Head of Retirement Trade Operations

The Head of Retirement Trade Operations will lead and manage all retirement trade operations, driving strategic initiatives to optimize trading activities by enhancing processes and controls. This role involves overseeing trust trading for retirement plans, developing strong relationships with key stakeholders, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in mutual fund trading, retirement recordkeeping, strong analytical skills, large plan and platform conversions, and a proven track record of leadership.

Successful candidate to preferably be located near our Newton, MA or Dresher, PA offices - Hybrid. Remote candidates can be considered.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee the Front (Service), Middle (Compliance), and Back office (Trade Desk) teams with the focus on execution of trade transactions, ensuring efficiency and accuracy
• Engage and design a process to review and rationalize multiple trading platforms to understand risk as aligned to organizational needs and goals
• Vendor management oversight including contract negotiations
• Ensure safeguarding of the company from risk and exposure through trading activities by performing active, ongoing assessments of processes and controls
• Monitor the market and economic indicators to ensure team, process and issues are accounted for and risk mitigation
• Build and maintain relationships with brokers, clients, institutional partners, and regulatory bodies
• Ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements, mutual fund agreements and internal policies; imparting improvements where needed as aligned with organization growth and change
• Collaborate with other departments as needed to support overall business goals and risk mitigation
• Share knowledge and updates on trading activities, market insights, and regulatory changes while escalating issues as needed and own resolution of issues
• Responsible for protecting and securing all client data held by Ascensus to ensure against unauthorized access to and/or improper transmission of information that could result in harm to a client.
• Maintain and establish the environment enabling Operations teams to live by the Core Values of People Matter, Quality First and Integrity Always® should be visible in your actions on a day-to-day basis showing your support of our organizational culture.

Supervision

• Leadership of global teams - leaders and their teams (approximately 60 associates)
• Partner with leaders to ensure the creation and management of team deliverables, ensuring that quality and production service level objectives are consistently met or exceeded.
• Provide balanced feedback to leadership regarding performance and areas of improvement, motivation of team and support of the associate experience and empowerment (regular staff meetings, one/one’s).

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, or a related field
• 10 years experience with retirement recordkeeping
• 15 years of experience in trading in financial services with at least 8-10 years in a leadership role inclusive of leading management teams
• Proven understanding of trading systems, financial instruments (i.e., ETF, SDBA, hedge funds, company stock) and market regulations, NSCC experience, pricing, settlement, and custody
• Understanding of DTCC products Fund/SERV, Networking, and Payment aXis
• Proven analytical skills with a data-driven approach to decision-making
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced and nimble environment; self-starter with strong performance orientation and manage multiple, competing priorities; deadline and detail-oriented
• Ability to build positive working relationships across the organization through collaboration and a mutual commitment to success; ability to work effectively with diverse teams and stakeholders

The national average salary range for this role is $180,000 - $210,000 in base pay, exclusive of any bonuses and benefits. This base salary range represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salary offered will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to location, experience, performance, and internal pay alignment. We do not anticipate that candidates hired will begin at the top of the range however, from time to time, it may occur on a case-by-case basis. Other rewards and benefits may include: 401(k) match, Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid-Time-Off, etc. For more information, please visit careers.ascensus.com/#Benefits.

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