Career Opportunities

Associate Instructional Design Nerd

Kitces.com is hiring an Associate Instructional DesigNerd (AID) who will be responsible for working with our internal and external stakeholders and partners to design and build learning products and content, such as courses and videos as well as other resources relevant to the financial advisor community. The AID will possess and use instructional design and adult learning knowledge. But, this position will have a major technical and design emphasis, using eLearning authoring, video production, and design tools.   

The AID will work closely with the Curriculum DesigNerd, leveraging instructional design principles to create relevant and engaging course content. Whereas the Curriculum DesigNerd owns the preparation and iterative design phases, the AID owns the production and testing phases leading up to launch. The Curriculum DesigNerd can be thought of as an architect responsible for creating the blueprint for a house. The AID is then the contractor who will build it.   

In addition, the AID will oversee the filming and postproduction for course, webinar, and other organizational videos, as well as graphic design needs relating to the previously mentioned projects. The heart of the Education Department is that it is a product development team. So the AID must always be working with an eye on innovation and building learning resources that are relevant to the financial advising community.  

So if you’re tired of organizations that just try to pump out Courses in volume and would prefer to focus on quality instead, want room to test new ideas and be a part of the creative process that builds new educational offerings in a flexible growing company that isn’t bogged down by bureaucratic red tape, and love ‘nerding out’ on course development and design tools, this job may be for you! 

Description/Responsibilities 

This full-time, entirely virtually based staff position (work from anywhere, no relocation required!) will report to the Director of Education as a member of the Education Team.  

Core responsibilities include following: 

-Lead the development, production and testing phases for 2-4 courses annually. 

-Support the Curriculum DesigNerd by providing instructional design and adult learning expertise in the course creation process.  

-Build course interface, activities, and interactions using eLearning authoring tools such as Articulate 360. 

-Design and create learning resources, such as worksheets, job aids, diagrams, etc. 

-Strong PowerPoint skills with an emphasis on creative development beyond standard presentation builds 

-Edit, and produce educational videos. 

-Create or oversee the creation of promotional videos. 

-Work with advisor testing groups to review courses. 

-Oversee the course beta release and revision process. 

-Create graphics for courses, videos, and resources, or oversee the creation of these items by working with the graphic designer.  

-Work with the LMS administrator to resolve any technical course issues. 

In addition to the above responsibilities, we encourage our team members to identify other growth opportunities for the platform and lead in their implementation while learning new and beneficial skills. In other words, you will own certain assigned accountabilities, but we also want you to work on projects and opportunities that YOU identify as relevant to the platform and career, and that you are passionate about. We at the Kitces team are building something together!    

Key Candidate Traits 

The AID should be able to adapt and quickly learn new technologies. Experience and knowledge in adult learning and instructional design are required as is knowledge in learning design tools such as Articulate 360 or Adobe Captivate and design and video tools such as the Adobe Creative Cloud suite and PowerPoint. Though the AID is not a graphic designer, they do need to have the ability to create attractive resources, presentations, resources, and videos. Finally, the AID must be organized and good at leading groups of people in the completion of projects.  

The ideal candidate should be self-motivated enough to work in a virtual environment with limited supervision (autonomous), have an extremely strong inclination for continuous learning (self-development), an immaculate attention to detail (organized and efficient), a service mindset (seeks to collaborate and to help and support others in service to the financial advicer community), and an ability to work in a changing fast-growing environment (adaptability). We are a team that lives by our values, our support of one another, and our commitment to the community we serve. The successful candidate will share these values. 

Core Values 

• Do the Right Thing
• Advisors First
• Be the Trusted Source 
• Deposit More Than We Withdraw 
• No A$$holes 
• Get Your Nerd On 

 The candidate should also be highly adept at both written and verbal communication to educate, both within our virtual team, and to our financial advisor audience, and be capable to meeting specific content production deadlines.  

Notably, the Kitces platform itself is also growing and evolving. As a result, we are looking for people who seek to be challenged to learn, grow, try new things, and will bring fresh perspectives to the team.   

Requirements 

Some combination of strong instructional design experience and education/designations is required as is building courses using eLearning authoring tools. Ultimately, this experience will be defined by past work products and/or a portfolio as opposed to a pre-defined term of years. Formal experience as a graphic designer is not required, but a demonstrable sense of integrating quality design in past work is a must as is using tools such as those in the Creative Cloud suite and PowerPoint. Video production experience is desired as well as the ability to use associated software programs such as the  Premiere Pro or Final Cut.  

Candidates must be U.S. Citizens and work primarily within the United States. 

