Head of Investment Operations

As Northern Lgps; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Flexible/Hybrid schedule

Job summary

Northern LGPS is seeking a strategic Head of Investment Operations to consolidate three legacy fund practices into one controlled, scalable operating model. You will lead five functions, oversee post-trade activities, and drive automation while ensuring regulatory compliance and strong governance across the pool's investments.

You’ll work across investment, finance, risk, compliance and technology, with flexibility for a hybrid model from offices in the North of England.

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in investment operations within financial services.
• Experience delivering operating model design and process convergence.
• Proven ability to manage external providers (custodian, fund administrator).
• Experience delivering automation and straight-through processing improvements.

Responsibilities

• Own post-trade lifecycle and integrity of books and records.
• Converge three legacy practices into a single controlled operating model.
• Lead five investment operations functions with clear objectives and accountability.
• Drive operational efficiency via automation and technology with partners.
• Provide regulatory and risk management oversight including MiFID/AIFM obligations.
• Collaborate across investment, finance, risk, compliance and tech.

Skills

Leadership

FCA regulated

Investment operations

Vendor management

Operating model design

Automation & technology

Operational resilience

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Shape and lead the investment operations model that will support Northern LGPS as it builds its future operating capability. Northern LGPS is entering an important period of development, creating an FCA authorised investment management company and establishing the leadership, governance and operating capabilities required for the future. As Head of Investment Operations, you'll have the opportunity to build, develop and optimise a critical function at the heart of that operating model. You'll lead five investment operations disciplines, bringing together three legacy partner fund practices into a single, controlled approach while maintaining the integrity of the Pool's books and records and the operational service delivered to its three partner funds. This role combines operational leadership with genuine transformation. You'll establish clear accountability and robust controls, strengthen operational resilience and develop the function through process standardisation, automation and technology. Working across investment, finance, risk, compliance and technology, as well as with key external providers, you'll help create an investment operations capability designed to operate safely, efficiently and at scale. About Northern LGPS Northern LGPS is a c£70bn pooled investment partnership for the Local Government Pension Scheme, bringing together the investments of Greater Manchester Pension Fund, Merseyside Pension Fund and West Yorkshire Pension Fund. Building on the foundations of its collaboration over several years, Northern LGPS is now entering the next phase of its development. This phase focuses on establishing an FCA authorised investment management company with a dedicated senior leadership team; strengthening governance and creating a clear operating model to support long-term investment outcomes. For those joining at this stage, the opportunity is exceptional. These roles offer the chance to shape strategy, set standards and build leadership capability for the long term, working closely with the partner funds, who are both shareholders and clients, Boards and regulators to ensure Northern LGPS continues to evolve as a well-governed, resilient investment organisation. Our culture As Northern LGPS continues to evolve, we are building a collaborative, open and trusting organisation where people can do their best work. We believe strong outcomes come from working together, sharing knowledge and supporting one another. Our flexible and hybrid working arrangements give colleagues greater flexibility in how they manage their time, while supporting collaboration and colleague wellbeing. We are developing a supportive learning culture where people are encouraged to grow, contribute ideas and help shape how the organisation works. Our ambition is to build a resilient and sustainable organisation that delivers for its Partner Funds over the long term. The main responsibilities of this role As Head of Investment Operations, you'll have overall accountability for the post-trade lifecycle, the integrity of the Pool's books and records and the performance of its investment operations function. You will:

• Own the Investment Operations target operating model, leading the convergence of three legacy partner fund practices into a single, documented and controlled set of procedures, prioritised according to operational risk.
• Lead five investment operations functions spanning Trade Operations & Asset Servicing, Fund Control, Treasury & Cash, Data & Reporting and Valuations, establishing clear objectives, standards, priorities and accountability.
• Build and develop the function from its transferring base, strengthening capability, succession and cross-training while reducing single points of failure.
• Maintain effective segregation of duties across investment operations, particularly between instruction, execution and control.
• Drive greater operational efficiency through automation, straight-through processing and technology, working closely with technology colleagues to build an operating model capable of supporting future scale.
• Lead operational delivery across trade settlement, reconciliations, corporate actions, private markets transaction processing, net asset value oversight, fund accounting, treasury and cash, valuation oversight, and investment data and reporting.
• Act as the senior escalation point for failed trades, aged reconciliation breaks, valuation exceptions, payment control exceptions and service failures.
• Ensure the investment book of record and accounting book of record are maintained and reconciled, with clearly documented sources of record for positions, cash, valuations and performance.
• Act as an intelligent client for custodian, depositary, fund administrator and market data relationships, holding providers to contracted service levels and challenging performance where required.
• Maintain the Pool's capability to review, challenge and own externally delivered outputs rather than unnecessarily duplicating provider activity.
• Hold first-line accountability for operational risk, incidents, errors and losses arising across Investment Operations, ensuring timely and accurate escalation.
• Lead Investment Operations' contribution to operational resilience, including important business service mapping, impact tolerances and scenario testing.
• Ensure relevant regulatory obligations attaching to the Pool as an Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) firm are operationally discharged, including depositary interaction, Annex IV data and transaction reporting inputs.
• Provide Investment Operations reporting to the Operating Committee, participate as a standing member and chair the Trading and Instruments Forum.
• Ensure high-quality operational management information supports decision-making by the Operating Committee, Executive Committee and Board.
• Own the business case and operational delivery for any further transfer of activity to third-party providers, working with relevant procurement and third-party relationship colleagues.

You'll bring substantial investment operations leadership experience and the ability to combine rigorous operational control with the development of a scalable future operating model.

You'll have:

• Experience of operating within a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulated financial services firm.
• Proven experience leading a whole investment operations function or multiple operational disciplines within an asset manager, asset owner, fund administrator or custodian.
• Demonstrable experience overseeing providers, including custodian, depositary and fund administrator relationships.
• Experience building or materially developing an operations function, including operating model design, process convergence or transition and the establishment of controls and procedures.
• An understanding of both public and private markets operations, including capital calls, distributions and capital account maintenance.
• Demonstrable experience delivering operational efficiency through automation, straight-through processing or technology, and developing a function capable of scaling.
• Experience of first-line operational risk management, incident and error handling, and operational resilience obligations.

You'll also need the leadership and stakeholder skills to work effectively across investment, finance, risk, compliance and technology functions, while maintaining constructive and appropriately challenging relationships with external providers.

You can be based at any of our offices in Bradford, Manchester or Liverpool.

Flexible and hybrid working Northern LGPS offers flexible and hybrid working arrangements, alongside a commitment to colleague wellbeing.

Sponsorship We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Equal opportunities