ABOUT TELOS STRATEGIC WEALTH
Telos Strategic Wealth is an independent, fee\-based financial planning firm in Kansas City. We serve retirees and pre\-retirees, people navigating the transition from building wealth to living from it wisely. Our work centers on retirement income planning, Social Security optimization, Roth conversion strategy, and tax\-coordinated investment management.
We are a planning\-first firm. That means we do not manage money without first understanding the person behind it, their goals, their values, their family, their risk, their tax situation, and what they actually want their money to accomplish. A portfolio without context is not a plan. We believe that, and it shapes everything about how we operate.
We are fee\-based and fiduciary. We have no proprietary products and no sales quotas. Our incentives and our clients’ interests are the same.
We keep our client roster intentionally limited. Not out of exclusivity, out of honesty. A single advisory team can only deeply serve a finite number of households well. We would rather serve fewer clients excellently than more clients adequately. Every call that comes into this office matters.
The name Telos comes from the Greek word for purpose. That is not marketing. It is the actual standard we hold ourselves to.
ABOUT THE ROLE
We are growing. We are adding a second advisor, expanding our client base, and we need a reliable, warm, and organized professional to handle the day\-to\-day functions that keep the firm running and keep clients feeling well cared for.
Your primary job is to protect the lead advisor’s time and protect the client experience. Those two things are connected. When the phones are answered well, the calendar runs clean, and clients feel prepared and welcomed, the advisors can do their best work. That is what this role makes possible.
This is not a role for someone who wants to clock in, complete a list, and clock out. Our clients are primarily retirees who have trusted us with decisions that will shape the next several decades of their lives. Every interaction they have with this firm — including the first phone call and the moment they walk through the door — is either building that trust or eroding it. The person we hire understands that weight.
Day\-to\-day responsibilities:
- Answer phones and greet clients \- warmly, by name, without exception
- Manage the advisor’s calendar and schedule client appointments
- Prepare meeting materials and pull client notes ahead of each appointment
- Handle client follow\-up, correspondence, and CRM data entry
- Coordinate with the operations team on paperwork and account administration
- Keep the office organized, stocked, and client\-ready at all times
- Identify and flag issues before they become problems
- Grow into additional responsibilities as the firm grows
- A financial license or prior experience at a financial planning firm
- Full\-time availability
- A background in investments or financial services
- Prior experience in a client\-facing role in any professional services environment
- Comfort with scheduling software, CRM platforms, or Microsoft Office
- Experience working with or serving an older adult clientele
- Familiarity with financial planning or advisory firm operations
- Fair hourly compensation with annual reviews tied to firm performance and your contribution
- Flexible scheduling within standard business hours, with genuine respect for your time
- A stable, professional, and supportive work environment
- Clear expectations and honest, direct feedback
- A role that will grow as the firm grows — in hours, responsibility, and compensation
- Work that has real meaning: helping retirees navigate one of the most important transitions of their lives
- Hours: 10 per week to start, growing to 20 as the role develops
- Schedule: Set at hire within standard business hours (Mon–Fri); reliability is the baseline
- Location: In\-person at our Kansas City office — this is not a remote role
- Pay: $22–$24 per hour, commensurate with experience
- Start date: June 2026
- Employment type: Part\-time hourly; compensation reviews annual
- Holidays: Federal holidays observed; part\-time hourly time off is unpaid unless otherwise agreed
- Flexible schedule
What this role does not require:
Financial planning experience is not required. Character is.
We can teach you how our firm operates, what software we use, and how we prepare for client meetings. What we cannot teach is the instinct to care, the discipline to follow through, and the judgment to handle sensitive information as a matter of personal standard.
WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR
We are not looking for a resume. We are looking for a specific set of qualities that are harder to find than a credential and more important to this role than any software skill:
* Reliable. You do what you say you will do, when you said you would do it. You do not need to be reminded. You do not leave loops open.
* Warm. Our clients are retirees. Many of them have been treated as account numbers by advisors who did not take the time to know them. The way you answer the phone and greet someone at the door is not a soft skill. It is the job.
* Discreet. Our clients share their most sensitive financial information with this firm. Confidentiality is not a policy you follow here. It is a standard you hold.
* Honest. When something is not working, you say so. When you make a mistake, you own it quickly so we can fix it together. There is no penalty for honesty here — only a penalty for letting problems go unaddressed.
* Stable. We are a small firm building something long\-term. We are looking for someone who wants to grow with us, not someone who is using this role as a bridge to something else.
* Curious. You want to understand the work more deeply over time, not just complete tasks. You bring observations and ideas. You ask questions when you do not understand something.
Helpful but not required:
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS FIRM
We will be direct with you about what we can and cannot offer at this stage of the firm. We are not a large corporation. We do not have an HR department or a policy for every scenario. What we have is a clear set of values, a specific vision for what this firm is becoming, and a genuine commitment to building a team that reflects both.
What we offer:
A note on firm culture.
We are building something here. The people who join early, who help shape how this firm operates and how it feels to be a client of Telos, will have contributed to something that outlasts any single role or season of work. That is what we are inviting you into.
We would rather you ask ten times than assume once and get it wrong.
LOGISTICS
HOW TO APPLY
Submit your résumé and a brief personal note. Not a cover letter template. Not a summary of your résumé. Just a few honest sentences: who you are, where you are in life right now, and why this particular role at this particular firm makes sense for you.
Applications without a personal note will not be reviewed.
This is intentional. It is the first filter. We are looking for people who communicate directly, take initiative, and pay attention to what is being asked of them. If you skip this step, you have already told us something.
We review applications on a rolling basis. Qualified candidates will hear from us within one week. First conversations will be by phone.
We are not the right fit for everyone. That is fine. But if what you have read here resonates — if you recognize the culture, the standard, and the kind of work this is — we want to hear from you.
Pay: $22\.00 \- $24\.00 per hour
Benefits:
Work Location: In person