Natali Dimitrova was recently promoted to a Client Service Representative on the National Client Support Services (NCSS) Trust Team within Wealth Management. When she joined Northern Trust in 2023 as part of the Jumpstart’s April 2023 Cohort she was the first employee to pilot the Jumpstart Program in Tempe, AZ. Natali graduated with a B.A. in Athletic Training at North Central College (NCC) in 2020 where she also competed on the Women’s Basketball Team.

Describe your role at Northern Trust

I am currently on the trust account opening team within our Wealth Management business unit.

On a daily basis I work with client facing partners to create the correct documents for our new and existing clients, review the documents and submit them for account opening once they have been signed. My team also works with the funding team for any additional funding coming into us from outside institutions.

Describe your team

My team currently has 10 people on it. We are separated into three different regions in order to support different states. We have team members in Florida (East Region), Chicago (Central Region) and Arizona (West Region).

All of us range in age as well as experience when it comes to working here.

Take us through how you ended up at Northern? What brought you to Northern Trust?

I worked at a Title company located in Chicago prior to joining Northern Trust.  In that role, I was in charge of overseeing all closings we had in a day and making sure all documents were correct and submitted for recording.

I joined Northern Trust through the Jumpstart program. As part of the Jumpstart program, employees are introduced to different teams and partners, which provides a broad view of what types of roles are possible in the future. While in the program, we were supporting four different teams before we got placed on one of them. After the three-month training with Jumpstart, I was placed on the Trust team under my current manager Albert Acero.

When I first joined the Trust team, we were doing the account opening and funding, as well as distributions, setting up statements, and handling any maintenance cases (documents that needed to be redone), before we were separated into three different teams – where my current role is.

In terms of my next steps, I am not 100% sure. I do have an interest in becoming a senior Client Service Representative, but I am also building new relationships and exploring other roles within Northern Trust.

What are you most proud of in your career at Northern Trust so far?

I am very proud of all the relationships I have built so far withing the National Client Support Services (NCSS) realm as well as Front Office partners. By helping Front Office and being available to them, it has opened up so many doors for me and I will continue to support them and provide them with the information I have when needed.

What’s a typical “day-in-the-life” at Northern Trust look like for you? What would your ideal workday look like?

My workday starts at 8am and ends at 5pm.

Monday - Wednesday we are required to go in office so usually I get in 10 minutes before so I can prepare for the day. When I work from home on Thursday and Friday I have pretty much the same routine.

The first thing I like to do is check my emails and Microsoft Teams messages to make sure other teams/partners do not need anything from me urgently. If they do, I make sure I take care of those requests first.

After that I check our Partner Workstations to see if there are any returning cases I need to take care of or any new cases we need to grab and work on. Partner Workstation is what we use to submit cases between Front Office and our NCSS teams. Once I have grabbed the cases I start working on them and periodically check our queue to grab more cases.

Throughout the day we do get quite a lot of questions from Front Office so I do my best to respond to them as fast as I can. If I do not have the answers, I direct them to the teams that will be able to assist.

Around 2-2:30pm (depending on the workload) I take my lunch. When I get back from lunch, usually our other regions (Florida - East and Chicago - Central) have already logged off so I am one of the individuals that needs to close our shift. I make sure that I work on most of the new cases that come in after 3pm (5pm CST).

By the end of the day, I make sure that there are the least amount of new cases possible for my teams when East region logs in in the morning so they can start the day clean.

When did you realize that Northern Trust was a good fit for your career?

I realized that Northern Trust was a good fit for my career after the first week I worked here. Everyone was very welcoming and willing to help me in any way possible.

My manager was in Chicago, and he made sure to call and check in with me at the end of the day even though he was off at that time, which made me feel very included as the only partner in Tempe that was on the team.

What technology/technologies have you been excited to work with here at Northern Trust?

I would love to explore Partner Workstation and Salesforce more.

We only use 2 sections of it on my team, but I would love to learn more about the other sections and how and when to use them. I know that a lot of different teams use it, and it seems like all of us have different responsibilities and procedures, so it will be nice to know more about it.

How do you keep your skills fresh? How does Northern Trust University help you build your skills?

I keep my skills fresh by constantly referring to our procedures as well as utilizing our Northern Trust University courses.  I also love to talk to the team members around me and bounce ideas of them.

How has Northern Trust supported your career objectives / development?

Working in account opening at Northern Trust has helped my career objective by strengthening my customer service, attention to detail and compliance knowledge.  I have gained valuable experience in understanding our regulations/procedures, verifying customer information and ensuring a smooth onboarding process.

Although I am not client facing, our front office team are our customers, and we want to make sure they have the best support system in order to provide our actual clients with the best customer service possible.

Our manager has a weekly meeting set up for our team so we can talk about issues that we have faced as well as to provide us with any new information needed. We also have monthly meetings set up 1 on 1 with our manager where we talk about what we want to do in the future and to make sure that everyone on the team has a good work-life balance.

What would you say to someone considering a career here? 

If you are considering a career in banking/finance, especially right out of college, Northern Trust is a great option for you if you enjoy a fast-paced environment. Joining Jumpstart was the best decision I made.

Being on the team introduced me to so many people I would never have met. If you have the opportunity to join through Jumpstart, instead of joining a team directly, I would 100% recommend that.

Be prepared to learn and build relationships because in the long run, the people you meet might be the people who help you get the job on your next team.

What’s your favorite thing about working in our Tempe office?

I love having a smaller office to go to because it allows me to see the same people every day and grow my relationships with them. I also love that we have covered parking for the hot Arizona days!

Fast Facts

Name: Natali Dimitrova

Role: National Client Support Services (NCSS) Client Representative

Business Unit: Wealth Management

Geographic Location: Tempe, Arizona

Education: B.A. in Athletic Training, North Central College

Any additional certifications: Notary Public in Illinois

Hometown / where are you living now: I am originally from Arlington Heights, Illinois and am currently living in Gilbert Arizona

Do you have a pet(s)? I have 2 dogs - a Belgian Malinois and a German Shorthair Pointer

What are you reading / podcast recommendation: I love reading rom-coms, thrillers and recently have been getting into fantasy and am really enjoying it

Comfort food: Anything Chocolate

Best advice you’ve received (work or non-work related) - Establish healthy work-life boundaries and prioritize self-care (enjoy life=enjoy work)

Describe Northern Trust in one word: Inclusive

Careers at Northern Trust

Come find your greater at Northern Trust. Review our open roles here.