Role Summary
The Senior Director, Wealth Operations serves as the senior operations counterpart to the Head of Client Service and is responsible for leading the core operating model across Wealth Management. This role provides strategic and execution leadership across brokerage, advisory, trust and fiduciary, planning, and private banking operations, with accountability for building a scalable, regionalized middle- and back-office support structure.
This leader will oversee the operational framework supporting the full client lifecycle, including account opening, asset and money movement, maintenance servicing, reconciliation, billing, and related core operational processes. The role requires deep expertise in wealth management operations, strong regulatory and risk discipline, and the ability to lead across complex multi-platform and multi-custodian environments.
In addition to operational leadership, the Senior Director will be responsible for advancing the evolution of the operating model through technology enablement, platform integration, and transformation strategy. This individual will operationalize the current model while shaping and executing a longer-term roadmap to simplify processes, improve scalability, enhance control effectiveness, and create a more seamless operating environment across systems, products, and support teams.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Leadership
- Serve as the senior operations leader and strategic counterpart to the Head of Client Service across the Wealth Management business.
- Lead core operations across brokerage, advisory, trust and fiduciary, planning, and private banking support models.
- Design, implement, and lead a regionalized middle- and back-office operating structure to support business growth, service consistency, and risk discipline.
- Oversee end-to-end operational processes across account opening, maintenance servicing, asset and money movement, reconciliation, billing, and related core activities.
- Ensure operational processes are scalable, controlled, efficient, and aligned to business priorities and client expectations.
Operating Model Design and Execution
- Operationalize the existing Wealth Management operating model and translate it into clear execution frameworks, support structures, roles, routines, and accountability.
- Drive consistency in service delivery, workflow design, escalation practices, and operational governance across teams and regions.
- Partner with business leaders to align operating support with advisor needs, client experience expectations, and business priorities.
- Establish performance management routines, service metrics, operating standards, and reporting to monitor execution quality and identify improvement opportunities.
Transformation and Platform Integration
- Define and execute the operations transformation strategy across a complex, multi-platform and multi-custodian environment.
- Lead efforts to simplify and integrate operating processes through technology enablement, workflow redesign, and systems alignment.
- Partner with technology, product, operations, and business stakeholders to develop an integration strategy that brings together fragmented platforms, processes, and support models.
- Identify automation, standardization, and process optimization opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce risk, and enhance scalability.
- Support modernization of the operating environment to create a more unified and seamless experience for internal teams and clients.
Risk, Controls, and Regulatory Leadership
- Maintain a strong control environment across operational activities, ensuring adherence to applicable policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
- Lead with a strong understanding of governance, supervision, escalation, and operational risk management in a regulated wealth management environment.
- Ensure operational practices align with FINRA, brokerage, advisory, fiduciary, and banking-related requirements, as applicable.
- Partner with compliance, legal, risk, and audit stakeholders on oversight, issue remediation, and control enhancement initiatives.
Leadership and Talent
- Lead and develop a senior operations organization with responsibility for structure, talent, performance, and succession planning.
- Build a high-performing operations culture centered on accountability, execution, partnership, and continuous improvement.
- Serve as a strategic thought partner to senior business leaders on operating model design, workforce structure, and execution priorities.
- Influence across functions and lead effectively in a matrixed environment spanning business, service, operations, product, and technology teams.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent applicable experience.
- Significant senior leadership experience in wealth management, private banking, broker-dealer operations, advisory operations, or a related financial services environment.
- Deep expertise across core wealth operations, including account opening, maintenance servicing, asset and money movement, reconciliation, billing, and operational controls.
- Experience leading operations across multiple wealth channels and product structures, including brokerage, advisory, trust/fiduciary, planning, and private banking.
- Demonstrated experience designing and leading regionalized middle- and back-office support models.
- Proven track record of leading large-scale operating model execution and business/operations transformation.
- Strong experience operating across multi-platform and multi-custodian environments, including integration and simplification initiatives.
- FINRA licenses required, including Series 7, Series 66, Series 24, and other licenses as applicable to the role.
- Strong knowledge of regulatory, supervisory, and risk requirements relevant to wealth management operations.
- Excellent leadership, communication, stakeholder management, and change management skills.
- Demonstrated ability to operate strategically while driving disciplined execution.
Preferred
- Experience benchmarking or operating in environments comparable to leading private banks, RIAs, or wealth platforms.
- Experience leading technology-enabled operations transformation and workflow modernization initiatives.
- Familiarity with platform consolidation, custodian integration, and enterprise operating model redesign.
- Advanced understanding of service, operations, and business alignment in high-touch wealth management organizations.
Candidate Profile
Successful candidates will typically demonstrate:
- Deep operational expertise in wealth and private banking environments
- Strong leadership presence and executive influence
- Ability to translate strategy into scalable operating execution
- Strong control orientation and regulatory judgment
- Experience leading complex transformations across platforms and teams
- Strong partnership mindset across business, service, operations, product, and technology
- Ability to build structure, discipline, and accountability in a growing or evolving model