FLOW IS HIRING
Be part of our team.
Associate Financial Planner
NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THIS ROLE, as of January 30, 2022
OVERVIEW
- W-2 position
- Hours: Full-time, 40 hours/week. 9-5:30 west coast hours
- Location: Virtual but we prefer you be in the Pacific Northwest (for quarterly in-person team meetings that you don’t have to fly to)
- Compensation: $60k/year, 401(k) matching, professional development budget
- Vacation policy
- Start Date: As early as January 2022
At Flow, we love to uncover the opportunities available to early-to-mid-career women in the tech industry, to watch as our clients start to fully understand their finances for the first time, and to help use their financial opportunities to build the careers and lives that they want.
We pride ourselves on our mix of technical expertise, just enough technology to get the job done, and life planning. We are driven by empathy, vivid communication, curiosity, and a focus on progress, not perfection.
We are excited about the future of our firm and the women we serve, and we are ready to expand our team.
About You
- Work experience: 0-3 years of experience in financial planning
- Bachelor’s degree (don’t care what it’s in)
- Demonstrable interest in the financial planning profession. You don’t have to have experience in financial planning. We need you to have shown that this is the career you want (ex., related degree, internships, CFP coursework, etc.) and that you are ready for your interest to be nurtured.
- Communicate effectively and respectfully. Our definition of professionalism is authenticity, empathy, and most important, respect.
- Detail-oriented. There’s a lot of spreadsheets, note-taking, data entry, detailed client communications, etc. in this role. We value organization and reliable execution.
- Reflect on and articulate what you need. This work is more effective and enjoyable when we know what you need—and are not getting—to do the work well. We encourage you to speak up!
- Generally tech-savvy, and specifically comfortable with Google Sheets. Nothing too fancy.
- Willing to think regularly about how to improve…everything. We want every member of the team to regularly think about what changes—language choices, software tool, etc.—could improve our lives and our clients’ lives.
- Live in the Pacific Northwest. While we enjoy our virtual flexibility, we also appreciate being able within driving distance of one another.
About The Role
Your role as an Associate Financial Planner is primarily to learn how to become a Lead Financial Planner.
You will work with each of the two lead planners in the firm, learning how they communicate with and provide value to clients across the full spectrum of the client relationship.
Because Flow is a small, growing firm, your work will range from providing support for the two lead planners in the firm (ex., entering data in software) to traditional apprenticeship (ex., sitting in meetings and taking notes, doing client work with a lead planner).
Eventually, you will start sharing your voice publicly, via our blog or some other form of content marketing. We want you to start to establish your own personal brand/bona fides and, in so doing, broaden Flow’s reach.
We expect that, in 2-3 years’ time, you will move up to Lead Financial Planner, at which time you will lead your own client relationships. It is our job to give you the exposure, training, and support you need to get there. It is your job to want that career track and to actively seek out the learning you need to get there. And, of course, to provide either animal pictures or creative wordplay in Slack.
This role is a career position. As you grow in the role, and as you move from Associate Financial Planner to Lead Financial Planner, your role will expand and your compensation will grow.
What You’ll Be Doing
Immediately:
- Attend all client meetings with Lead Planner, and take notes
- After meetings, debrief with the Lead Planner and do the administrative follow-up work: send notes to client, assign follow-up tasks, etc.
- Work with Lead Planner to prepare for meetings and to do financial planning work between meetings
- Spend time with our Client Services Associate, learning the administrative aspects of the process for familiarity, not necessarily for doing
- Attend weekly team meetings and weekly 1-on-1 meeting
- Attend quarterly in-person meetings, historically in Bellingham, WA, but also in other locations in PNW closer to other team members’ homes
Within first 6 months:
- Pass Series 65 exam if you don’t already have the CFP® designation (paid for by Flow)
Within first year:
- Start taking CFP® courses (paid for by us)
- Take lead on some client work
Within first 2 years:
- Take and pass all CFP® courses (paid for by us)
- Take and pass the CFP® exam. Acquiring your CFP® designation is a requirement to continue with Flow. We know Life Happens, so you can assume flexibility in the timeline.
- Lead more and more of the client relationship yourself
After 2-3 years…and beyond!:
- As a fully-fledged CFP® professional who has been leading client relationships for a while, you now move up to become a Lead Planner
- Continue professional development, likely to include the Kinder Institute Registered Life Planner® designation
- (Hopefully) Attract new clients to Flow. This is not a sales role. You can attract business simply by being “out there” in the women-in-tech community, being yourself, offering value, and then talking to prospective clients when they reach out to Flow.
Other Requirements
Because you’ll be working remotely, you’ll need:
- Reliable internet connection
- Appropriate office space for client meetings and security of client data. Occasional pet or child drive-bys are acceptable.
- Visit Bellingham, WA as soon as possible after starting with us, and afterwards quarterly to meet with the team (expenses paid by Flow). This is why we want you to live in the Pacific Northwest. We suspended in-person meetings during Covid until all of us were vaccinated.
- A reliable phone
What We Are Offering
Direct Compensation:
- $60,000/year salary
- 401(k) matching after 3 months of employment: up to 4% of salary
- Vacation policy (this is still flexible; generally we take off the end of the year, all major holidays, some minor, and a few more-random dates)
- A portion of your personal internet bill and phone bill
Professional development:
- Professional dues paid:
- All Series 65 and CFP® coursework and exams (including study prep) paid for, upon passing
- Professional development budget
- Experience eligible for 2-year apprenticeship track for CFP® designation
Tools to Do Your Job:
- A laptop with necessary accessories:
- You will be expected to do Flow work on Flow hardware using Flow software, for security’s sake and to ensure consistent process and product.
- This will be shipped to you as soon as possible after hiring. It belongs to Flow.
What we are not offering now:
- Health insurance. Please consider how you will secure coverage.
- Disability insurance. Membership in the FPA enables you to buy group long-term coverage through Ryan Insurance; our team members do that and we encourage you to do it, too.
How To Apply
- Write “Application for Associate Planner Role” in the Subject line
Answers to these three questions in your email response:
- What drew you to financial planning?
- What about Flow interests you?
- What do you most want to learn in this job?
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 interactions?
- Tell me a situation where you demonstrated courage.
- Share which of your skills or attributes do you think would benefit Flow and its clients. Why and how?
- Link to LinkedIn profile (if you don’t have one, please send a resume)
- Link to Twitter account (if you have one)
- (Optional) Anything else you think might help us understand the you-ness of you
What to Expect in the Application Process
Here’s how the application process should unfold. If you pass one stage, we’ll let you know that you’re moving to the next. If you don’t pass, we will let you know.
- Initial application. We will not start reviewing these until January 7 and then on a rolling basis until we successfully hire someone. Candidates who submit their application by January 7 will be notified about next steps by January 31.
- Zoom call with Meg
- Zoom call with the rest of Flow’s team
- Assessment test (DISC)
- Maybe one more stage of the process or we might just extend an offer. Not sure yet!