Head of Trade Support - Executive Director

Morgan Stanley•New York, NY

51d•$160,000 - $250,000

About The Position

The Head of Trade Support will lead a global team of 35+ professionals responsible for overseeing the trade lifecycle across multiple asset classes and markets including Fixed Income, Equity, Derivatives and Liquidity. This Executive Director role requires a proven leader who can ensure operational excellence and continuous automation improvement in trade matching, confirmation, settlement, and issue resolution, while driving efficiency, scalability, and risk mitigation across the function. The individual will partner closely with investment teams, brokers, custodians, and internal operations groups to deliver timely, accurate, and well-controlled trade processing aligned with regulatory requirements (including global T+1 readiness). The successful candidate will also play a key role in proactively identifying process inefficiencies, mitigating risks, and implementing innovative solutions, including the evaluation and adoption of AI, automation, and emerging technologies-to continuously enhance trade support operations and scalability. They must have strong analytical, automation (low code) tooling, pro dev capabilities, and AI strategies and solutions, along with strong interpersonal and communication skills and be able to build and foster relationships at all levels of the firm's, clients', and outsourcing agent's organization.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in trade support, operations, or middle office functions within Asset Management, Investment Banking, or a related financial institution
Proven leadership experience at Director/Executive Director level, with responsibility for managing large, global teams (25+ FTEs)
Expertise across trade support processes including SSI management, trade confirmation, pre-settlement matching, fails management, and broker setup
Strong understanding of global markets, settlement cycles, and regulatory requirements (with focus on T+1 implementation)
Demonstrated ability to identify inefficiencies and implement process improvements using automation and emerging technologies
Excellent management skills with brokers, custodians, and internal stakeholders
Strong reporting and analytical skills, with experience managing KPIs/SLAs
Familiarity with OMS, EMS, trade matching, and settlement platforms (e.g., CTM, ALERT, SWIFT), as well as Payments Utilities
Bachelor's degree in finance, Economics, Business, or related field (advanced degree or CFA/CAIA a plus)

Responsibilities

Global Leadership: Lead and develop a global Trade Support team of 35+ FTEs, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement
Use industry-leading technologies like Alteryx, PowerBI, GenAI, etc., to develop tools for the operations team to pursue automation and improve scale and risk management
Trade Lifecycle Oversight: Manage trade lifecycle events, including trade matching, confirmation, pre-settlement matching, and settlement
Exception & Fail Management: Resolve trade breaks, exceptions, and settlement fails, escalating issues as necessary to senior management and counterparties
Broker & Custodian Coordination: Build strong relationships with brokers and custodians, ensuring timely affirmation, issue resolution, and adherence to service-level standards
Cash & Tax Investigations: Oversee resolution of cash breaks, interest claims, and tax-related issues impacting trade settlements
Ensure processes, controls, and reporting are aligned with evolving regulatory requirements (e.g., T+1 settlement in the U.S.)
Process Innovation: Drive the adoption of automation, AI, and advanced technologies to streamline workflows and reduce operational risk
FOF Trades: Manage execution and support for Fund-of-Funds (FOF) transactions, ensuring smooth and timely settlement
Oversee onboarding, maintenance, and ongoing management of broker relationships
Produce and analyze KPIs/SLAs (e.g., settlement efficiency, fail rates, on-time settlement) and present regularly to senior management