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This position has closed. Northwestern Mutual removed this listing from their careers page on Oct 6, 2026. The interview prep below is still useful, and there are similar open roles at the bottom of this page.

Business Consulting Senior Specialist

Northwestern Mutual · Franklin, WI · Full time

Posted Sep 22, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 4, 2026

Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a business process problem you solved that also required a system change.

What they are checking: Whether they can connect business needs and technology, which is the core of this role.

Tell me about a time you had to manage a vendor's expectations or push back on them.

What they are checking: Whether they can negotiate firmly with vendors to protect critical objectives.

How do you work with technical subject matter experts when you're not a developer yourself?

What they are checking: Whether they can earn the trust of technical teams and ask good questions.

This role is hybrid in Franklin, with a planned move to the downtown Milwaukee office in 2027. How does that work for you?

What they are checking: Whether the location plan fits them, so it doesn't become a problem later.

What would you do

Business partners disagree on the best approach. How do you get to consensus?

What they are checking: Whether they can facilitate alignment and present options fairly.

How do you investigate and prioritize several issues when everyone thinks theirs is most urgent?

What they are checking: Whether they use evidence and impact to set priorities and can defend them.

After implementation, users keep using workarounds. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they own adoption and change management after go-live, as the posting expects.

How do you explain a technical limitation to a field-based employee who just wants it fixed?

What they are checking: Whether they can manage expectations with empathy and clarity.

About the work

How do you write requirements and business rules so developers build the right thing?

What they are checking: Whether they can produce clear, testable requirements that prevent rework.

How do you document a current-state process so you can find where it breaks?

What they are checking: Whether they use process mapping in a way that reveals root causes.

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The full job description

As published by Northwestern Mutual.

This is a hybrid role requiring employees to work onsite three (3) days per week. The position is currently based in Franklin, WI. For awareness, all employees currently located in the Franklin office are expected to relocate to Northwestern Mutual's Corporate Office in downtown Milwaukee, WI, at some point during 2027. About the Job: As a Business Process Senior Specialist, you'll be called upon to think strategically. You'll work across functions and/or departments to understand the needs of the business, facilitating relationships between business clients and technical resources. With a focus on addressing business processes and the underlying systems that support those processes, you will identify options, work to gain consensus on approach, develop requirements and related business rules, and work closely with business unit and technology subject matter experts to implement solutions for solving complex business challenges. Confident, persuasive, and persistent, you will negotiate and communicate with business clients, vendors, and field-based employees to ensure expectations are managed and critical objectives are addressed. Upon solution implementation, you will drive organizational change management activities to promote adoption of the change and minimize impact to people and processes. What You'll Do: • Accountable to investigate, articulate and prioritize issues, coordinate resolution and/or workarounds in order to support the operations or respond to service requests. • Accountable for eliciting, analyzing, representing and validating business needs to create requirements in order to achieve business objectives. • Identifies options in order to meet business requirements. • May work independently on small projects or as part of a team on larger efforts. • Accountable for identifying, understanding and documenting the current state, opportunities for improvement and future state business processes in order to meet business objectives. • May include problem definition, cost benefit analysis and options analysis. • Accountable for identifying and coordinating client acceptance testing, client training and communication needs in order to ensure successful implementations. • Accountable for providing information and analysis for the business including ad-hoc reporting and measures and metrics in order to support the business decision making process. • Accountable for coordinating Organizational Change Management activities in order to promote adoption of the change and minimize impacts to people and processes. What You'll Bring to the Role: • Bachelor's degree with an emphasis in MIS, Business or related field; or related work experience beyond the minimum required • Four or more years of experience/knowledge of business operations/processes to include analysis, design, documentation, using industry best practices and standards • Demonstrated flexibility to adjust to changing business needs by effectively managing and prioritizing concurrent assignments • Demonstrated ability to identify and resolve critical issues through effective problem solving skills. • Strong ability to develop and leverage relationships; ability to effectively influence and negotiate with internal and external partners • Excellent communication skills focused on facilitation of meetings; ability to deliver informative, well-organized documentation and presentations and ability to effectively communicate in difficult and sensitive situations Skills you have: • Analytical Thinking (NM) - Discuss the level of analysis needed to identify underlying process issues and support data-informed recommendations. • Continuous Improvement (NM) - Clarify expectations for identifying opportunities, implementing feedback, and measuring impact. • Documentation (NM) - Confirm the documentation types, audiences, and quality standards most important in the role. • Process Improvement (NM) - Discuss the role’s responsibility for current-state assessment, workflow design, and measurable efficiency gains. • Process Mindset (NM) - Clarify how the role defines processes, organizes work, and establishes success measures. • Root Cause Analysis & Decision Quality (NM) - Discuss expected problem-solving depth, business-requirement gathering, risk consideration, and decision support. • Stakeholder Relationship (NM) - Confirm the stakeholder groups involved and the expected level of engagement, influence, and relationship management. #LI-Hybrid Compensation Range: Pay Range - Start: $70,320.00 Pay Range - End: $105,480.00 Geographic Specific Pay Structure: Structure 110: Structure 115: We believe in fairness and transparency. It’s why we share the salary range for most of our roles. However, final salaries are based on a number of factors, including the skills and experience of the candidate; the current market; location of the candidate; and other factors uncovered in the hiring process. The standard pay structure is listed but if you’re living in California, New York City or other eligible location, geographic specific pay structures, compensation and benefits could be applicable, click here to learn more. Grow your career with a best-in-class company that puts our clients' interests at the center of all we do. Get started now! Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds. We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.