Managing Director, Legal_Wealth & Advisory Solutions

Pay range: USD $225,000.00 - $375,000.00 / Year

Your opportunity

Schwab's holistic wealth management strategy is focused on delivering personalized advice and investing solutions to Schwab clients. As investor demand for advice continues to grow, integrating wealth and advice strategy, products, expertise, and capabilities, allows Schwab to not only deliver a more comprehensive set of solutions and enhance the overall client experience, but also strengthen our ability to attract and retain some of our more affluent investors - a key and highly competitive segment within our industry. Key solutions and specialist teams in this area include Schwab Wealth Advisory, Digital Advice and Planning, Sales and Tax, Trust, and Estate Specialists, and Schwab Advisor Network.

In this newly created role, we are recruiting a senior legal leader to support Schwab's wealth management and advisory business which encompasses more than $150 billion in assets under management. Schwab's wealth management business has experienced tremendous growth and is expected to continue to expand its reach and service offerings including discretionary offerings, as well as the digitalization of these and other products and programs. The Managing Director and his/her team will play a highly visible leadership role in this developing area of the law and important focus area for the firm. The leader will build the foundation and internal alignment for the future on key legal topics. As an advocate internally and externally, the MD will promote Schwab's vision and values through a legal lens and share Schwab's impact story as a corporate citizen.

Key Outcomes:

• Partner with business leaders to integrate a legal and regulatory perspective into strategy, innovation, and growth initiatives.
• Lead all legal advice efforts for Schwab's wealth and advisory initiatives with particular focus on separately managed accounts, model portfolio initiatives, and investment advisory offerings for individual clients.
• Support and drive in the continued growth of our wealth and advice solutions products and initiatives, including support of potential acquisitions and integration of those acquisitions into existing solutions framework and programs.
• Developing and driving comprehensive, long-term legal strategies balancing risk and business objectives.
• Deliver advice on operational matters, including trading and custody, related to the wealth advisory business.
• Mentoring and developing a team of lawyers. Prioritize the team's workload, set goals, with realistic as well as ambitious deadlines to help them navigate our fluctuating and ambiguous business environment.
• Working cross-functionally with attorneys from other legal teams such as privacy, litigation/arbitration, regulatory, banking, and marketing. Keeping internal partners abreast of important industry and product-related regulations.
• Ongoing support and development of digital advisory offerings, personalized indexing and high net worth client products and programs including advising senior management on new and current business strategies and products; potential risks and mitigation of those risks; operational matters; applicable new, existing, and changing regulatory requirements, and legislative and regulatory developments impacting the business.
• Develop a close partnership with the Compliance team to ensure accurate process and procedures are in place to meet applicable regulatory requirements.
• Interface directly with senior management, participate in relevant governance committees and oversight, and interact, as needed, with outside counsel and regulators, to assist in meeting Schwab's objectives.

• 15+ years of legal experience in the wealth management and investment advisory business including people leadership. Deep business and legal experience with the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the regulatory environment applicable to registered investment advisers and the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the regulatory environment applicable to mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, and exemptions relating to private funds and investment advisory programs.
• A demonstrated track record of effective development and implementation of retail digital and wealth advisory products, preferably for or within a bank holding company or large financial services firm.
• Law degree (JD, LLB or equivalent) from an accredited US law school. Admission to and in good standing with the state bar of at least one U.S. state.
• Thrives on initiating, building, and cultivating strong authentic relationships inside and outside the group; highly collaborative; navigates and activates alignment across organizational silos.
• Extraordinary interpersonal and communication skills; phenomenal ability to communicate information effectively internally and externally, including to non-legal audiences, and to drive cross-functional alignment and action.
• Ability to handle multiple assignments simultaneously with effective resolution of conflicting priorities and experience advising business and technical teams on launching new products and features and in negotiating complex commercial deals.

• Senior leadership experience within a regulatory environment, including service at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Division of Investment Management, contributing to policy development, interpretive guidance, examinations, or rulemaking impacting registered investment advisers and advisory programs.
• Senior legal or regulatory leadership experience within the wealth management division of a large banking or diversified financial services organization, advising on complex fiduciary, advisory, and related matters and supporting scalable growth, product innovation, and strong risk and control frameworks within a bank holding company structure.
• History of providing legal counsel informed by a deep understanding of the business, enabling practical solutions supporting innovation and sustainable growth.
• Ability to use strategic and analytical capabilities to make sound, timely decisions based on client and field input supporting and maintaining a strong risk and control environment including evaluating risk versus expense versus the client experience.
• Strong client relationship management and negotiation skills required with the ability to assess and effectively communicate processing capabilities and identify alternative solutions for clients and business partners.
• Combination of strategic, practical, and creative problem solving plus: a "systemic" thinker who can connect all the dots, take the initiative from concept to execution.
• Confidence and courage in business and talent decisions, actions, and communications with a demonstrated ability to take decisive action when needed, including championing ideas, position, or dissent.
• Strong emotional intelligence/maturity and senior level executive presence.
• Experienced in effectively assessing, selecting, and developing talent for the firm; build and lead diverse teams; adept at providing balanced, direct, and actionable feedback to employee.
• Creative problem-solver with the ability to stay calm under challenging circumstances.
• Execution oriented attitude with humility, drive, and strong growth orientation.
• Facilitate a team-based approach to subject matter management and knowledge sharing, and comfort with a flexible, agile environment emphasizing collaboration and team performance over management hierarchy.

• 401(k) with company match and Employee stock purchase plan
• Paid time for vacation, volunteering, and 28-day sabbatical after every 5 years of service for eligible positions
• Paid parental leave and family building benefits
• Tuition reimbursement
• Health, dental, and vision insurance