Disability Insurance (DI) Finance Consultant
About the Opportunity
Join our Disability Insurance (DI) Claims team as a Finance Consultant and use your accounting and tax expertise to analyze financial information that informs claim decisions and benefit calculations. You’ll partner closely with claims professionals and leaders to develop clear conclusions and support accurate, timely, and contract-consistent outcomes. Throughout the claim review process, you’ll also communicate with Northwestern Mutual financial representatives, claimants, employers, attorneys, and outside CPAs to clarify financial information and resolve questions. You’ll further strengthen financial capabilities across the DI organization through consultation, training, mentoring, process improvement, and project work.
Why This Role Matters
Your work will help ensure complex financial information is understood and applied appropriately in decisions that matter to clients, Northwestern Mutual financial representatives, and the company. This opportunity allows you to apply your accounting and tax expertise in a specialized setting, expand your consultative capabilities, and help promote consistency and continued improvement across DI Claims.
What to Expect
Onboarding and Learning the Role
Your onboarding will build familiarity with Northwestern Mutual’s DI products, contracts, claim administration and financial practices, systems, and consultation workflows. You’ll apply your accounting and tax knowledge to disability claim scenarios through guided casework, collaboration with experienced team members, and feedback from claims and finance leaders.
Continued Growth
Success in this role grows through continued learning and practical experience. You’ll build the knowledge and judgment needed to support increasingly complex products, financial questions, and claim scenarios while developing your capabilities in financial claim analysis, benefit calculations, tax reporting, consultation, written communication, and the application of contract provisions. You’ll also remain current on accounting and tax developments through continuing education and professional resources.
What You’ll Do
Provide financial analysis and consultation across DI Claims, applying accounting, tax, and contract knowledge to develop and document well-supported conclusions.
Review personal and business financial records to calculate and explain earned income, covered expenses, benefit amounts and adjustments, and differences between tax returns and monthly claimant reporting.
Build trusted relationships with claims professionals and leaders by providing clear, timely, and actionable guidance.
Partner with DI Claims leaders on complex, sensitive, or high-impact cases.
Identify potential compliance, tax, or other financial concerns and involve appropriate partners as needed.
Communicate with financial representatives, claimants, employers, outside CPAs, attorneys, and other stakeholders to clarify information and resolve questions throughout the claim review process.
Review taxable benefit data and support required federal income tax reporting.
Build financial expertise across DI Claims through consultation, mentoring, presentations, and training.
Assist in developing and maintaining financial policies, reference materials, and tools aligned with claim practices, applicable accounting and tax guidance, and contract provisions.
Support projects and process or technology improvements that strengthen the consistency, efficiency, and quality of financial claim administration.
Maintain current accounting and tax knowledge through continuing education and professional resources.
What You’ll Bring to the Role
A bachelor’s or master’s degree in accounting.
Five or more years of accounting or tax-related experience.
A CPA designation is strongly preferred. An IRS Enrolled Agent (EA) designation may be considered when accompanied by relevant experience.
Strong analytical and decision-making skills,…