Product & Platform Manager

Job Title: Product & Platform Manager, Institutional Business

Role Summary

The Product & Platform Manager, Institutional Business is responsible for driving the strategy, governance, and ongoing enhancement of the technology platforms that power Mariner’s Institutional business. This includes oversight of Salesforce CRM, participant education platforms, and the integrated systems that facilitate retirement-to-wealth referral workflows.

This position sits at the crossroads of business operations, technology, and advisor experience. The primary objective is to ensure platforms are optimized for growth, aligned with organizational goals, and delivering measurable value for both retirement and wealth management channels. Success in this role directly accelerates one of the firm’s most important growth initiatives by bridging the gap between retirement plan participants and wealth management clients.

Reporting & Positioning

• Reports To: SVP, Head of Platform

• Partners With: Retirement Plan Consultants, Wealth Advisors, IT/Engineering, Operations, Compliance, Marketing

• Manages: Platform vendors, implementation consultants, and potentially 1–2 platform analysts

Core Responsibilities

1. Platform Ownership & Governance

   • Serve as the internal product owner for the institutional technology stack, including Salesforce, participant education tools, and referral management platforms

   • Maintain platform roadmaps in alignment with business objectives across retirement and wealth divisions

   • Establish and enforce data governance, user provisioning, and access controls

   • Oversee the platform governance model, including change management, release cycles, and stakeholder approvals

2. Salesforce CRM Management

   • Lead the configuration, customization, and adoption of Salesforce for the Institutional team, including objects, workflows, dashboards, and integrations

   • Design and refine CRM workflows that support retirement plan relationships, advisor activities, referral events, and pipeline progression

   • Work with sales leadership to develop reporting that measures RPC productivity, referral conversions, and relationship strength

   • Manage relationships with Salesforce vendors and external admin/developer resources

3. Participant Education Platform

   • Oversee platforms delivering participant financial wellness and education content

   • Collaborate with plan sponsors and consultants to boost platform adoption and engagement

   • Ensure content remains current, compliant, and supports transitions from retirement savings to wealth management

   • Track education-to-referral conversion rates as a key metric

4. Retirement-to-Wealth Referral Ecosystem

   • Lead continuous improvement of end-to-end referral workflows, from participant identification to advisor handoff and outcomes

   • Design and maintain technological touchpoints throughout the referral journey (e.g., CRM triggers, educational nudges, advisor notifications, tracking dashboards)

   • Collaborate with wealth advisors to ensure smooth referral intake and measurable outcomes

   • Identify and implement automation to streamline the referral process

5. Platform Integration & Data Integrity

   • Ensure clean, reliable data flow between platforms (e.g., recordkeeper data, Salesforce, education and referral tracking)

   • Define and coordinate integration requirements with IT/vendors and oversee API or middleware connections

   • Serve as the escalation point for data quality concerns

6. Adoption, Training & Change Management

   • Drive platform adoption for RPCs, wealth advisors, and operations staff through training, documentation, and support

   • Monitor user engagement and address underutilization of platform features

   • Act as an internal champion and main resource for platform-related questions

7. Vendor & Budget Management

   • Manage vendor relationships, contracts, and renewals for the institutional platform portfolio

   • Build and oversee the platform budget; evaluate new tools and offer build/buy/partner recommendations

   • Conduct regular platform audits and ROI assessments to ensure alignment with business value

Key Performance Indicators

• Referral Conversion Rate: Percentage of participant referrals resulting in wealth advisory relationships

• CRM Adoption Rate: Percentage of active RPCs and wealth advisors logging activity in Salesforce

• Participant Education Engagement: Percentage of eligible participants engaging with education platform content

• Referral Cycle Time: Average days from referral trigger to advisor contact

• Platform Uptime & Data Quality: SLA adherence and data integrity scores

• ROI per Platform: Annual value delivered versus platform costs

Ideal Candidate Profile

Required Experience

• 5–8 years in product/platform management or technology operations, ideally in financial services, wealth management, or retirement

• Direct experience with Salesforce (admin certification preferred) and ability to configure the system

• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional platform initiatives and driving adoption

• Strong understanding of retirement plan ecosystems (recordkeepers, TPAs, plan sponsors) and wealth management referral dynamics

Preferred Experience

• Familiarity with participant education or financial wellness platforms

• Experience optimizing referral workflows from retirement to wealth channels

• Background collaborating with compliance/legal on platform content and data governance

• Exposure to API integrations and data pipelines (engineering background not required)

Core Competencies

• Systems Thinker: Recognizes connections between people, process, and technology in complex workflows

• Stakeholder Influencer: Earns trust across advisors, operations, and leadership without direct authority

• Execution-Oriented: Turns strategy into operational solutions

• Data-Driven: Confident building dashboards, defining metrics, and leveraging data for decision making

• Change Agent: Skilled at leading adoption and managing resistance within a relationship-driven firm

We welcome your interest in being a part of our firm. We believe in giving associates progressive opportunities, actively nurturing professional growth and giving back to the community. We are dedicated to building a diverse culture where everyone has the support they need to achieve their career goals. We offer an innovative workplace and a culture that fosters camaraderie, teamwork and work-life balance.

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EOE M/F/D/V