position are:
to lead and develop teams of Team Leaders, Senior IFA Administrators, IFA Administrators and
Office Support staff across the Company’s offices in the South
You will work closely with the Head of Administration for the Midlands/North, the Head of Paraplanning and Group Operations Director to develop and deliver efficient and effective operations support so as to ensure an outstanding experience for our clients and to contribute to the achievement of our vision of being the UK’s IFA of choice.
Responsibilities
- Assume line management responsibility for a team of Team Leaders and overall responsibility for the line management of the Company’s team of Senior IFA Administrators, IFA Administrators and Office Support staff across the offices in the south.
- Ensure the delivery of first class administration support services across a full range of financial planning products and services.
- Provide operational expertise and act as a point of escalation for complex queries associated with the administrative functions.
- Develop the training and supervision of new employees within the IFA Administration function.
- Work with the Group Operations Director and Head of Administration for Midlands/North to establish
- KPI’s for the IFA Administration function and measure and develop staff performance against these.
- Work with other senior managers across the business to ensure a planned and controlled approach to change management involving and/or impacting the IFA Administration function.
- Work closely with the Compliance team to put appropriate mechanisms in place to ensure all Company procedures and guidelines as well as FCA regulations are adhered to.
- Deputise for the Group Operations Director as required.
- Work with the Group Operations Director to design and deliver operational and strategic updates to stakeholders and senior management as required.
- Maintain awareness of technological developments of relevance to the operations division and work with the IT Department to ensure the continuous realisation of efficiencies and advancement.
- Maintain and monitor spend against budget and make strategic recommendations for savings as appropriate.
- Work with the Group Operations Director and HR Business Partner (HRPB) to ensure sufficient resource across operational areas to manage business levels.
- Work closely with the Head of Paraplanning and Adviser Relationship Managers to ensure best practice and continuous improvement in terms of service delivery.
- Develop and maintain effective feedback channels to facilitate improvements across teams.
- Work with the Group Operations Director and Head of Administration in the Midlands/North to accommodate and effectively integrate new business/staff into the operations functions following acquisitions.
- Provide strategic input into the Operations Management Team on resource alignment performance against business objectives and developing the company proposition.
Experience and core skills
- Previous strategic involvement in an operational environment, ideally within a financial services environment
- Demonstrable experience (circa 5 years) of leading and managing teams across multiple sites.
- Demonstrable experience (circa 5 years) of working with Intelligent Office including experience of data migrations and ongoing data management.
- Demonstrable proficiency in project management
- Demonstrable ability to effectively train and coach others.
- Demonstrable proficiency in business planning software e.g. Excel, Visio, Intelligent Office
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
- Demonstrable organisational and project management skills
- A customer oriented and commercial mind set
- Self-motivated, positive and enthusiastic
- Demonstrable success in meeting targets within a high-pressure environment
- Sound knowledge of applicable back office and platform systems