How will this role impact First Command?
The Associate Director, Field Operations plays a critical role in advancing Advisor Operations transformation by leading and executing initiatives that improve operational performance and drive measurable outcomes for the organization. This role partners with department leadership to deliver initiatives aligned to enterprise priorities, enable organizational change, and enhance operational excellence.
What will the employee in this role be doing?
- Lead and execute continuous improvement initiatives that standardize processes, strengthen accountability, and enable consistent, data-driven decision-making across Advisor Operations.
- Develop and implement an AI-enabled knowledge base and operational playbooks that simplify workflows, improve consistency, and increase team efficiency and scalability.
- Identify and deliver efficiency gains by partnering with Advisor Ops leaders and SMEs to analyze manual processes, implement automation and AI solutions, and build reporting tools that improve visibility and execution.
- Build and maintain a field impact roadmap that tracks changes to SOPs, business processes, and systems, and field-facing training and communications. Collaborate with Enterprise Adoption, Internal Communications, and other stakeholders to help leaders understand field impact, inform timing and messaging considerations, and manage change adoption.
- Support data-driven decision making by defining and tracking key metrics, analyzing operational performance, identifying trends, and providing actionable insights to leadership to improve department outcomes and ROI.
- Coordinate SOP development and approval by partnering with Legal, Compliance, and other stakeholders to ensure new and updated SOPs are drafted, reviewed, and deployed in adherence with strict deadlines.
- Contribute to enterprise initiatives and portfolio planning by documenting requirements, identifying risks and dependencies, and ensuring Advisor Operations perspectives are incorporated into project execution.
- Partner with technology and business teams to gather requirements, inform product and process improvements, and support implementation of solutions that enhance field effectiveness and productivity.
- Serve as a primary escalation point for field and home office partners, identifying root causes and implementing solutions that improve processes, communication, and overall field experience.
- Support execution of training and communication plans, helping drive adoption of initiatives and tracking effectiveness and business impact.
- Develop clear, executive-ready deliverables (presentations, dashboards, summaries) that communicate insights, align stakeholders, and support decision-making.
- Lead and support operational workstreams and teams that improve field force effectiveness and efficiency.
- Execute high-priority projects and initiatives that support Advisor Operations and enterprise objectives.
Who will this employee lead?
- Various teams within Advisor Operations
What skills & qualifications will this employee need?
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, or a closely related field (required)
Work Experience
- Minimum 7-10 years’ related experience (required)
- Experience in a financial services sales organization (strongly preferred)
- Experience supporting a distributed field force (strongly preferred)
Certifications
- Relevant industry licenses (e.g., FINRA Series 7, 66 (or 63/65), and 24, Texas Life & Health) are beneficial but not required
Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Demonstrated servant leader with an enterprise mindset, fostering collaboration, continuous learning, and team development to support business outcomes.
- Strong critical thinker with the ability to translate departmental strategy and objectives into execution, leading initiatives end-to-end (planning through delivery) and applying insights to drive continuous improvement.
- Ability to understand and balance enterprise and stakeholder priorities, partnering effectively across functions to develop practical, results-oriented solutions.
- Effective communicator and influencer, with the ability to clearly convey ideas, align stakeholders, and drive action across all levels of the organization (written and verbal).
- Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results independently, demonstrating sound judgment, initiative, and accountability in a fast-paced environment.
- Working knowledge of industry, market, and operational trends, applying insights to support business decisions, improve field effectiveness, and enhance competitiveness.
- Strong attention to detail and organizational mindset, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and high-quality execution across deliverables and processes.
- Advanced proficiency with Salesforce strongly preferred.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft tools, including PowerBI and Copilot, strongly preferred.
- Familiarity with military branches, hierarchies, and pay and benefits structures preferred.
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