Sozo Private Wealth is a holistic financial planning firm platformed at Northwestern Mutual. We count ourselves overwhelmingly blessed that our little firm continues to experience rapid growth in the families we are privileged to serve, and as such, we find ourselves in need of additional team members to help serve those clients!
Since we are a small firm, we view the hiring process as one of mutual selection.
We know anyone reading this is trying to find and get a job.
That applies pressure to say what you believe are the "right" answers to convince someone to hire you.
It may lead you to act in ways that are counter to your natural wiring and tendencies.
Please resist this urge.
Relationships are built on trust.
Trust comes from open, honest communication.
Please stop and consider your honest interpretation of the job description and the firm that follows.
If at any point you disagree with something we value, do not dismiss that.
It matters.
It matters a lot.
It matters because we live out these values and they inform everything we do.
It matters because you will spend too much of your life in your career to join a team that doesn't mesh with who you are at your core.
Do not try to force a fit.
You have to be okay with the fact that your fit may not be at Sozo, and figuring that out before you take a job is infinitely better for everyone than discovering that later.
That said, we do not expect everyone who joins us to stay forever. The person we hire is not the same person decades later, and the firm and our needs will change over time as well.
However, the values upon which our firm is built are non-negotiable and unchanging.
They must be a fit from the start.
So, here is what we are all about:
Our firm mission is to "enable families to dream, define, and experience life on purpose."
When we engage with client families in the planning process, we do so by getting personal and intimate.
We ask a lot of questions about hopes, dreams, vision, and passions.
Those questions are fun, life-giving, and exciting.
We also ask the hard questions about death, disability, and disease.
Those are not comfortable topics, but they are so important.
As we understand a family’s dreams and fears, we can offer advice that connects finances with a life on purpose.
Our firm vision is "leveraging our lives for the lives of others."
We have all been blessed with different talents, passions, and interests.
We believe our calling is to use those gifts in the service of others, be they clients, friends, family, or teammates.
Here is the type of person we are looking for and the responsibilities we would like them to take on:
Qualifications that do NOT matter a whole lot to us:
- Relevant major:All relevant learning and education will happen AFTER we hire you, so your college major does not matter. If you have one that is different and interesting, that might actually be a bonus.
- Industry experience: Most of our team has joined with zero prior industry experience so we are accustomed to providing on the job training.
Qualifications:
- Others focused: An orientation toward serving others is paramount for success in our firm.
- Committed to continuous self-improvement: Growth and change never cease and this job requires learning a LOT and it never stops. Certifications are required and earning designations is expected. The firm supports learning financially, though study is completed outside of work hours.
- High capacity for self-leadership: We do not micro-manage, so you must be able to get your stuff done without someone telling you to.
- Thrive in a fast-paced work environment: Our priorities shift almost constantly, so you must enjoy the variety that comes from shifting gears routinely.
- Intensely hard-working:Seriously… we mean HARD work. Not physical labor, of course, but it is mentally exhausting at times and the quantity of work never goes down. Everyone on our team describes this job as the hardest they have ever worked before, and they love it.
- Detailed: Our number one firm rule is “don’t mess with the client’s money”, and that requires attention to detail. Sloppy work means client dollars may get mishandled and that is something we cannot afford.
- Interest in / passion for finance: Our world is all about finances. If you are not at least somewhat interested in financial topics, you will not enjoy what we do.
- Excel skills:We use Excel a lot, so experience and expertise is definitely helpful.
- Have a good attitude: Debbie Downers need not apply. We can teach you how to do the job, but you have to bring a positive attitude. Everyone has bad days, but we are looking for people who look for the silver lining, are resilient in the face of life’s ups and downs, and are always solution-oriented and committed to long-term solutions and growth.
- Process-driven to the core: We live and breathe processes and checklists. If you make (and actually use) lists, you will fit in great. However, you must also be willing to either follow the existing process OR help make it better. Ignoring the process is not acceptable.
Relationships are a two-way street, so while we need you to commit to the above to be the person we need, we also stand by our commitment to our team:
- Team comes first:We are behind our team 100%. If there is ever a conflict of interest between a client and a team member, the team comes first. No question.
- We like you: If you are on the team, it means we like you. We want to be with you and value you for you—not just for the job that you do for the firm.
- Long-term: We hope our team stays with us for the entirety of their careers, so we are focused on providing opportunity for continued career growth over time.
The specifics:
At a high level, the actual job we need help with at this point is with our operations team helping to get new clients set up and to handle service requests for existing clients.
So what does that actually mean?
- Pass several tests in the first year (study time is expected to happen outside of work hours) to acquire the credentials required to do this work.
- Georgia Life/Health exam (easy)
- SIE (easy)
- Series 7 (hard)
- Series 63 (moderate)
- Variable Products (super duper easy…)
- Coordinate with clients to collect personal data to open accounts or complete applications.
