Change Management Consultant

About Northern Trust:

Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889.  

Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Role Summary

The Change Management Consultant is accountable for activating national Wealth Management change strategies within local markets, ensuring partners are ready, willing, and able to adopt new behaviors and digital capabilities. This role ensures change translates into daily practice, and becomes sustained over time.

This role sits at the intersection of change activation, field engagement, and adoption analytics. Through hands‑on engagement, targeted reinforcement, and disciplined use of metrics, the Consultant accelerates behavioral change, surfaces friction early, and partners closely with stakeholders and leaders to sponsor and reinforce adoption

Core Outcomes of the Role

• New behaviors are adopted quickly and consistently across markets

• Partners feel prepared, supported, and motivated to use new capabilities

• Resistance, confusion, and workflow friction are identified early and addressed

• Senior field leaders actively sponsor and reinforce change

• Adoption metrics demonstrate sustained usage, not just initial exposure

Key Responsibilities

Field Change Activation & Partner Readiness

• Serve as the primary field conduit for activating national change initiatives within assigned markets.

• Become a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for key products and initiatives, ready to provide insights, answer questions, and troubleshoot issues in the field.

• Assess partner readiness and, as needed, host or facilitate workshops and working sessions aligned to key initiatives and enhancements prioritized by Change Enablement & Execution (CEE).

• Present at local team meetings to reinforce change priorities, set goals, and establish expectations for behavior change.

• Equip partners through repetition, coaching, and reinforcement to support habit formation and confidence in new workflows.

Adoption Strategy, Metrics & Coaching

• Own adoption outcomes within assigned markets and remain accountable for successful activation throughout the full campaign lifecycle.

• Develop targeted adoption plans that focus on both early conversions in the first 30 days post-launch and sustained behavior change to achieve full‑campaign milestones.

• Leverage adoption and usage metrics to:

  • Identify where adoption is lagging

  • Prioritize intervention strategies

  • Provide individualized coaching and motivation to partners

Leadership Sponsorship & Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner closely with Managing Directors (MDs) and senior field leaders to build visible sponsorship and local accountability for change.

• Meet with local leadership to reinforce priorities, share adoption insights, and address emerging risks.

• Proactively manage and mitigate partner pushback by developing persuasive responses that address objections, reduce resistance, and restore alignment.

Friction Identification & Change Absorption

• Act as an early warning system for friction, misconceptions, workflow issues, or resistance that could stall adoption.

• Log meetings and leadership feedback in centralized tracking tools and intercept issues quickly.

• Monitor and help manage the field’s change absorption capacity, ensuring pacing and focus remain realistic and effective.

• Maintain open lines of communication with project lead and actively communicate potential resistance.

Activation

• Review large scale initiatives to identify a market’s capacity to absorb and implement the change.

• Organize grass-roots activation plans to ensure knowledge is practiced through coaching, workshops, local campaigns.

• Cascade strategic communications and campaign assets to partners in assigned markets.

• Elevate partner stories, testimonials, and field insights back to the centralized Change Enablement communications team.

• Promote structured feedback opportunities and ensure insights are captured in the centralized repository to inform strategy adjustments.

Profile for Success

• Strong field presence and ability to influence without direct authority.

• Expertise using data and metrics to diagnose adoption issues and guide action.  Proven ability to synthesize and interpret data.  Excel skills expected.

• Persuasive communicator and active listener with the ability to prioritize feedback and accurately discern severity and steps needed to address.

• Executive‑level communication skills with frontline credibility.  Excellent oral and written skills required.  Advantage to candidates who possess video production capabilities.

• Strong project management and execution skills required with the ability to exert a high degree of initiative and follow-through in an environment with high ambiguity. Proven ability to translate strategy into actionable, local behaviors. 

• Discerning judgment related to pacing, prioritization, and partner experience.

• Education:  Bachelors degree with 2+ years of professional experience preferably in financial services either in a client facing role, project or change management. 

Salary Range:

Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

Working with Us: 

As a Northern Trust partner, greater achievements await. You will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture in an organization where financial strength and stability is an asset that emboldens us to explore new ideas.

Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to assisting the communities we serve! Join a workplace with a greater purpose.

We’d love to learn more about how your interests and experience could be a fit with one of the world’s most admired and sustainable companies! Build your career with us and apply today. #MadeForGreater 

Reasonable accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [email protected].

 
We hope you’re excited about the role and the opportunity to work with us. We value an inclusive workplace and understand flexibility means different things to different people.

Apply today and talk to us about your flexible working requirements and together we can achieve greater.