Job Description Summary:
The Operations Specialist provides day-to-day operational support for custodian relationships across all regions, serving as a key point of contact between the firm, custodians, advisors, clients, and internal teams. This role supports custodian projects, platform access, reporting, communications, account servicing, alerts, and M&A integrations while ensuring work is accurate, timely, and well documented. The Operations Specialist works closely with the Client Service Department and cross-functional partners to resolve issues, improve processes, and deliver a consistent, high-quality service experience. Success in this role requires strong attention to detail, initiative, problem-solving skills, adaptability, and consistent follow-through.
Job Description:
Primary Responsibilities
Support and coordinate custodian-related projects, including conversions, platform changes, process enhancements, and M&A integrations, while tracking milestones, deliverables, risks, and outstanding items.
Administer custodian platform access for advisors, employees, and other authorized users, including new, modified, and terminated access, while following applicable security and entitlement requirements.
Serve as a liaison among custodians, advisors, clients, and internal teams to research, resolve, and escalate custodial and operational issues.
Process custodian-related requests, including money movement, account maintenance, new accounts, DocuSign routing, case creation, account transfers, and re-papering.
Produce, distribute, reconcile, and validate scheduled and on-demand custodian reports, identifying discrepancies and opportunities to improve reporting processes.
Prepare and distribute custodian communications, service notices, account status updates, and other information to the appropriate stakeholders.
Monitor and triage custodian alerts, outages, deadlines, and policy or system changes; assess operational impact and track issues through resolution.
Maintain accurate custodian contacts, procedures, issue logs, integration documentation, and other operational resources across regions.
Identify opportunities to improve processes and operational efficiency while proactively addressing issues and collaborating across the Client Service Department and other teams.
Participate in team meetings, training, professional development, special projects, and other departmental initiatives as assigned.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, or a related field, or equivalent relevant work experience.
1 to 3 years of experience in operations, client service, administrative support, or a related role.
Experience in financial services, wealth management, or another professional services environment is preferred.
Familiarity with financial custodians such as Fidelity, Schwab, or Pershing and their platforms and service channels is preferred.
Experience with custodian platform access administration, entitlements, M&A integrations, conversions, or account transitions is a plus.
Strong attention to detail, accuracy, organization, time management, and ability to manage multiple priorities in a deadline-driven environment.
Strong written and verbal communication skills with a client-service mindset and collaborative approach.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Outlook, and Word; experience with Excel functions such as lookups and pivot tables is preferred.
Experience working with databases, CRM and workflow systems, and digital documentation tools such as Salesforce, Tamarac, and DocuSign is preferred.
Ability to coordinate projects, track tasks and dependencies, troubleshoot issues, and proactively identify appropriate solutions.
Sound judgment, integrity, and discretion when handling sensitive client and firm information.
Ability to work effectively across regions, time zones, and multiple stakeholder groups and adapt to changing priorities.
Willingness to learn, take initiative, pursue…