- Follow the proper procedures to protect client data.
- Use professional (but not robotic) language in calls, emails, and texts.
- Spell things correctly and use good grammar.
- Prepare paperwork and collect electronic signatures (or sometimes, ink signatures).
- Gain an understanding of the products we offer and mastery of several internal systems.
- Pleasantly, but persistently follow-up with clients (or teammates) who have not responded to that request you sent and the 9 follow-up calls/emails/texts in the last three weeks…
- Keep our internal tracking systems up-to-date constantly as cases move through the process.
- Handle significant transactions, both in volume and dollar value, with precision at speed
- We are human, so we do not expect robotic perfection (though that would be welcome!).
- We do expect attention to detail and ownership of, and learning from, mistakes.
- Help suggest ways to refine our internal systems and processes
- Adapt to changes in process/product/systems/tools as they occur—they will happen a lot
- Serve assigned client families as their concierge support. This includes attending meetings to observe, take notes, and build rapport with the client, working directly with the client on any service needed, and helping the primary advisor prepare for meetings.
- In the first couple years, we expect you to develop an understanding of the financial planning process and to engage with our planning software to help build and update plans for our client families.
- Over time, we expect continued development of your expertise through earning designations. Similar to certification exams, study for these takes place outside of normal work hours.
I am certain there are parts of the job that I left out because the one constant in our work is change. See above about changing priorities… the demands of the job change daily (and sometimes hourly).
If you are the type of person that needs to shut out the distraction completely to get anything done, you will not fit well. Conversely, if you believe you are a multi-tasking expert and are always doing 12 things simultaneously, that will not work either.
The work we do is significant and small mistakes have big impacts. The difference between moving $10,000 and $100,000 is a single zero but it could result in that client looking for a new advisor.
We are looking for people who get excited about new projects and opportunities coming across their plate, balanced with the discipline and focus to diligently get their work done accurately and quickly. Masters of managing the tension between quadrant two activities and the tyranny of the urgent will thrive!
Much of the work we do in operations is not glamorous, but it is important and meaningful.
When our operations team is operating at peak effectiveness, no one thinks about our operations.
Things just get done.
Clients get served and brought onboard without issue.
Advisors have what they need to have important conversations.
In short, the ball keeps rolling and no one has to worry about how/when things are getting done, they just trust the team and the system.
Our wealth team’s motto is “simplify wealth, maximize focus”.
Our risk team’s motto is “partners in protection”.
Both of those represent a servant heart.
Both of those allow the client we are serving to focus on their real life, because our best clients do not want to have to think about their finances. They want to trust that our team has that part handled for them.
Whoever pursues this position should be a natural supporter and wired to help others without seeking the limelight.
But that is not to say that they should be timid...
We have some strong personalities, both in our clients and on our team, and our team appreciates good-natured sass. We see it as a strength if you have the confidence and strength to push back or speak up when appropriate.
In fact, we expect you to speak up.
If a process is broken, you may be the only one with the perspective to see that.
Even if it is your first day.
An outsider perspective is important to help our firm avoid getting stuck in doing things the way we’ve always done them.
Now, working in a supportive role does not mean that there is not significant purpose and meaning in the work we do. We do not simply do paperwork in a vacuum without seeing the impact of that important work. Quite the opposite.
We sell life insurance, so our team routinely works with the survivors of loss to families to help them get a handle on their finances and realize tremendous growth in the midst of grief from their loss. We are there for them every step of the way and are often one of their most impactful relationships in that time in their life.
We also do holistic financial planning, so our firm impacts families by helping them to turn their livelihood into a meaningful retirement wherein they are able to turn the dollars they saved their whole life into experiences that allow them to pour into relationships that matter to them.
While our operational team is not always directly involved in those conversations and planning work, everything we do is in support of that purpose.
Every operations role has the opportunity to grow into more direct client work over time, if you desire it. We want to find people who are interested not just in monkeying with spreadsheets but also in creating connection with other humans, both on the team and possibly with clients. Whether it is your desire to eventually lead client relationships or staying in a supportive role, our firm can support your career growth.
Our clients’ lives are only getting more complex as their personal assets grow and as our firm takes on a more significant role in their lives and finances and that requires more support. You will be added to some client families over time, though you can also opt to do more of this work and to take on a more significant role down this road if you would like.
Our vision is to continue assigning operational team members to those most complex families as concierge support professionals that understand the complexities of their situation and who can bring service closer to the client. If we can shorten the path from the client to getting the things done for them, we believe that produces a better result and a more meaningful career track (not to mention, a more lucrative one) than keeping operations team members as merely order-takers who do not get to know our clients directly.
We believe moving our team closer to the client and producing more value through relationship is the way to both serve clients well and to protect our careers from AI replacement.
