What You'll DoWe’re looking for a Managing Director, Head of Advice to join our Individual Solutions leadership team! In this role you'll be responsible for defining and building an at scale, category-defining advice and distribution platform that delivers high-quality, technology-enabled financial education, guidance, and advice to millions of workplace participants – bridging the gap between retirement, wealth, and holistic financial decision-making. This leader will architect the advice operating system, rules frameworks, tools, planning philosophy, and build and execute a modern distribution engine that integrates human advisors, digital experiences, and strategic internal and external partners into a unified client journey. This leader directly owns the advice roadmap and supporting sales, financial planners, and education services teams. This role serves as the voice of stakeholders (customers, advisors, sales, and internal partners) and translates market needs into strategy, capabilities, and experiences that improve participant outcomes and business performance.
You'll have the opportunity too:
- Advice Strategy & Operating Model
- Define and evolve the enterprise advice strategy and operating model
- Build and maintain core advice frameworks, decision logic, and planning approaches
- Ensure consistency across point-in-time advice, ongoing planning, and financial wellness
- Advice Capabilities & Platform Strategy
- Own roadmap for advice delivery tools, planning capabilities, and advisor workflows
- Partner with Technology on platform development, prioritization, and investment decisions
- Define business requirements and guide delivery of scalable advice solutions
- Advice Experience Design
- Lead design of digital, hybrid, and advisor-led advice experiences
- Ensure experiences are scalable, compliant, and differentiated
- Cross-Functional Strategy Alignment
- Partner across Product, Technology, Compliance, and Operations
- Align strategy with regulatory requirements and business priorities
- Voice of Customer & Market Insights
- Gather insights from clients, advisors, and intermediaries
- Use market and competitive trends to inform strategy
- Leadership & Strategic Influence
- Influence senior leadership on advice strategy and investment priorities
- Represent advice capabilities in internal and external forums
- Leads, manages, and develops Advice and Financial Planning teams
- Special Projects & Strategic Initiatives
- Lead or support strategic initiatives that strengthen advice capabilities, client engagement and scalable growth
- Contribute to enterprise-wide efforts related to transformation, growth, and process improvement
Who You Are
- 15+ years of relevant experience in financial services, wealth/retirement planning, advice delivery, digital product leadership, or related fields
- Demonstrated ability to define and scale enterprise advice philosophy, planning frameworks, and delivery models
- Deep expertise in financial planning, advice delivery, and fiduciary standards
- Experience designing end-to-end advice journeys across digital, hybrid, and advisor-enabled channels
- Strong understanding of behavioral finance and client decision-making
- Ability to translate advice frameworks into client-facing experiences
- Experience leveraging data, segmentation, and personalization to scale advice delivery
- Ability to translate insights into rules engines, recommendations, and planning outputs
- Familiarity with advanced analytics or AI/ML applications in advice
- Experience building and scaling platform-based advice ecosystems
- Ability to lead across product, technology, and distribution, including managing internal and external partners
- Proven record of leading, managing, developing advice and financial planning teams
- Proven track record of linking advice capabilities to client outcomes, engagement, or conversion
- Strong strategic thinking and ability to translate complexity into clear direction
- Experience operating at the enterprise level within large, matrixed organizations
- Executive communication and influencing skills
- Strong credibility with financial advisors and ability to influence adoption without direct authority
- FINRA Series 7,66 preferred (or willingness to obtain).
- Travel Requirements
- Travel required, including overnight stays.
- Relocation not required
Salary Range InformationSalary ranges below reflect targeted base salaries. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation for all roles will be based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.
Salary Range$242000 - $328000 / year
Time Off ProgramFlexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.
Pension EligibleYes
Additional Information
Work EnvironmentsThis role offers in-office, hybrid (blending at least three office days in a typical workweek), and remote work arrangements (only if residing more than 30 miles from Des Moines, IA, Raleigh, NC or Charlotte, NC.). You’ll work with your leader to figure out which option may align best based on several factors.
Work Authorization/SponsorshipAt this time, we're not considering applicants that need any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs, please use the following links.Nonimmigrant Workers and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants
Investment Code of EthicsFor Principal Asset Management positions, you’ll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.
Experience PrincipalAt Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we’re imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services – and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.
Posting WindowWe will accept applications for 3 full days following the Original Posting Date, after which the posting may remain open or be removed based upon applications received. If we choose to post the job again, we will accept additional applications for at least 1 full day following the Most Recently Posted Date. Please submit applications in a timely manner as there is no guarantee the posting will be available beyond the applicable deadline.
Date First Posted (TTF)8/3/2026
Latest Post Date: Careers - US8/3/2026
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