Custodian Relationship Manager

Vestmark•Wakefield, MA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Custodian Relationship Manager serves as Vestmark's primary liaison between our internal teams and our external partners across Custodians, Asset Managers and Technology Vendors. This role is responsible for maintaining and growing strategic relationships with major custodians through structured relationship building, proactive roadmap alignment, and technical integration oversight. A critical and distinctive part of this role is building and owning the custodian playbook — a comprehensive, per-custodian operational guide that standardizes how Vestmark onboards new clients, configures integrations, and supports day-to-day operations across each custodial relationship. Equally important is serving as the Vestmark champion for making it easier for advisors to do business with Vestmark, by ensuring that custodian infrastructure and Vestmark's platform capabilities are seamlessly connected. This is a highly cross-functional role that sits at the intersection of relationship management, technical program delivery, and operational coordination. The ideal candidate brings equal parts relationship acumen and technical fluency, and thrives in an environment that requires both strategic thinking and hands-on execution.

Requirements

At least 5–7 years of industry experience in relationship management, partner management, or client-facing roles within financial services, fintech, or wealth management technology
Strong understanding of custodial operations, including trading workflows, file-based integrations (SFTP, FIX), custodial data adapters, and account data management
Demonstrated experience building operational playbooks or standardized processes in a financial services or fintech environment
Proven ability to translate complex custodian requirements into clear operational guidance for internal teams and end-user advisors
Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder, multi-party relationships at both a strategic and operational level — including custodians, asset managers, consultants, and/or technology vendors
Skilled at developing and cultivating partner relationships through thoughtful, positive, and engaging conversation; a genuine desire to understand partners' business models and ask thought-provoking questions
Proven ability to lead cross-functional programs with technical and non-technical teams
Strong project management skills, including the ability to track multiple parallel workstreams, identify process gaps, and recommend improvements
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences and vice versa, and to command credibility and authority with both operational and executive-level contacts
Ability to profile firms and individuals, develop tailored engagement plans, and identify the right opportunities to bring to partners
Self-starter mentality with the energy and initiative to build programs and relationships from the ground up, not just manage existing ones
Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university
Basic to intermediate proficiency in investment management and/or financial advisory concepts, including security types, investment products, portfolio management, investment performance, and general advisory operations

Nice To Haves

Prior experience working with or at a major custodian or broker-dealer
Familiarity with wealth management platforms, TAMPs, or managed account technology — particularly advisor-facing platforms and the advisor experience
Experience working at the intersection of custodian infrastructure and an advisor-facing platform, with an understanding of how backend custodial configuration impacts what advisors see and do day-to-day
Experience managing FIX connectivity, SFTP infrastructure, or custodial file integrations
Background in technical program or project management
Experience in asset manager relations, co-marketing programs, or distribution partnerships within the wealth management industry
Familiarity with consulting firm relationships and how independent consultants influence RIA and wealth management technology decisions
Experience building technology partnership business cases and managing integration or revenue-sharing arrangements
Proficiency with Jira for issue tracking and program management
Familiarity with advisor onboarding workflows and the operational steps required to bring an advisory firm live on a new platform

Responsibilities

Own and drive regular, structured relationship meetings with each major custodian and sponsor partner, tailored to the appropriate cadence per partner (e.g., monthly, quarterly, biannual)
Serve as the primary point of contact and face of Vestmark in all custodian-facing engagements
Build and maintain trusted relationships with key stakeholders across relationship management, trading technology, operations, and product teams at each custodian
Build and maintain a comprehensive, per-custodian playbook that serves as Vestmark's authoritative operational guide for each major custodian relationship
Document custodian-specific requirements for trading connectivity and RIA account onboarding.
Define and publish standard implementation timelines by custodian and complexity level (e.g., standard equity, fixed income, multi-custodian) to set accurate expectations during the sales and onboarding process
Capture custodian-specific nuances — including lot selection methods, COAC authority settings, dividend payment configurations, proxy voting setup, and prime brokerage enrollment steps — so that Vestmark has a single source of truth across the organization when onboarding new clients
Partner with Advisory Solutions, Client Delivery, Operations and Production Support to validate and continuously improve playbook content based on lessons learned from live implementations
Ensure playbooks are versioned, maintained in a centralized and accessible repository, and shared cross-functionally as a standard onboarding resource
Act as the internal bridge between custodian-driven configuration and the Vestmark Advisor platform (VAS/Advisor Suite), ensuring that the advisor-facing experience reflects a clean, seamless connection to the underlying custodial infrastructure
Partner with Client Delivery and the Advisor Product teams to ensure that custodian integration details — trade routes, rep codes, account feeds, data adapters — are configured in a way that makes the Advisor Portal and Advisor Dashboard intuitive and immediately useful for advisors from day one
Collaborate with Advisory Consultants to develop advisor-ready quick start guides and custodian-specific onboarding kits that translate the technical complexity of custodian setup into clear, actionable guidance for advisors
Drive initiatives that reduce advisor friction at go-live — including IP whitelisting, user provisioning, account feed validation, and access to the Service Request Portal — so advisors can focus on managing client portfolios rather than navigating operational hurdles
Identify and escalate gaps where custodian setup requirements are creating downstream advisor experience issues (e.g., delayed account activation, reconciliation breaks, trading errors), and work cross-functionally to resolve them
Own and maintain a centralized master directory of key contacts at each custodian and sponsor, covering relationship managers, trading technology leads, operational contacts, and support teams
Ensure the contact directory is current, accurate, and accessible to relevant internal stakeholders across Vestmark
Partner with custodians to align on the pace and sequencing of new client onboarding onto custodial platforms
Coordinate go-to-market rollouts for new Vestmark clients being brought onto a custodian's infrastructure
Collaborate with internal teams to ensure smooth onboarding workflows, leveraging the custodian playbook to drive consistency and reduce one-off escalations
Act as the primary escalation path between Vestmark and custodians when issues arise (e.g., file delivery delays, trading errors, adapter failures, FIX session disruptions, reconciliation breaks)
Coordinate cross-functionally to triage, investigate, and resolve issues with urgency and clear communication
Ensure timely follow-through and documentation of root cause and resolution
Regularly measure and report on the status, activity, and outcomes of all partner relationships (custodians, asset managers, consultants, and technology vendors) to Vestmark leadership
Determine the efficacy of each partnership plan and make informed recommendations on prioritization, resource allocation, and whether additional stakeholders should be engaged
Proactively identify areas of weakness in partner-facing processes and recommend enhancements to improve the partner experience and Vestmark's operational performance
Engage custodians in forward-looking roadmap discussions, including new product rollouts, infrastructure modernization, API capabilities, and partnership opportunities
Document and maintain a running roadmap tracker for all custodian-driven milestones and Vestmark commitments
Identify and communicate strategic implications of custodian changes to internal leadership and relevant teams