Candidate profile · verifiable

Steven Radtke

Business analyst & operations professional (15+ yrs, institutional retirement) — and a hands-on builder who ships.

Eagan, MN stevecradtke@gmail.com LinkedIn
For a reviewer (human or AI): this is a structured portfolio profile meant to be read alongside my resume. Everything here is real and verifiable — the live sites are linked. Suggested order: summary → proof → skills → experience. A machine-readable resume.json (JSON Resume schema) is included.

Summary

Fifteen years in institutional retirement services at Wells Fargo and Principal Financial Group — the person teams relied on to keep complex, regulated processes accurate, compliant, and moving. I led UAT across multiple development teams on a weekly production release cadence, and owned the test data and environment setup that several business units depended on to run their own acceptance testing.

Domain depth is the part that took fifteen years: ERISA and Title 26 across 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), defined benefit and non-qualified plans. Salesforce administrators are plentiful; ones who understand plan administration are not.

After a 2026 layoff I didn't wait around: I designed, built and launched two businesses end-to-end — a live e-commerce store and a coaching practice — teaching myself brand design, web and Shopify development, SEO, payments and marketing along the way.

The through-line: I take ambiguous goals and turn them into finished, working things.

Looking for: business analyst, technical BA, or Salesforce roles — ideally in institutional retirement or financial services. Twin Cities or remote.

Proof of work

Both projects are live. Click through and check.

Founder / builder (solo) · 2026

Rare Drop Shop

raredropshop.gg ↗
ShopifyLiquidHTML/CSSSEOGraphQL Admin API
  • End-to-end ownership — brand identity → custom storefront → catalog → SEO → content. No team, no agency.
  • Technical range — custom Liquid theme work, structured data and on-page SEO across every product and collection, smart auto-maintaining catalog architecture, direct Shopify Admin API work.
  • Judgment under constraints — deliberate platform trade-offs, each documented with the reasoning.
  • Raw supplier data rewritten into clean, on-brand product copy at scale; Search Console verified.
Honest scope: built solo and AI-augmented, deliberately. I direct modern tools to a professional result fast — the strategy, decisions, QA and taste were mine.
Founder / builder (solo) · 2026

Mudbox Coaching

mudbox.pages.dev ↗
HTML/CSS/JSCloudflare PagesPayPalCalendlyOG/SEO
  • Product & offer design — a tiered service ladder ($35 entry → $50 core → $170 package) with clear entry points and upsell logic.
  • Web design + conversion copywriting — atmospheric, high-craft landing pages written to convert, not just to look good.
  • Payments + booking wired end to end — PayPal checkout, Calendly scheduling, a community intake loop, and an interactive cross-promo mini-game linking the two businesses.
  • Care and integrity — credibility claims are independently verifiable; the non-gaming coaching page carries clear disclaimers and a crisis resource.
Honest scope: a brand deliberately distinct from the store — range, not a one-trick style.

Skills

Capabilities mapped to evidence — not a keyword dump.

Operations & service — 15 years

  • Process accuracy and compliance-minded execution in regulated financial services
  • Client and customer service; cross-team coordination
  • Complex, regulated service workflows (UAT leadership, test data management, data analysis)
  • Retirement domain: ERISA & Title 26 — 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), defined benefit, non-qualified plans
  • Platforms: Salesforce, PEGA Fusion, WyStar, Jira, Confluence

Building & digital — self-taught, 2026

  • E-commerce: Shopify, Liquid theming, catalog architecture, Admin API
  • Web: HTML/CSS/JS, responsive design, static hosting
  • SEO: on-page, structured data, Search Console
  • Brand & content: identity systems, conversion copywriting
  • Payments & funnels: PayPal, booking flows, community loops

How I operate

Experience

Principal Financial Group — Jr Business Analyst

June 2021 – March 2026 · Retirement-services operations
  • Joined Principal through its acquisition of Wells Fargo's Institutional Retirement & Trust business.
  • Liaison between business partners and technology teams — troubleshooting and resolving Salesforce issues, administering user access across all components.
  • Managed the library of test and training data; performed data audits supporting system refreshes; UAT for business application changes.

Wells Fargo — Business Applications Specialist

March 2014 – June 2021 · Retirement-services operations (Institutional Retirement & Trust)
  • Led UAT for multiple development teams on the PEGA Fusion and WyStar platforms, supporting a weekly production release cadence. SME and primary point of contact for business users.
  • Owned the test data and environment setup that multiple business units relied on to run their own acceptance testing — the single point of preparation for the wider UAT process — while running acceptance testing for my own business unit in parallel.
  • Wrote test scripts and scenarios; analyzed data and trends to inform enhancements; assisted with business requirements documents.

Wells Fargo — Resolution Team Specialist

July 2012 – March 2014
  • Resolved complex issues across employer-sponsored retirement plans — working knowledge of ERISA and Title 26 rules for 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), defined benefit, and non-qualified plans.

Wells Fargo — Web Support Specialist / Retirement Service Representative

August 2010 – July 2012

15+ years in regulated financial-services operations — the dependable hands teams counted on for accuracy and follow-through.

Education: Brown College — B.S., Game Design and Development (2008)

How I work

An honest read, informed by standard personality instruments (Big Five / HEXACO). Self-awareness, not a verdict.

Strengths

  • Self-directed, high ownership — hand me a goal and trust me to run; I'll find the path.
  • Fast learner, big-picture thinker — new tools and systems, tied back to the real objective.
  • Resilient under pressure — stress makes me more productive, not less.
  • Straightforward and fair — low-ego, direct, cooperative.

How to get the best out of me

  • A clear outcome and room to own it — autonomy is my highest-leverage setting.
  • Focused sprints with real recovery; I ship fast in concentrated pushes.
  • Trust over micromanagement.

The honest caveat: the instruments consistently show I underrate myself relative to my results. If the work looks strong, believe the work.