Transfer Agency Services, Vice President

Job Description

DescriptionAbout this roleTransfer Agency Services (TAS) is a global team of approx. 60 and is part of Global Accounting and Product Services (GAAPS) within Business Operations and Technology. This group is responsible for Institutional and Commingled fund accounting, Fund Board management, Portfolio & Regulatory Compliance, Transfer Agent and operational infrastructure oversight for BlackRocks commingled funds (registered and unregistered). In addition, the teams also support Latin America Business Operations, strategic fund conversions, vendor oversight and product lifecycle events. The Retrocession Oversight Team (ROT) sit within TAS and oversee and provide financial control of circa $200m per quarter of retrocession payments (Management Fee Rebates) covering BlackRocks EMEA fund ranges. ROT are responsible for ensuring Transfer Agents are calculating the retrocessions in line with client agreements, and that payments are made in a timely manner. ROT are also responsible for ensuring that all relevant payments are processed through Client Money accounts and that CASS regulations are adhered to. ROT work extensively with our 3rd party Transfer Agents, and our internal OnBoarding and Client Experience Management teams. ROT are currently located in Edinburgh. The TA Financial Control Team (TAFC) sit within TAS and oversee and provide financial control of c. 25 client money accounts across a number of different external providers and internally. TAFC are responsible for the oversight, governance and relationship of all outsourced CASS and Fund Asset reconciliation activity at BlackRock. TAFC are responsible for ensuring all our partners are adhering to the relevant regulations and have sufficient controls and processes in place. In addition, TAFC are responsible for the review and remediation of all CASS incidents, the compilation of all associated CASS MI and the presentation of this data to the respective Boards, Governance Committees and Head of Client Assets. This open role will allow the successful candidate exposure to both teams outlined above with a view to reviewing, aligning and consolidating process where possible. Role Responsibility o Maintaining a professional relationship with Transfer Agents, which will include monitoring service to ensure delivery in accordance with SLAs and in compliance with current regulations. o Oversight & governance of all Transfer Agency CASS & Retrocession activity including the daily oversight of external and internal client money and corporate reconciliations ensuring that all actions are completed o Review of CASS and Operational errors as and when they arise ensuring that appropriate action is taken to resolve the error to prevent recurrence. o Completion of in-depth CASS breach root cause analysis, reviewing and presented on a weekly basis to the CF10a and CASS Compliance o Production of CASS MI on a monthly and quarterly basis for Management to present at the CASS Governance Committee and various Boards o Completion of internal and external client money reconciliations to cover our offshore retrocession business o Compilation of the month end CMAR return for presentation to the CF10a o Completion of all Fund Asset Regime oversight of activities performed by offshore Transfer Agent. o Review and oversight of Transfer Agent/Paying Agent Invoices o Provide oversight of retrocession payments covering multiple fund ranges and transfer agents o Ensuring all Sox controls are adhered to within time scales o Calculate adjustments to TA retro calculations and process retrocession invoices o Produce and enhance metrics for board packs o Ensure the principles of TCF, demonstrating with words and actions that the client perspective is always considered in decision making. o Awareness of the risks to the company through late adherence to time scales & inaccurate data. o Ensure team mailbox is monitored and maintained for urgent Client Money and retrocession issues. o Take an active part in the team offering ideas & suggestions to improve processes, ensuring that the teams objectives are met. o Take an active part in suggesting process enhancements, creating new and regularly maintaining existing procedures. o Ensure collaboration with TA Financial Control and Retrocession Oversight Teams stakeholders o Provide constructive input to ongoing due diligence of the Transfer Agents. o Assisting management and senior leaders with any ad hoc / project work Competencies: o An innovator who actively seeks to generate ideas that deliver scale, commercial benefits, client service, or control improvements. o Excellent communicator with strong influencing skills together with an ability to build and maintain relationships both internally and externally. o Strong leader who develops a positive working environment to find ways to partner and effectuate a coordinated approach to tasks. o A strong project manager who is able to effectively prioritize workloads and adhere to deadlines. Experience o Experience in an operational/oversight role, ideally in a Transfer Agency/Financial Control environment. o Demonstrate a level of technical knowledge across a range of investment instruments, fund types and products. o Strong people management capabilities o Understand the relevant regulatory environment (CASS experience desirable) o Demonstrate a risk focus and understand the importance of identifying potential risks and of reporting risks to management and other relevant parties o Numerate and ability to demonstrate a high level of attention to detail o Have experience of reconciliations and data analysis o Be well versed in Excel with the ability to perform basic formulas, lookups, pivots as a minimum o Understand the importance of customers / providers to BlackRock and be able to work closely with others to meet objectives o Prepared to take initiative, work flexibly to help the team achieve its goals, and respond positively to change. o Ability to identify problems and incidents, work actively with others to resolve them and raise issues appropriately o Be a self-starter and takes responsibility for the completion of own work in line with agreed procedures and to the highest standards of quality and timeliness o Demonstrates team spirit, assists colleagues and perform tasks that do not usually fall within his/her responsibilities. o Demonstrates an ability to manage a working relationship with providers, is prepared to raise issues and communicate with all levels. o Ensures accurate record keeping of work and fi