Your opportunity

Director, SMA Program Office & Strategy

Our Organization:

At Schwab, we believe that, when done right, investing liberates people to create their own destiny. We are driven by our purpose to champion every client's goals with passion and integrity. We hire optimistic, results-oriented, curious, innovative, and adaptable people with the desire to help our clients and one another succeed. 

The Investment Offers & Solutions (IOS) organization is responsible for managing our investment product marketplaces (e.g., Alternative Investments, Separately Managed Accounts, Mutual Funds, ETFs). Our mission is to provide a positive experience for the Schwab clients that invest in these products, while growing a revenue stream which is vital to Schwab's overall financial health. 

Within IOS, the Long/Short Extension Separately Managed Accounts (Long/Short SMA) business is one of our fastest-growing offerings, with a rapidly expanding line-up of strategies. To support the continued growth of this business, Schwab is standing up a formal, multi-year Long/Short SMA Program with dedicated leadership, cross-functional workstreams, and executive-level governance. 

The Opportunity:

The Director will lead the Long/Short SMA Program Office and own ongoing program strategy, serving as the single accountable leader for both the strategic direction of the business and the disciplined oversight of a multi-year, cross-functional book of work. Reporting to the Managing Director of IOS, this Director will be the person leadership turns to for a well-reasoned point of view on where the business is headed, and the person the organization relies on to keep the program moving. 

On the strategy side, the Director will own the strategic thinking that shapes the future of the Long/Short SMA business at Schwab. This includes framing the growth ambition and monetization strategy, developing points of view on competitive positioning and the evolving product landscape, sizing opportunities and trade-offs, defining what the program should tackle next and in what sequence, and translating complex, cross-functional inputs into crisp options, recommendations, and executive-ready materials. The Director will be a trusted thought partner to senior leaders: asking sharper questions, structuring ambiguous problems, and producing the analysis and narrative that inform decisions at the Steering Committee, senior governance forums, and up to the Board. 

On the program side, the Director will orchestrate execution across cross-functional workstreams, hold workstream owners accountable to plans and milestones, own the integrated program plan, and surface risks and decisions for resolution. The Director will set and run the day-to-day governance rhythm of the program, including chairing the working group, curating Steering Committee materials, and managing escalation into the firm's senior governance forums, while partnering closely across Treasury, Operations, Technology, Risk, Compliance, and Advisor Services to drive alignment and shared outcomes. 

This is a people leadership role. The Director will build and manage a small, high-caliber program team, likely starting with one direct report and scaling based on program needs, with responsibility for developing talent and creating an environment where the team can do their best work. Success requires exceptional strategic judgment, strong influencing skills, and senior-level executive presence: the ability to drive alignment across senior leaders through the strength of thinking and relationships, to challenge and calibrate points of view with respect and clarity, and to represent the program credibly in front of the most senior audiences at the firm. 

What you have

Required Experience:

• Proven strategy capabilities, ideally through roles in management consulting, corporate strategy, or strategic functions within complex financial services organizations, including strong analytical horsepower, structured problem solving, and the ability to translate ambiguity into a clear point of view 

• Demonstrated experience owning end-to-end strategic analysis, facilitation, and materials creation that inform senior executive and board-level decision-making, including competitive analysis, opportunity sizing, monetization strategy, and business case development 

• Strong influencing skills and senior-level executive presence, with a proven ability to drive alignment and outcomes across a highly matrixed organization 

• 10+ years of experience as a leader within a broker dealer, financial services intermediary, custodian, asset manager, or top-tier management consulting firm serving financial services clients 

• Demonstrated experience leading and managing complex, multi-year, cross-functional programs inside of a large diversified financial services organization of similar scale and complexity 

• Proven ability to build and manage high-performing teams, developing a deep talent bench even at smaller team scales 

• High level of comfort operating at varying levels of depth and expertise (i.e., ability to lead executive level decision-making while also engaging working team members on more technical / product specific matters) 

• High degree of comfort dealing with ambiguity 

• Motivated to drive results while operating autonomously in a dynamic and fast-moving work environment 

• Expert user of PowerPoint and Excel, with ability to effectively guide/train team to develop expert level skills in storytelling, slide writing, framing of analysis and options, etc. 

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA, CFA, CFP, or other advanced credentials strongly preferred 

Preferred Experience:

• Separately Managed Accounts experience, industry presence and relationships 
• Familiarity with the RIA channel and third-party asset manager distribution models 
• Purpose driven leader who displays confidence and courage in business and talent decisions 

• Prior experience in a program lead, chief-of-staff, or strategic transformation leadership role 

• Strong emotional intelligence/maturity 

• Superior communication skills, both written and verbal, with demonstrated ability developing materials and effectively presenting to executive audiences 

• Comfortable with debate and willing to challenge the status quo; navigates and activates alignment across organizational silos and upward 2+ levels