Senior Program Manager, Portfolio Construction/Financial Foundation

COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
At Edward Jones, we help clients achieve their serious, long-term financial goals by understanding their needs and implementing tailored solutions. To ensure a personal client experience, we have located our 14,000+ branch offices where our more than 7 million clients live and work.

A typical branch office has one financial advisor who meets with clients face-to-face and one branch office administrator who enhances the team's ability to build deep relationships with clients. Headquarters associates in St. Louis and Tempe provide support and expertise to help U.S. and Canada branch teams deliver an ideal client experience. Edward Jones currently has more branch offices than any other financial services firm, and we continue to grow to meet the needs of long-term individual investors.

DESCRIPTION/RESPONSIBILITIES:
Do you have experience leading a project through various stages of the project life cycle?  Do you have experience working with financial planning and/or portfolio management software or tools? Are you a self-motivated individual? Do you look for ways to proactively improve systems or processes? Do you enjoy working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment?  If you answered yes to these questions, the Senior Program Developer role may be the right fit for you. 

The Client Strategies Group is responsible for leading the firm in ensuring our clients are on track to meet their financial goals.  Solution Tools is a department in our Client Strategies Group division and is responsible for working with key stakeholders to design, build, and implement software that assists our branch teams in:
 
* Managing their relationships.
* Measuring clients' progress toward their financial goals.
* Providing advice and guidance on rollovers and account selection.
* Building and maintaining  investment portfolios that align[DEL: s :DEL] to the firm's advice and guidance.

Responsible for strategizing with the firm leadership to continually innovate our financial planning, contact management, and portfolio construction systems. This includes:
* Driving the identification, prioritization, design and implementation of system changes needed to support the firm's financial planning, contact management, and portfolio construction strategies.
* Acting as the deep subject matter expert and primary business project leader for assigned projects and enhancements, which includes developing project plans, facilitating meetings, designing prototypes, outlining system requirements, coordinating with IS developers, developing and executing the testing strategy, supporting implementation and adoption, and executing post-implementation close-out procedures.
* Leading multiple medium- to large-sized projects that are complex in nature.
* Designing and implementing key system controls to maintain compliance with internal policies and regulatory changes.
* Regularly communicating and collaborating with stakeholders across the organization regarding system needs and upcoming changes.
* Serving as an escalation point for system questions and issues.
* Mentoring and training other associates within the team and department as needed.

Education/certification: 
* Financial planning and/or portfolio management strongly desired.
* 7+ years of industry experience required.
* Series 7 and 66 licenses required within 6 months of hire.
* Bachelor's degree required. Major in Finance, Accounting, Economic, Business Administration, or Information Systems preferred.
* MBA or relevant certification, such as CFP, CFA or PMP, strongly preferred. 
* Project management experience preferred (having led at least one large project at minimum)
* Prior leadership experience is a plus

Functional knowledge:
* Advanced knowledge of financial planning and contact management concepts or portfolio construction.
* Advanced knowledge of system, investments and products, and firm advice and guidance.
* Exceptional written, verbal and interpersonal skills.
* Highly detail oriented to ensure accurate information on requirements, testing and implementation.
* Exceptional organizational, time management and program management skills to be able to meet deadlines.
* Proficient at creating spreadsheets, analyzing reports, and developing project measures.