WE'RE HIRING!

Position Overview

We are ready to add an Associate Financial Advisor to our team so we can help more retirement savers lower taxes, invest smarter, and optimize income.

• Full-time W-2 position
• No business development required or desired
• $55k/year + quarterly team bonus
• Local (San Diego) in-office role
  • NOT LOCAL? Instead of applying below, send a short email to careers@definefinancial.com with the subject line "Virtual Advisor Position" and we will let you know if we open this up to be a 100% virtual role.
• CFP® Certification paid for by the firm ($10,000+ value)
• Unlimited PTO
• 401(k) matching, health insurance, personal and professional development budget
• Start Date = ASAP

About Us

Define Financial is a fee-only retirement planning firm in San Diego, CA dedicated to helping high-net-worth retirement savers over age 50.

The TLDR:

• We serve 80 (amazing) families around the country
• We carefully manage ~$150MM in assets
• We specialize in tax planning, retirement planning, and investment management

In 2021, we were named the #3 Top Independent Financial Advisor by Investopedia and our contributions are regularly featured in publications such as Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Business Insider.

Our founder, Taylor Schulte, is a guest contributor for Kitces.com and co-hosts bi-annual Kitces Summits with Michael Kitces.

Learn more about us by meeting our team, reading our blog, and checking out our Forbes Top 10 retirement podcast, Stay Wealthy.

About You

🛠️  Work experience: 0 – 4 years of experience in financial planning/wealth management.

📜  Bachelor’s degree: Yes! But the focus is irrelevant. (English, philosophy, business, psychology ... all are welcome!)

❤️  Passion for financial planning: This may sound obvious, but an unparalleled passion for financial planning is critical. We eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff. We read finance books and blogs in our free time. We need you to show us that this is the career you want, and you must be ready to deepen your interest as you learn and grow.

✍️  Detail-oriented: There are a lot of spreadsheets, note-taking, data entry, detailed client communications, etc. in this role. We value organization, reliable execution, and high-quality work.

🗣️  Reflect on and articulate what you need: This work is most effective and enjoyable when we know what you need – and what you are not getting – to serve our clients well.  We encourage you to speak up and communicate your needs with our team.

💻  Generally tech-savvy: Specifically, you need to be comfortable with Microsoft Excel and be open to deepening your expertise with traditional financial planning platforms (e.g., eMoney, MoneyGuidePro, Right Capital, etc.). We are heavy users of technology, but no one is coding the next mobile app here!

🤔  Willing to think regularly about how to improve: We want every team member to regularly think about how we can improve our lives as well as our clients’ lives; communications, software, systems, processes, etc.

🌴  Live in San Diego (or willing to relocate): While 50%+ of our clients are outside of California, we are a small office and value working together in person to better help our clients and grow together as a team.

(NOT LOCAL? Instead of applying below, send a short email to careers@definefinancial.com with the subject line "Virtual Advisor Position" and we will let you know if we open this up to be a 100% virtual role.)

About The Role

Your role as an Associate Advisor is structured as an apprenticeship to make you the best financial advisor possible.

You will work closely with every member of our team, take notes, participate in client meetings, develop financial plans, support client needs, and learn what it is to be a financial planner at Define Financial.

Our goal is for you to move into a Lead Advisor role in 2-3 years. It is our job to give you the exposure, training, and support you need to get there. It is your job to want this career track and to actively seek out the skills you need to get there. And, of course, we want to have lots of fun along the way!

This role is a career position. As you develop, and as you move from Associate Advisor to Lead Advisor, your responsibilities will expand along with your compensation.

If you’re eager to get your career in finance started, we are looking for you!

What You’ll Be Doing

During your time as an Associate Advisor, you’ll learn not only the techniques of financial planning but also the unique ways Define Financial does business.

We are intentional about making sure our Associate Advisors have time to work on "Special Projects" to ensure a breadth of understanding of how our business works.

In addition to everything below, you might have the opportunity to write a blog post, help design a new planning technique or process, or analyze new investment options for the investment committee. 

Immediately:

• Prep for and attend all client meetings with the two partners, take notes, and ensure follow-up tasks are completed on time.
• Work daily in Redtail (our CRM), eMoney (our financial planning software), Citrix Sharefile, PandaDoc, and more.
• Develop your retirement and tax planning skills and assist with planning projects between meetings.
• Dedicate time with our Client Service Manager (CSM) to learn the operations of the business.
• Attend weekly team meetings and one-on-one meetings with the founder.
• Attend personal and professional development training programs (paid for by the firm).

Within First 6 Months:

• Pass the Series 65 exam if you don’t already have it (paid for by the firm)
• Begin the CFP® coursework if you haven't already (paid for by the firm)
• Take the lead on select client work

Within First 1-2 Years:

• Complete all CFP® courses (paid for by the firm)
• Pass the CFP® exam (paid for by the firm)
  • Acquiring your CFP® designation is a requirement for being a Lead Advisor with Define Financial
• Take the lead on more client projects and cases

After 2 – 3 Years:

• As a CFP® Professional who has been leading client relationships, you will move into a Lead Advisor role
• Continue personal and professional development

What We Are Offering

• $55,000/year (higher comp may be available for those further along in their journey)
• Quarterly bonus based on firm growth (i.e., no business development required)
• 401(k) + matching
• Health Insurance: Define Financial pays 50% of the employee premium
• Personal and Professional Development Budget
• Vacation Policy: Unlimited paid time off (if and when you need it as long as your job is getting done)
  • All NYSE holidays
• A laptop with necessary accessories:
  • For security's sake and to create consistent processes, will be expected to do Define Financial work on Define Financial's hardware using Define Financial's software.

How To Apply

As a small-and-growing business, we can only afford to hire the best. If you think this job could be for you, please submit an email to careers@definefinancial.com with the information outlined below:

1.) Write “Application for Associate Advisor” in the subject line and answer these three (3) questions in your email:

1. What draws you to financial/retirement planning?
2. What about Define Financial interests you?
3. What do you want to learn most in this role?

2.) In addition, in your email, please include a 3-minute (or less) Loom video link (free video service) answering ONE of the questions below:

• Tell us a bit about yourself. We like to know our clients’ stories, so we’d like to know yours as well.
• What is your superpower and how does it show up in your life?
• Tell us about a situation where you demonstrated courage.
• Share which of your skills or attributes you think would benefit Define Financial and its clients. Why and how?

3.) Attach a PDF copy of your resume and a single-page PDF cover letter describing what makes you the best we can hire and why you would like to join our team.

• (Optional) Include anything else you think might help us understand the "you-ness" of you.

Our 4-Step Application Process

Here's how the application process will unfold:

1. If we LOVE your application, our Client Service Manager, Karen Jackson, will schedule a brief "get-to-know-you" phone interview.
2. If she LOVES her conversation with you, we will have you complete a personality assessment and a timed case study.
3. If you BLOW OUR MIND with Step #2, we’ll invite you into the office for a formal interview with partner, Tyler Aubrey, and founder, Taylor Schulte.
4. If you BLOW OUR MIND in the interview, the last step will be to grab lunch or dinner with our team, just to make sure we all like each other before committing to working together.

Ultimately, this process is designed so that once hired, our team and our client’s all remark, “Where did you find this person? They are AMAZING!”

*Our office is very busy, so please do NOT try to contact our team through any method other than the process described above. All other attempts to reach our office will be ignored.

*Due to the financial nature of our work and the age of our clients, you will be required to be fingerprinted and pass a thorough criminal background check and credit check. The credit check doesn’t need to be spotless, just not have anything that could put our clients at risk.