Grand Rapids
Position Overview:
The Director of Career Development is the senior leader responsible for the strategic direction, execution, and results of all recruiting activity at Northwestern Mutual – West Michigan. The DCD owns both tracks of our recruiting engine — the Financial Representative Internship Program and the Full-Time Financial Representative pipeline — and is accountable for the strategy, candidate experience, and contract outcomes of each.
This role partners directly with the Managing Partner and the executive leadership team to translate office growth objectives into a recruiting plan, lead the in-house recruiting function, and develop emerging recruiting leaders. The DCD is accountable for the agency's recruiting scorecard and serves as the public face of our recruiting effort in the West Michigan market.
This is a full-time, on-the-ground leadership role based in our Grand Rapids office, with travel to the district offices required The DCD is expected to spend a minimum of 50% of their time leading and developing the recruiting team, with the remainder focused on top-of-funnel sourcing, executive-level interviewing, and strategic project work.
Primary Responsibilities:
Responsibilities are organized across five core domains: Leadership, Development, Sourcing, Selection, and Program Ownership (Internship + Full-Time).
Program Ownership: Internship & Full-Time Recruiting
• Own the end-to-end strategy and operational results for the Financial Representative Internship Program — sourcing, selection, internship experience, and intern-to-FT conversion.
• Own the end-to-end strategy and operational results for the Full-Time Financial Representative recruiting pipeline — sourcing, selection, contracting, and onboarding.
• Set and deliver the annual contract goals for both the internship and full-time tracks; maintain a single, integrated recruiting scorecard reported to the Managing Partner.
• Design and continuously improve the candidate experience across both tracks — from first touch through first day — so the agency wins the close on the candidates we want most.
• Manage the campus recruiting calendar, employer branding presence, and university relationships that feed the internship pipeline.
• Oversee the internship curriculum, manager pairings, mid-internship reviews, and end-of-internship offer process to maximize conversion to full-time financial representative.
• Coordinate with the Managing Partner, financial advisors serving as intern managers, and Northwestern Mutual home office partners to deliver a best-in-network internship experience.
Leadership
• Hire, direct, and evaluate the performance of all recruiting personnel within the agency, including Recruiters, Recruitment Coordinators, and Recruiting Field Directors.
• Own the agency recruiting scorecard — set goals, track performance, and deliver strong results to the Managing Partner and executive leadership team.
• Lead recruiting discussions in executive leadership meetings; surface issues, propose solutions, and align cross-functional partners.
• Assess and continuously refine the agency's talent sourcing and selection process; eliminate bottlenecks and codify what works.
• Build and manage the annual recruiting budget; make trade-off decisions across staff, sourcing channels, technology, and events.
• Stay current with industry, demographic, and labor-market trends affecting financial services recruiting in West Michigan and nationally.
• Maintain a recruiting succession plan to ensure continuity in the event of a vacant recruiter role, leave of absence, or internal promotion.
Development:
• Conduct routine 1:1 check-ins with each recruiter on individual performance and pipeline health.
• Coach recruiters and emerging leaders on identifying high-potential talent, assessing sourcing strategies, and running an efficient selection process.
• Design, deliver, and assess learning and development programming to close performance gaps and accelerate recruiter ramp.
• Organize and facilitate monthly, quarterly, and annual recruiting strategy sessions for the agency.
• Train new leaders and recruiters across every step of the selection process — from sourcing through contracting.
• Build and execute performance improvement plans for underperforming team members in partnership with the Managing Partner and COO
Qualifications Required:
• Bachelor's degree.
• Seven (7) or more years of progressively responsible experience in recruiting, talent acquisition, sales, or related people-leadership roles.
• Demonstrated success leading, managing, and developing a recruiting or sales team.
• Strong working knowledge of modern sourcing platforms and tools (LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed, Handshake, applicant tracking systems).
• Proven ability to build executive-level relationships and influence senior stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication; comfort presenting to leadership audiences and large groups.
What Success Looks Like at Northwestern Mutual – West Michigan:
The right CRO is part talent strategist, part coach, part community builder, and part operator. They are equally comfortable on a stage in front of 200 people and on a call with a candidate at a career inflection point. They take ownership of the agency's growth trajectory and treat recruiting as the most important lever in the business.
Success in this role is measured not just by contracts and results, but by the durability of the recruiting engine they build and the quality of the leaders they develop behind them.
Compensation & Benefits:
Northwestern Mutual – West Michigan offers a competitive total rewards package combining a market-aligned base salary, performance-based incentive compensation tied to recruiting outcomes, comprehensive benefits, and access to Northwestern Mutual's leadership development programs. Specific compensation will be discussed during the interview process and is calibrated to experience and the West Michigan market.