Wealth Planning Administration Manager in Maidenhead

Working Pattern: Predominantly office-based, with some flexibility.

Are you an experienced Administration Manager, Client Services Manager or Operations Manager who knows how to get the best from people, bring order to a busy environment and keep a financial planning operation moving? This could be an excellent opportunity to take ownership of a sizeable administration function within a well-established and growing IFA business supporting around 20 Financial Advisers.

You’ll lead a team of six Administrators, making sure the right work gets to the right people, deadlines are met, standards remain high and, importantly, the team has the leadership and support it needs to thrive. This isn't a role for someone who simply wants to sit at the top of an organisational chart. It’s a hands-on management position for someone who enjoys making things happen.

The Opportunity

The business is established, successful and continuing to grow. With that growth comes greater complexity, increased workflow and the need for strong operational leadership. You’ll be the person bringing structure, clarity, accountability and momentum to the administration function. Working closely with advisers, senior management and other operational colleagues, you’ll take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the team while helping to improve the way the function operates. You’ll have the opportunity to make a genuine difference – not simply managing today's workload, but helping build an administration operation capable of supporting tomorrow's business.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead, manage and develop a team of six Administrators.
• Allocate and prioritise workloads, ensuring work is completed accurately, efficiently and within agreed timescales.
• Provide clear direction and day-to-day support to the administration team.
• Monitor workflow, outstanding tasks, adviser requests and client administration to ensure nothing gets lost in the noise.
• Conduct regular one-to-ones, provide coaching and feedback, and support individual development.
• Set clear expectations around productivity, quality, conduct and service standards.
• Identify training requirements and work with colleagues responsible for learning and development to strengthen team capability.
• Manage performance issues where required, including appropriate challenge, support and formal people-management processes.
• Act as the first point of escalation for operational, workflow and people-related issues.
• Monitor management information and use it to identify bottlenecks, capacity issues, training needs and opportunities for improvement.
• Plan ahead for periods of increased workload, holidays, absence, adviser requirements and changing business priorities.
• Help establish consistent processes and working practices across the administration function.
• Support the maintenance of procedures, quality controls and appropriate operational standards.
• Work closely with advisers and senior colleagues to ensure the administration team provides an excellent level of support.
• Contribute to operational projects, process improvements and business change.
• Help create a culture where people take ownership of their work, support one another and understand what good looks like.

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for someone who has already demonstrated that they can lead an administration or client services team successfully. Your background could be within financial planning, wealth management, banking, insurance, professional services or another regulated environment. More important than your job title is your ability to:

• Lead, motivate and develop a team.
• Manage competing priorities in a busy, high-volume environment.
• Allocate work intelligently and maintain visibility of workflow.
• Have confident but constructive conversations around performance and conduct.
• Coach people and build capability rather than simply tell people what to do.
• Analyse workflow and management information to identify problems and solutions.
• Build strong relationships with advisers, administrators and senior management.
• Remain calm, organised and decisive when the pressure is on.
• Challenge existing processes and find better ways of working.
• Take ownership and make things happen without needing to be micromanaged.

Experience within IFA or Wealth Management administration would be highly advantageous, particularly if you understand the relationship between advisers, paraplanners, administrators and clients. Knowledge of Consumer Duty, FCA-regulated environments, financial planning processes and operational controls would also be beneficial.

The Person

This is a role for a proper people manager. Someone approachable enough that their team will come to them with a problem, but confident enough to tackle that problem rather than simply pass it upwards. Someone who can spot when a team member needs support, when a process needs changing and when a performance issue needs addressing. You’ll need to be organised without being bureaucratic, energetic without being chaotic and commercially minded without losing sight of the client. The successful candidate will bring a combination of leadership, emotional intelligence, operational discipline and common sense. And while you won't be expected to reinvent the wheel every Tuesday, you should enjoy asking: "Is there a better way of doing this?"

Why Join?

You’ll be joining a well-established financial planning business with genuine ambitions for continued growth, where this role will have real influence over how the support operation develops. You’ll have responsibility for a sizeable administration team, direct exposure to a busy adviser population and the opportunity to build a high-performing function around you. For the right person, this is an opportunity to take the next step in their management career and become a key part of a growing Wealth Management operation.

Working: Predominantly office-based, with some flexible working available.