Sr. Director, Securities and Treasury Operations

Job Summary:

Reporting to the VP, Investment Operations of the Finance Division, the Senior Director is responsible for providing leadership to the Investment Operations function at HOOPP for all asset classes, excluding private investments. The incumbent serves as a knowledge expert for HOOPP’s portfolio of complex physical and derivative securities as well as settlement functions. In addition to in-depth product knowledge the role will also possess a general understanding of all downstream processes such as valuations, risk, compliance, accounting and reporting. This is critical as operations impact all downstream processes. Accordingly, the integrity, accuracy, and timeliness of trade processing and settlements of the Capital Markets portfolio is critical in delivering on our mandate. The role requires strong partnership with other senior leaders across Finance, Risk, IT, and considerable interaction with investment professionals in the Investment Division. The Senior Director is also required to liaise with peers in the industry, HOOPP’s auditors, regulators, custodians, external broker/dealers, and other external parties.

What you will do:

Leadership

• Lead and direct a large team of professionals.  This encompasses providing strategic direction, planning and prioritization of work as well as establishing the department structure and related staffing requirements, training plans and annual objectives.
• Build a high-performance team and develop staff competencies to meet the department’s mandate through coaching, mentoring, and providing feedback to staff on a continuous basis.
• Create a culture of teamwork and knowledge-sharing throughout the Finance Division and HOOPP. Instill in the team the spirit of innovation and continuous improvement.

Operational Excellence

• Champion the evolution of workflow design, reengineering, and automation to continuously improve efficiency and reduce operational risk.
• Provide guidance and oversight to the operations functions to ensure that they adhere to industry best practice and HOOPP’s trade execution policy including seamless integration with downstream processes and reporting.
• Oversee the operational functions to ensure compliance with market, regulatory and industry requirement, such as but not limited to:
  • Ensure trades are captured, confirmed, reported and settled on a timely basis to manage HOOPP’s economic and reputational risk.
  • Provide oversight to corporate action functions.
  • Monitor trade settlements to ensure compliance with market timelines.
  • Oversee the ongoing monitoring of HOOPP’s custodian to ensure adherence with service level agreements.

• Oversee the selection and ongoing monitoring of external service providers.
• Contribute to the annual financial statement audit process and serve as a key point of contact for investment operation matters.

Enable New Investment Strategies and Opportunities

• Develop and maintain an insightful business partnership with Investment Management and other internal clients, including anticipating and responding to their needs on a proactive basis.
• Identify and assess the impact of new investment strategies and products, including developing and implementing processes to operationalize them.
• Keep abreast of industry best practices, market trends and regulatory requirements related to investment operations.  Where there are changes, assess the impact on HOOPP, make recommendations and oversee the implementation of changes in policies, processes and staffing to ensure HOOPP is following regulatory requirements and meeting industry best practices.

Develop Strong Partnerships

• Collaborate and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders across Finance, Investment Management, Risk, Legal, IT, as well as internal and external auditors.
• Build and maintain relationships with industry participants, peers, custodians and other service providers.

What you bring:

• Completion of University undergraduate degree in Finance, Accounting, Mathematics, Economics, or related discipline.
• A CPA or CFA designation is required.
• Minimum of 15 years of progressive management experience in investment operations of a large, global asset manager, with proven ability to provide leadership and strategic direction.
• Previous investment management experience is an asset.
• In-depth knowledge and experience with complex derivative products/strategies.
• Conceptual and abstract thinker who has excellent verbal and written communication skills, including experience reporting and presenting to senior management and Board levels.
• Ability to exercise authority through influence, implement change, and standardize processes in an ever-changing landscape.
• Superior strategic thinking and planning skills, including the ability to set priorities, identify opportunities and distill business implications from research and data.
• Strategic and independent thinker able to make decisions in ambiguous situations.
• Strong organizational skills, including the ability to manage complex processes that cut across Divisional business units in a diplomatic and professional manner.
• Excellent collaboration and relationship management skills, including the ability to manage and strengthen relationships across the HOOPP enterprise, with senior executives, Board members, external stakeholders, and service providers.
• Proven ability to interact with all levels of the organization confidently and effectively and to build strong working relationships in a team-oriented, collaborate environment.