Director, TPA Relationship Management

HarbourVest Partners • Boston, MA

2d • $110,000 - $160,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

For over forty years, HarbourVest has been home to a committed team of professionals with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to deliver impactful solutions to our clients and investing partners. As our global firm grows, we continue to add individuals who seek a collaborative, open-door culture that values diversity and innovative thinking. Here, you will be encouraged to build on your strengths and acquire new skills and experiences. We are committed to fostering an environment of inclusion that promotes mutual respect among all employees. Understanding and valuing these differences optimizes the potential of both the individual and the firm. HarbourVest is an equal opportunity employer. This position will be a hybrid work arrangement. You will receive 18 remote workdays per quarter to use at your discretion, subject to manager approval. For example, you may choose to work in the office 4 days per week and take one remote day weekly (typically 13 weeks per quarter), leaving 5 additional remote days to be used as needed. The Senior Manager, TPA Relationship Management, is a senior leadership role overseeing operational integrity, governance, and strategic direction of investment products handled by third-party administrators (TPAs). This leader will serve as the contact for our TPAs and essential internal contributors, ensuring outstanding service delivery, scalable operations, and robust control frameworks. The role demands an experienced professional with extensive fund‑administration knowledge, senior relationship management abilities, and the capacity to guide cross‑functional teams while advancing enterprise‑level operational improvements. The ideal candidate is someone who has: Strong Operational Knowledge: A deep grasp of full operational workflows, particularly concerning third-party administrators (TPAs), along with the capability to evaluate and handle cross-functional operational trade-offs. Relationship Management Skills: Established talent for handling and fostering strong professional relationships with third-party vendors, guaranteeing adherence to SLAs and critical metrics while solving any performance problems. Problem-Solving and Critical Issue Management: Skilled in resolving complex operational issues, bringing up critical issues when necessary, and taking proactive steps to prevent future challenges. Performance Monitoring and Accountability: Experience in tracking and assessing operational performance against key indicators, ensuring that both internal teams and TPAs meet or surpass established benchmarks.

Requirements

• Over 10 years of senior operational leadership experience in investment management, alternatives, private markets, or fund administration.
• Expert‑level understanding of fund accounting, investor servicing, and NAV governance, ideally across multiple product structures.
• Demonstrated success leading and influencing senior collaborators at TPAs, custodians, and internal leadership teams.
• Strategic problem‑solving ability, with a track record of crafting scalable operating models and driving process transformation.
• Outstanding communication skills and executive presence, demonstrating the ability to align diverse groups around common goals.
• Strong control orientation and risk‑management outlook, with experience building governance frameworks and remediating complex issues.
• Highly organized, focused, and decisive, capable of handling several simultaneous priorities in a global, fast‑paced environment.
• A collaborative leadership style, encouraging trust, accountability, and partnership across functions and geographies.
• Bachelor’s degree in business management, finance, or accounting, or equivalent experience

Nice To Haves

• MBA or CPA a plus but not required.
• Significant background in TPA oversight, investment operations, fund administration, or operational leadership within an alternatives manager or asset servicer.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic oversight of TPAs, ensuring operational excellence, robust governance, and alignment with evolving business needs.
• Lead the creation, deployment, and oversight of SLAs, essential indicators, and governance frameworks, ensuring internal teams and administrators meet rigorous performance standards.
• Serve as a senior point of contact for critical issues, navigating complex operational challenges and ensuring timely, high-quality resolution.
• Influence strategic decision‑making by assessing operational risks, process gaps, and cross‑product dependencies, and recommending enterprise‑level solutions.
• Champion operational scalability, consolidating business requirements and crafting leverage opportunities across internal and external service providers.
• Partner closely with Product, Technology, Legal, Operations, and Client Service to implement new product structures, operational improvements, and service‑provider transformations.
• Lead change‑management initiatives associated with system upgrades, regulatory requirements, and operating‑model shifts across global business lines.
• Improve global consistency and guidelines for TPA oversight, impacting both Wealth and Institutional businesses.
• Represent Operations in central initiatives, providing thought leadership on future‑state capabilities, automation, and control frameworks.

Benefits

• This role is eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, which is determined based on individual and overall firm performance.
• In addition to salary and bonus, total compensation may include eligibility for long-term reward programs and a comprehensive total rewards package that may include retirement, health, insurance, paid time off, and wellness programs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director