We value people who read carefully, think critically, and notice small details. Sometimes that shows up in obvious ways, and other times it is more subtle. The people who tend to thrive here are often the ones who notice things that are easy to overlook, choose to respond to what was not explicitly asked, or take an extra moment to say something others might skip. Maybe it is sharing preferences on what wholesale club you like (or if you have no opinion yet—we’ll happily share ours), Samsung or iPhone (there is a correct answer), or what your favorite show is. It is less about following instructions and more about demonstrating how you naturally think.
A note on compensation because that is critically important.
We have included a starting point for compensation for the role in the job posting.
This is not what we want to pay you.
In our firm, compensation is always correlated with value-creation.
The flipside of not worrying about prior education or industry experience is that we assume you will not produce much value on day one. In fact, you will actually consume the time and attention of our most valuable team members for quite some time as you learn about our industry, products, and processes.
As such, our starting compensation reflects your starting point on that journey.
However, it is worth noting that we do not want anyone to feel like they are stuck there.
We reward progress on the early knowledge journey of this career with quick increases to salary as you reach benchmarks of learning. Some things come purely from time in the job and experience that cannot be hastened, but some of the early growth involves specific accomplishments like passing tests or learning specific skills and tools and that part can be accelerated. The current record for completing all of the required testing is four months… I look forward to having someone break that record and they will get an obnoxiously large trophy!
Additionally, if we offer you a job, your starting point is always determined by your resume and skills that you bring to the table. We are talking about relevant value-creating business or finance skills or credentials and less about nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, or computer hacking skills.
A note on benefits since we probably should say something about those too.
We provide all of the normal things you would expect from a not-too-small business and we also try to provide solid benefits to ensure that our team members have adequate planning for their own families since that is the service we provide to our clients, after all.
Those benefits include a 401k with match, health insurance subsidy for employee and dependents, long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid time off, drawers of snacks at the office, office chairs that are actually good for your back, standing desks so most of us can at least say we have that option even though we spend all day sitting, walking pads if you are so inclined to use those at your desk, lots of opportunities to get distracted at work by fun things like the daily office poll or some sort of nonsense, and too many intangible benefits to list that come with working with a fun-loving, but mostly professional bunch of people.
You also will have access to several benefits that we do not contribute toward, but we offer like dental, vision, pet insurance, critical illness, and myriad other odd benefits that few people choose to participate in.
As you seek the right opportunity for you, here are a couple closing thoughts about Sozo.
We do not expect blind agreement with everything written here. In fact, the people who tend to thrive with us are often the ones who are comfortable respectfully pushing back or at least asking questions when something does not sit right.
We have countless stories of why the work we do matters, and everyone on our team experiences this conviction and impact in some way.
We do not save lives, but we do save lifestyles.
We are an in-office culture, and we like it that way because of the camaraderie within the team.
We become better because we see each other every day.
We are a firm of families. We want the families represented by each teammate to flourish.
If you are still here and you didn’t just scroll to the bottom, you might be a good fit and we should definitely talk!
Sozo Private Wealth and Insurance Services as a marketing name for doing business as a representative of Northwestern Mutual. Sozo Private Wealth is a registered trademark of 139 Enterprises, LLC, a Georgia Limited Liability Company. Sozo Private Wealth and Insurance Services is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, insurance agency or federal savings bank.
Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM) (life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits) and its subsidiaries, including Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS) (investment brokerage services), a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, and member of FINRA and SIPC, and Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company® (NMWMC) (investment advisory and trust services), a federal savings bank. NM and its subsidiaries are in Milwaukee, WI. Kyle Wilson is an Associate Insurance Agent of NM, a Registered Representative of NMIS, and an Advisor of NMWMC. There may be instances when this agent represents companies in addition to NM or its subsidiaries.
Northwestern Mutual Private Client Group is a select group of Northwestern Mutual advisors and representatives. Northwestern Mutual Private Client Group is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, insurance agency, federal savings bank or other legal entity.
Pay: $50,000.00 - $70,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Health insurance
- Relocation assistance
Application Question(s):
- In your own words (not using AI--and yes, we can tell if you do), tell me why you feel like you would thrive in the specific role and the broader culture at Sozo?
- We like working with our fellow humans. So, help me get to know YOU. The person behind the résumé.
To keep that focused, just tell me what you are really into right now?
Like, if you had to give a presentation to your friends and family on what you are nerding out on, what would it be? It can be literally anything -- some sort of media (book/show/podcast), hobby, diet, workout routine, etc... that is not an exhaustive list at all--just a few ideas to get you started.
- What was the last book that you read? What did you like (or dislike) about it?
- You are the average of the 3-5 people you spend the most time with… Who are the most impactful people on your life today? What impact do they have on you?
Education:
Language:
Ability to Commute:
- Peachtree Corners, GA 30092 (Required)
Work Location: In person
