Wealth Technology - Head of Custody & Clearance Platforms, Director

Citi•Jersey City, NJ

About The Position

Overview of the Role: Citi Global Wealth is a leading provider of financial solutions for affluent, high net worth, and ultra-high net worth clients globally. We are committed to service excellence and seizing opportunities for our clients through the wealth continuum. The technology organization is building a purpose-driven team to serve its globally diverse, digitally forward customers. We are seeking exceptional candidates who think digitally and differently, resolve problems in unconventional ways, and strive to provide a remarkable experience for our clients. We define success by our Citi Leadership Standards: Develops our People, Drives Value for Clients, Works as a Partner, Champions Progress, Lives our Values, and Delivers Results. The Role We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced senior data leader to join our Wealth Manage Citi Wealth is undertaking a strategic transformation of its custody, clearing, and post-trade ecosystem to enable a modern, scalable, and platform-driven operating model. We are seeking a Head of Custody & Clearance Platforms to lead the design and delivery of next-generation platforms that power trade lifecycle processing, custody services, asset servicing, and settlement across Wealth Management. This role is responsible for transforming legacy, broker-dependent and siloed clearing environments into a modular, interoperable, and product-agnostic platform ecosystem, enabling Citi to: Support multiple custodians and clearing partners Scale across asset classes and geographies Improve control, transparency, and resiliency Deliver real-time, data-driven post-trade capabilities The role requires a leader who can combine deep domain expertise in custody and clearing with modern platform engineering and ecosystem thinking.

Requirements

20+ years of experience in financial services technology, with deep expertise in custody, clearing, and post-trade processing
Proven track record of leading large-scale clearing/custody transformations
Strong domain expertise in: Trade lifecycle (front-to-back) Clearing and settlement processes Custody and asset servicing Reconciliation and books & records
Experience working with: Clearing brokers and custodians (e.g., Pershing or similar) Market infrastructure (DTCC, NSCC, DTC, payment systems)
Deep expertise in modern architecture patterns: Microservices, APIs, event-driven systems Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)
Experience building real-time or near-real-time processing platforms
Proven ability to lead global teams and large transformation programs
Strong understanding of regulatory and risk frameworks in post-trade environments
Ability to influence senior executives and cross-functional stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Experience with custodian transitions or clearing platform replacements
Familiarity with wealth management platforms and advisory ecosystems
Exposure to multi-asset class clearing (equities, fixed income, derivatives, alternatives)
Experience implementing AI/automation in post-trade operations
Knowledge of distributed ledger / blockchain applications in settlement
Experience with real-time payments and liquidity management platforms
Prior exposure to books & records transformation (IBOR/ABOR convergence)
Experience with vendor platform integration vs in-house platform build decisions
Advanced degree in Engineering, computer science, or related discipline
Deep domain authority in custody and clearing, with platform mindset
Ability to translate complex post-trade processes into modern architectures
Strong balance of strategic thinking and execution rigor
High resilience and ability to operate in large-scale transformation environments
Commercially aware, with focus on efficiency, risk reduction, and scalability
Excellent communicator who can bridge technology, operations, and business

Responsibilities

Custody & Clearing Platform Strategy Define and execute a target-state platform strategy for custody, clearing, and post-trade services Lead transformation from monolithic clearing models to modular, multi-provider platform architecture Support strategic initiatives such as custodian transitions, clearing platform modernization, and in-sourcing / out-sourcing optimization Establish a future-ready operating model supporting multiple clearing brokers and custodians
Post-Trade Platform Transformation Lead Lead the initiative to run the transformation for technology platforms supporting the full post-trade lifecycle: Trade capture and enrichment Allocation and confirmation Clearing and settlement (DTCC, NSCC, DTC, Fed, etc.) Custody and safekeeping Asset servicing (corporate actions, income processing) Cash and position reconciliation Books and records (IBOR/ABOR alignment)
Multi-Custodian & Ecosystem Enablement Enable seamless integration with: Clearing firms (e.g., Pershing, etc.) Market infrastructure (DTCC, exchanges, payment rails) integration Internal Citi systems across markets, services, banking, and risk Design API-first and event-driven integrations for real-time interoperability
Modern Platform Engineering Drive adoption of: Cloud-native architectures and microservices Event-driven processing for trade lifecycle events Real-time settlement visibility and exception handling Replace batch-heavy, fragmented processes with real-time and near-real-time processing models Establish engineering excellence through: DevSecOps, CI/CD SRE and resilience engineering Observability and operational telemetry
Data, Transparency & Control Build real-time data platforms enabling: Position and cash visibility Settlement status tracking Exception and break management Establish a golden source of books and records across custody and clearing Enable data lineage, reconciliation, and auditability across the trade lifecycle
Intelligent Operations & Automation Introduce AI and automation to improve post-trade efficiency: Exception prediction and resolution Reconciliation automation Corporate actions processing optimization Enable straight-through processing at scale Reduce manual intervention through intelligent workflows and decisioning systems
Risk, Regulatory & Control Framework Ensure platforms meet all regulatory, compliance, and control requirements Embed: Audit trails and transparency Regulatory reporting capabilities Operational risk controls Partner with Risk, Compliance, and Operations to manage: Settlement risk Counterparty risk Operational resilience
Stakeholder & Transformation Leadership Partner with: Wealth business leaders Operations and custody teams Enterprise architecture and infrastructure teams Lead large-scale transformation programs such as: Clearing platform replacements Custodian migrations Post-trade modernization initiatives Influence senior stakeholders and drive enterprise alignment and funding
Talent & Organization Build and lead a high-performing global engineering and platform organization Develop expertise across: Post-trade domain knowledge Distributed systems and platform engineering Data and reconciliation technologies Foster a culture of ownership, resilience, and continuous improvement

Benefits

In addition to salary, Citi’s offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards.
Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs.
Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays.
For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com.
Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

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