Director of Operations — Wealth Management Pratice; Lincolnshire, IL

Overview

“Director of Operations” can mean real ownership of how a firm runs, or it can mean every loose end quietly rolls to you with no authority to fix the system.

This is the first.

We are Thrive Wealth Group, a founder-led, rapidly growing wealth management firm in Lincolnshire, Illinois, with real marketing, sustained client demand, and a visible brand. What we need now is the operating layer beneath that engine: someone who can understand the founder's vision and turn it into a repeatable operating rhythm so the business runs without every decision and every open loop being tied back to one person.

This is a local, in-person role at our HQ office in Lincolnshire. Your work hinges on founder proximity, team behavior, and trust earned through execution.

• Operating control of the week: what gets discussed, assigned, documented, followed up on, and closed.
• Client-service operations, onboarding flow, review preparation, and post-meeting follow-through.
• Cleaner handoffs across sales, planning, service, onboarding, and reviews.
• Meeting cadence, owner clarity, and service standards the team will actually use.
• Practical cleanup of the tools and workflows that create friction, including CRM and task hygiene.

A year from now, the firm's operating baseline is radically different:
Every core process is documented and easily trainable, there are far fewer founder-dependent decisions, each department has metrics they understand and know, and a reliable accountability rhythm, and everyone on the team knows what matters this week if asked and is working toward it without waiting to be told. Youfve built and are building structure, but it never feels bureaucratic or rigid;

it feels like order, predictability, and clarity of purpose.

• Proven ownership of operations, practice management, client-service operations, or founder-support in wealth management, financial services, or a similar client-focused business.
• A track record of turning loose priorities and big visions into reality through concrete workflows, cadence, accountable owners, and finished work.
• Comfort operating close to a founder: translating vision into action without needing every step pre-defined.
• Hands-on follow-through: you can document, chase, escalate, simplify, and close loops personally when needed or to show how it should be done.
• The standing to direct service and admin behavior and hold colleagues to follow-through without turning the environment rigid.

Experience inside an advisory firm, RIA, or founder-led wealth management practice.

• Prior scope as Director of Operations, Operations Manager, Practice Manager, Practice Administrator, or Chief of Staff.
• Familiarity with advisory-practice tools, CRM and task systems, client onboarding, review prep, and planning-to-service handoffs; eMoney-adjacent planning operations are a plus.

We need an operator who wants proximity to the decision-maker, ambiguity to organize around, and accountability for results. It's not a fully defined executive seat, you won't start with a large support team, or a strategy-only mandate before the operating build is proven. Authority here is earned through execution and clearer operating control.

Can you own the rhythm that lets a founder-led practice reach its potential without heroics? Let's talk!