Senior Paraplanner

Company Overview

BE SmartAdmin Services Pty Ltd (BESAS) is a bespoke Australian start-up company providing administrative, paraplanning, and bookkeeping services to a diverse range of clients, including financial planning, property, mortgage lending, and creative industries. While most of our team is based in the Philippines, our services are fully Australian-focused, and we pride ourselves on delivering tailored, high-quality solutions for each client.

At BESAS, we value excellence in our work and in our interactions with clients, while also recognising that well-being and work-life balance matter. Our culture encourages innovation, collaboration, and results, and we are looking for someone who can make an impact, demonstrates a can-do attitude, and thrive in a dynamic start-up environment.

Role Overview

As a Senior Paraplanner, you will play a pivotal role in our paraplanning team. You will:

- Manage SOA/ROA/research/modelling requests from advisers and allocate them to the paraplanning team, while also personally preparing SOA/ROA/research/modelling work.
- Review the SOA/ROA/research/modelling prepared by the paraplanning team before submission to the adviser.
- Lead, coordinate, and support the paraplanning team to ensure advice documents meet adviser requirements and AFSL compliance standards.
- Learn to prepare UK Pension SOAs and confidently review them.

This is a hands-on role requiring both active production and team guidance, with opportunities to make a tangible impact on our clients and team.

Key Responsibilities

Personal SOA Production

- Prepare a minimum of 1 SOA per day (approx. 4–5 hours) according to adviser instructions.
- Ensure all personal advice documents (SOA/ROA) meet AFSL compliance and adviser-specific preferences.
- Master UK Pension SOA preparation to support both production and review responsibilities.

Paraplanning Team Support

- Support paraplanning operations and workflow management.
- Liaise directly with advisers (mainly via email) for SOA requests.
- Manage adviser expectations with clear updates on timelines, scope, and required information.
- Review SOA requests and adviser strategies for completeness, accuracy, and feasibility before assigning tasks.
- Coordinate the schedule and workload of part-time paraplanners, ensuring a 3–5 business day SOA turnaround.
- Provide guidance and upskilling to paraplanners on correct SOA clauses to include/exclude.
- Review and approve SOAs prepared by paraplanners, ensuring adherence to AFSL templates.
- Implement revision requests from the AFSL compliance team and provide constructive feedback to improve accuracy, compliance, and adviser satisfaction.
- Contribute to team growth through recruitment input, training, and process improvement initiatives.

Quality Control & Adviser Liaison

- Coordinate with advisers and paraplanners for revisions as needed.
- Personally make final amendments to meet adviser deadlines.
- Be willing to conduct weekend SOA reviews in special cases (e.g., payroll cut-off deadlines) to ensure billing is included in the correct period.

Who Could Be an Ideal Candidate

You could be our ideal candidate if you are someone who:

- Has a strong background in paraplanning (5+ years) within the Australian financial planning industry.
- Can balance multiple advisers or practices while maintaining high accuracy and attention to detail.
Is proactive, solutions-oriented, and has a can-do attitude.
- Thrives in a start-up environment where your contributions directly impact the team and clients.
- Values excellence in work and client service while maintaining work-life balance.
- Possesses leadership or mentoring experience, capable of guiding part-time paraplanners effectively.
- Is keen to learn and grow, including mastering complex advice types such as UK Pensions and LRBA.
- Is proficient in Xplan, including SuperSolver/WealthSolver, Risk Researcher, and XTOOLS+ Calm (retirement modelling). Familiarity with other tools (ProductRex, Omnium/OmniLife, RetireMap, Fin365) is a plus.

Qualifications

- Minimum 5 years’ experience as a paraplanner in or for the Australian financial planning industry.
- Proven experience managing workflow or supporting multiple paraplanners.
- Strong knowledge of superannuation, personal insurance, retirement planning, and investment strategies.
- Strong written and verbal English communication skills.
- Ability to work autonomously while supporting and developing a small team.
- High proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel.
- Exceptional attention to detail and ability to interpret technical information.

Reporting

This position reports directly to the Operations Manager.

Home Office Requirements

- Power & Internet: Stable power supply and minimum 20 Mbps internet.
- Equipment: Computer/laptop with at least 8GB RAM and Microsoft Office installed.
- Environment: Quiet home office suitable for client calls and tea ---------- etings.

Working Hours

- Schedule: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday (Philippine Standard Time), including 1-hour unpaid lunch.
- Time Tracking: Use Clockify to track all work hours (excluding lunch) with task-level granularity.
- Breaks: Short tea breaks up to 15 minutes (max. 2/day) with supervisor notification.

Compensation & Benefits

Rates & Salary

- PHP 700/hour – Premium billable work (SOA/ROA prep, research, adviser communication).
- PHP 300/hour – Base rate for non-billable time (idle periods, tea breaks, etc.).
- Monthly salary range: ?107,467 (80% billable) – ?121,333 (100% billable).
- Independent contractor arrangement, inclusive of 13th month and government contributions (SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG).

Leave & Incentives

- 6-month probation: Hourly rate may be reviewed based on performance.
- 1st anniversary: 10 workdays of paid leave annually, prorated in the first year.
- Mandatory 10-day Christmas break (dates advised annually).
- Performance bonuses are discretionary, based on quality, consistency, and turnaround expectations.