Director, US Operations

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Oversee operations for Payward’s US equities sector, which includes Kraken Securities LLC as well as operations for traditional stocks and xStocks.

• Take ownership of the complete US equities order flow encompassing clearing and settlement, along with reconciliations, corporate actions, and exception management.

• Manage xStocks operations, which involve token issuance and redemption, inventory and liquidity management, asset movements, and settlement across exchanges, custodians, and on-chain venues.

• Act as a designated principal of Kraken Securities LLC and the operational control point, which includes dual-approval sign-off on transactions and asset movements.

• Develop and execute the operating model for Kraken Securities and xStocks.

• Establish and maintain policies, written supervisory procedures, controls, books and records, business continuity plans, and KPI systems.

• Ensure readiness for the launch of new products and markets, and assess systems and procedures in collaboration with clearing firms, custodians, exchanges, and R&D teams.

• Collaborate with Finance on controls related to bank payments, customer funds, and reserve requirements.

• Guarantee desk coverage and settlement/reconciliation controls to support 24x5 operations while transitioning to 24x7 functionality.

• Manage vendor and partner operations, which includes onboarding, SLAs, and oversight.

• Lead severity-1 operational escalations, incident responses, root-cause analyses, and remediation efforts for US entities.

• Set performance objectives, track progress, and report KPIs and costs to leadership.

• Recruit and develop the operations team, build a licensing bench and succession plan, and scale the organizational structure.

• Collaborate with Marketing, Compliance, Product, Engineering, Operations, HR, and IT teams.

• Contribute to strategic planning and growth initiatives.

⛳️ Requirements

• A minimum of 12 years of experience in brokerage or fintech operations and/or at an operations consulting firm, including time spent within a FINRA-registered broker-dealer.

• Experience in crypto, brokerage, advisory, fintech, or other highly regulated industries.

• Extensive knowledge of execution, clearing, settlement, custody, margin, securities lending, and corporate actions.

• Working knowledge of digital assets and tokenized securities, including custody models, on-chain settlement, and operational controls.

• Direct experience operating under SEC and FINRA regulations, covering books and records, supervisory procedures, trade reporting, and examination responses.

• Experience in establishing or scaling operations for a new regulated product or entity, including launch readiness and regulatory approval processes.

• Proven ability to develop structured approaches for addressing complex challenges.

• Comprehensive understanding of company value drivers and strong grasp of business analytics.

• Experience in hiring, managing, and developing operations teams.

• Exceptional judgment and executive presence for interaction with C-suite leaders, regulators, and external partners.

• Required at hire or within an agreed timeframe: FINRA Series 7, Series 99, and Series 24.

• Must be eligible for registration and disclosure on Form BD and comfortable taking on named-principal responsibilities within a regulated entity.

• Series 63 / 65 / 66 as required by state registration.

🏝️ Benefits

• Bonus program

• Equity program

• Wellness allowance

• Medical insurance

• Dental insurance

• Vision insurance

• 401(k)