National Director of Sales – NT OCIO+, Wealth Management
Northern Trust · Chicago, Illinois, United States
About Northern Trust
As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.
Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.
With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.
NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF SALES - NT OCIO+, WEALTH MANAGEMENT
OH: R162119
Role Overview
The National Director of Sales for NT OCIO+ is responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing the national sales strategy for the institutional OCIO practice at Northern Trust, with primary accountability for driving new client acquisition across the foundation, endowment, retirement, , healthcare, association, educational and other institutional market segments. The role reports to the Head of OCIO, with matrixed responsibilities to the Wealth Management and Asset Management sales organizations.
The National Director establishes a consistent national framework for how the practice goes to market, including target market and prospect segmentation, sales priorities, opportunity qualification, pipeline management, sales execution, internal referral development, and measurement of sales performance. The role provides leadership, coaching, training, and accountability for the national sales organization while partnering closely with NT OCIO leadership as well as with both Wealth Management and NTAM Institutional sales leadership, client-servicing teams, investment professionals, marketing, philanthropic advisory and other subject matter experts to deliver the full capabilities of the organization to prospective clients.
The position serves as the central point of coordination for the business’ national growth strategy and is responsible for ensuring that sales resources, processes and activities are aligned with the practice’s strategic priorities and annual growth objectives.
Key Responsibilities
National Sales Strategy & Organic Growth
- Maintain a consistent national go-to-market framework that defines target client segments, priority markets, prospect profiles, coverage expectations and sales activities.
- Identify opportunities to expand NT OCIO+’s market and to increase penetration within foundations, endowments, nonprofit organizations, healthcare organizations, educational institutions, associations and other institutional segments.
- Develop strategies designed to achieve or exceed revenue and asset growth objectives.
- Evaluate geographic, industry, and market opportunities and appropriately prioritize sales resources against the areas with the greatest growth potential.
- Promote a culture of proactive business development, relationship building and self-sourced opportunity generation across the sales organization.
- By the end of one year in role, establish a recommendation for the creation of an OCIO Search Consultant Relations function.
Leadership, Coaching & Talent Development
- Provide ongoing leadership, direction, and development to the national institutional OCIO sales organization. While still not determined, it is possible that sales professionals will report to this position.
- Establish clear expectations for sales activity, prospect development, pipeline progression, internal collaboration, and overall performance.
- Conduct regular individual coaching and development meetings with sales professionals to review pipelines, prospecting strategies, priority opportunities, performance against goals and professional development.
- Coach sales professionals through complex opportunities, including prospect strategy, RFP processes, finalist presentations, pricing discussions and negotiations.
- Establish best practices and consistent sales disciplines across markets while allowing for appropriate regional and client-specific strategies.
- Support recruiting, selection, onboarding, and development of new sales professionals.
- Build succession plans and develop the next generation of sales talent and sales leadership within the practice.
- Provide oversight for appropriately licensed sales professionals, including Series 7 and Series 63 registered professionals, as applicable and in accordance with regulatory and supervisory requirements. It is likely this position will require a Series 24 registration.
Pipeline Management & Sales Execution
- Maintain comprehensive oversight of the national new business pipeline and provide leadership with clear visibility into current opportunities, expected outcomes, risks and future growth potential.
- Establish consistent standards for opportunity qualification, pipeline stages, probability assessment, expected close dates, and CRM data integrity.
- Conduct regular pipeline reviews with sales professionals and challenge assumptions regarding opportunity quality, strategy, timing, and probability of success.
- Monitor movement through the sales funnel and identify opportunities to improve conversion at each stage of the sales process.
- Maintain accurate forecasting of anticipated new assets and revenue and communicate pipeline trends, opportunities and risks to senior leadership.
- Analyze sales performance, conversion rates, sourcing activity, average opportunity size, sales cycle duration, and other key metrics to identify areas for improvement.
- Use sales data and analytics to inform resource allocation, market prioritization, and future sales strategy.
Internal Distribution Strategy
- Build and maintain strong connectivity between NT OCIO and the broader Wealth Management and Asset Management sales organizations to increase awareness, referrals and collaboration.
- Participate appropriately in meetings with Wealth Management and Asset Management sales leadership to review opportunities, strategic priorities, referral activity, market developments, and areas for partnership.
- Develop strategies to increase qualified internal referrals and ensure partners in Wealth Management and Asset Management understand NT OCIO+’s target client profile, capabilities, and value proposition.
- Partner appropriately with professionals across WM and AM to identify connectivity to prospective organizations, executives, board members, and centers of influence.
- Create accountability and feedback mechanisms around internally referred opportunities and ensure appropriate follow-up with referral partners.
Strategic Opportunity & Complex Sales Leadership
- Provide senior-level strategic oversight for significant and complex institutional opportunities.
- Work closely with NT OCIO + leadership to determine appropriate pursuit strategies, team composition and internal resources for priority prospects.
- Partner with sales professionals and subject matter experts in preparation for major prospect meetings, finalist presentations and board-level discussions.
- Establish standards and best practices for finalist preparation to ensure consistent messaging, differentiated positioning and effective team execution.
- Participate directly in strategically important prospect opportunities when senior sales leadership can improve positioning or probability of success.
- Facilitate post-decision reviews of significant wins and losses to identify lessons learned and incorporate those insights into future sales strategy and training.
- Help ensure the segment effectively articulates its investment, advisory, philanthropic, and broader capabilities in a manner that is relevant to institutional decision makers.
Sales Performance, Incentives & Accountability
- Establish and