Compensation/Benefits 

Base salary $55,000 – $75,000/year (depending on experience) 

Available bonus up to 12% of base salary, payable at up to 3%/quarter, for meeting Members Section net growth targets 

$3,000 budget for additional education and training relevant to the position and/or organizational needs 

$2,000 budget for technology hardware/software or related office materials 

$3,000 conference budget 

Paid membership and designation dues relevant to the learning and development industry 

15 days of paid time off for combined vacation + sick, plus 6 national holidays 

Participation in company 401(k) plan 

Participation in company health insurance plan 

“No Meeting” Wednesdays 

To Apply: 

To be considered  for the Associate Instructional DesigNerd, click here to complete the  candidate application form. Using this form, you will also provide: 

• A resume and cover Letter 

• Past work samples or portfolio  
• Up-to-2-minute video to explain why you are interested in the position (optional) 

Please allow 7-10 business days for us to review and respond to your submission. For additional questions, you can email us at [email protected]. 

Associate Financial Planning Nerd

Kitces.com is hiring an Associate Financial Planning Nerd who will be responsible for writing and supporting the creation of original Nerd’s Eye View articles (and doing the associated research and analysis) on topics of interest to the financial advicer community, supporting our financial planning Resources with timely updates, supporting on the development of our speaker presentations, and providing other support as needed to the Advisor Education team in the creation of our Members Section content.

So if the idea of being able to just ‘nerd out’ on financial planning, tax strategies, and research all day long excites you, you enjoy continuously learning and sharing that learning journey with others (and figuring out the best way to teach and communicate those concepts), are excited to support industry-leading thought leaders and developing your own expertise in service to the financial advicer community, and want to join the most trusted source of quality and relevant information in the financial planning industry (as well as a team that actually lives by the values they talk about)… then this is the job for you!

Description/Responsibilities
This full-time, entirely virtually based staff position (work from anywhere, no relocation required!) will report to the Managing Editor as a member of the Editorial Team, and work directly to support Chief Financial Planning Nerd Michael Kitces.

Core responsibilities include following:

Annual Content Creation Responsibilities:
– Creation of 12 full-length articles for Nerd’s Eye View (1 every month) throughout the calendar year, including all related research and analysis, following the Kitces 3x3x3 content framework
– Support the blog creation process as need, including the development of relevant blog graphics to present key information, and supporting spreadsheet models where necessary to analyze key topics or issues
– Support the process of collecting and posting updated information for Kitces Resources
– Provide backup support to Senior Technical editor and Senior Financial Planning Nerd

Curation Responsibilities:
– Monitor industry trade and other publications for potential articles for Weekend Reading recap or social media sharing
– Support identification of prospective topics or Guest authors for Nerd’s Eye View blog posts
– Assist in reviewing Guest Post submissions to determine if appropriate to accept into the editing process

Other Responsibilities/Opportunities:
– Support in the creation of new or updated PowerPoint slide presentations based on existing articles and other site content

Future Opportunities:
– Serve as a paid Kitces Speaker for webinars or in-person conference events
– Provide consulting services as a part of Kitces Consulting

In addition to the above responsibilities, we encourage our team members to identify other growth opportunities for the platform and lead in their implementation while learning new and beneficial skills. In other words, you will own certain assigned accountabilities, but we also want you to work on projects and opportunities that YOU identify as relevant to the platform and career, and that you are passionate about. We at the Kitces team are building something together!

Key Candidate Traits
The ideal candidate should be self-motivated enough to work in a virtual environment with limited supervision (autonomous), have an extremely strong inclination for continuous learning (self-development), an immaculate attention to detail (organized and efficient), a service mindset (seeks to collaborate and to help and support others in service to the financial advicer community), and an ability to work in a changing fast-growing environment (adaptability). We are a team that lives by our values, our support of one another, and our commitment to the community we serve. The successful candidate will share these values.

Core Values
• Do the Right Thing
• Advisors First
• Be the Trusted Source
• Deposit More Than We Withdraw
• No A$$holes
• Get Your Nerd On

The candidate should also be highly adept at both written and verbal communication to educate, both within our virtual team, and to our financial advisor audience, and be capable to meeting specific content production deadlines.

Notably, the Kitces platform itself is also growing and evolving. As a result, we are looking for people who seek to be challenged to learn, grow, try new things, and will bring fresh perspectives to the team.

Candidates must be U.S. Citizens, and work within a reasonable time zone to the Eastern United States.

The successful candidate will have completed their CFP certification, and a Master’s degree or other advanced designations are desirable. Direct planning experience with clients is a positive, but not required.

Compensation/Benefits
– Base salary $50,000 – $70,000/year (depending on experience)
– Available bonus up to 12% of base salary (payable at up to 3%/quarter), determined by meeting key Members Section metrics
– $5,000 budget for additional financial planning education (i.e., post-CFP designations/certifications) or other training/skills education
– $2,000 budget for technology hardware/software or related office materials
– $3,000 conference budget
– Paid membership in Financial Planning Association, NAPFA, and/or other relevant membership associations
– 15 days of paid time off for combined vacation + sick, plus 6 national holidays
– Participation in company 401(k) plan
– Participation in company health insurance plan

To Apply:
Interested candidates for the Associate Financial Planning Nerd should complete the application form. Questions can be directed to [email protected]