Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Awards
Affiliations
Languages
Websites
Timeline
Hi, I’m

Heather Johnson

New York
Heather Johnson

Summary

Experienced Product Leader with 10+ years of success leading cross-functional teams to build and scale high-adoption financial products for Advisors and Clients. Proven ability to define and execute product vision across B2B, B2C, and B2B2C channels—spanning Mobile, Web, and Desktop platforms. Expertise in leveraging AI and data to inform product decisions, accelerate discovery, and deliver personalized, intelligent user experiences. Skilled at identifying and integrating AI/ML use cases, fostering a culture of experimentation, and driving adoption of AI-powered tools. Strong track record of scaling product teams grounded in customer research, behavioral analytics, and data-driven prioritization. Adept at aligning stakeholders across business, design, and engineering around strategic, high-impact initiatives. Industry experience includes Wealth Management, Capital Markets, and Custody & Clearing, with a growing focus on AI-powered financial platforms and data-enriched product ecosystems.

Overview

13
years of professional experience

Work History

LPL Financial
NYC

SVP, Head of Account Lifecycle Management
05.2024 - Current

Job overview

  • Led transformation of the 'NextGen' Onboarding system - migrating from a legacy vendor platform to a proprietary in-house solution encompassing 10+ integrated applications and multiple cross-domain workflows.
  • Oversaw a team of 20+ product professionals, managing multiple product lines; introduced OKRs and prioritization frameworks to align with business goals.
  • Delivered a product portfolio valued at $50M+, overseeing end-to-end strategy, development, and go-to-market execution across multiple business lines.
  • Defined and executed a multi-product strategy that led to a 0.8 point improvement in the New Account Opening CSAT in 2025.
  • Reduced call volume related to core drivers - Account Transfer Status and Customer Identification failures - by 5% and 15%, respectively, by addressing root-cause issues across the ALM domain.
  • Championed AI-powered Prototyping to accelerate discovery within the ALM organization, fostering a culture of rapid experimentation and innovation.

Wedbush Securities
NYC

SVP, Head of Product & User Experience
03.2022 - 05.2024

Job overview

  • Defined and led enterprise-wide product strategy across all business lines, aligning digital initiatives with firm goals and client needs.
  • Successfully launched Wedbush's first mobile app, ClientLink, delivering key capabilities to Wealth Management clients and improving digital engagement.
  • Led the design and development of Advisor Insight, a proprietary, interoperable workstation for Financial Advisors and Traders, featuring a new order entry system, advanced search, and financial data pages.
  • Directed development of the ClientLink website, enabling secure multi-factor authentication, account transfers, mobile check deposit, and bill payment features.
  • Designed and launched internal CRM and Equities Portal to support Capital Markets operations, enhancing workflow efficiency and client management.

Merrill, A Bank of America Co.
NYC

Director, Digital Platforms
09.2018 - 03.2022

Job overview

  • Served as Platform Owner for Merrill's proprietary Client Engagement Workstation (CEW), an award-winning, interoperable platform empowering Advisors and staff to deliver holistic, personalized advice and execute a wide range of transactions through a suite of industry-leading applications.
  • Led the very successful roll-out of CEW that drove record adoption amongst a workforce of 26K+ Merrill Financial Advisors and also to BofA branch offices, bringing total user count to 80K+. Roll-out was accomplished 100% virtually during the COVID Pandemic.
  • Ran concept and product discovery sessions with key stakeholders for multiple applications within the Client Engagement Workstation
  • Led feature development of multiple desktop applications including Merrill's AI-based Assistant Erica, ML Client Insight alerts, and the Book 360, an analytics dashboard.

Capco
NYC

Senior Consultant, Digital Wealth
03.2016 - 09.2018

Job overview

  • Clients and Projects included:
  • WealthDesk, an Advisor Investment & Risk Platform, Morgan Stanley
  • Digital Platform Vendor Assessment, Park Avenue Securities
  • Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule, Guardian Life Insurance
  • Led team consulting engagements and drove new sales pipeline for Capco, a global management consultancy specializing in digital transformation of the financial services industry.

Lexington Partners
NYC

Research Analyst, Private Equity
03.2014 - 03.2016

Job overview

  • Analyzed and reported on a co-investment portfolio of 65+ companies by designing performance dashboards that tracked quarterly KPIs. Led the implementation of iLEVEL software to streamline investor reporting and centralize portfolio data.

Lingo Champ
Shanghai

Product Owner
03.2012 - 10.2013

Job overview

  • Early Product Owner for an English language learning app that has since gone public on the NYSE with 83+ million users.

Education

Clemson University
S.C.

B.S. from Economics, Minor in Mandarin Chinese
05.2011

Skills

  • Product Vision & Strategy
  • AI/ML-Driven UX/UI Prototyping
  • User Research & AI-Powered Discovery
  • Go-To Market Strategy
  • OKRs & KPI Management
  • Stakeholder Communication
  • New Product Launches
  • Agile Development & Execution
  • Budget Forecasting & Allocation

Awards

WealthManagement.com 2021 Broker-Dealer | Technology Winner, Celent 2021 Emerging Technology Award for new Advisor Workstation

Affiliations

  • Women Leading the Finance Industry: Heather Johnson - Medium.com
  • Around the World a Clemson Profile on Heather Johnson '11 - clemson.world

Languages

English, Mandarin Chinese

Timeline

SVP, Head of Account Lifecycle Management

LPL Financial
05.2024 - Current

SVP, Head of Product & User Experience

Wedbush Securities
03.2022 - 05.2024

Director, Digital Platforms

Merrill, A Bank of America Co.
09.2018 - 03.2022

Senior Consultant, Digital Wealth

Capco
03.2016 - 09.2018

Research Analyst, Private Equity

Lexington Partners
03.2014 - 03.2016

Product Owner

Lingo Champ
03.2012 - 10.2013

Clemson University

B.S. from Economics, Minor in Mandarin Chinese

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