Head of Trading Services

Hargreaves Lansdown; West of England; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary annual bonus

25 days holiday + bank holidays

Hybrid working

Private medical insurance

Pension scheme 11%

Life insurance

Job summary

Hargreaves Lansdown in Bristol is seeking a Head of Trading Services to lead the Dealing Desk and own the service model, controls and performance across the full trading lifecycle.

You will report to the Brokerage Director and work with Product, Tech, Operations, Risk and Compliance to strengthen client outcomes and operational resilience in a high-volume environment.

Qualifications

• Experience leading dealing/trading services with client-facing responsibilities.
• Strong understanding of order capture, routing, and execution workflows.
• Proven ability to manage high-volume trading operations and risk.

Responsibilities

• Set strategy and operating model for Trading Services aligned to growth.
• Lead the Dealing Desk ensuring clear capture and fair execution.
• Maintain supervision and QA across complex orders and market volatility.
• Develop services for complex client needs including liquidity sourcing.
• Monitor performance metrics and client outcomes.
• Oversee best execution, Consumer Duty and regulatory risk.
• Manage performance of brokers, market makers and counterparties.
• Ensure governance, incident response and remediation within risk appetite.
• Provide leadership for trading improvements and regulatory changes.
• Lead a team of ~15 with a focus on client outcomes and collaboration.

Skills

Senior leadership

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional leadership

Risk & controls

Trading operations knowledge

Education

Bachelor-level in Finance/Business

Regulatory knowledge

Tools

Trading systems

Job description

This is a senior leadership opportunity to shape the trading capability at the heart of HL's Brokerage business. As Head of Trading Services, you will lead the Dealing Desk, and own the service model, controls and performance across the full trading lifecycle. Your focus will be on ensuring clients receive fair, reliable and efficient access to financial markets across equities, ETFs, funds and other investment products. Reporting to the Brokerage Director, you will own the day-to-day performance, control and continuous improvement of Trading Services. You will work closely with Product, Technology, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Partnerships and external execution partners to strengthen client outcomes, operational resilience and the overall trading proposition.

What you'll be doing

• Set the Trading Services strategy and operating model, aligned to Brokerage growth, client needs, market developments, commercial priorities and the end-to-end service from order capture to fulfilment.
• Lead the Dealing Desk, ensuring client orders are captured clearly, routed appropriately and fulfilled through fair, timely and accurate execution.
• Maintain effective supervision, escalation and quality assurance across complex orders, large trades, periods of market volatility, trading issues and client-impacting events.
• Develop high-quality services for complex and higher-value client needs, including worked orders, liquidity sourcing, price optimisation and dealer-assisted trading support.
• Monitor execution quality, fill rates, order completion, pricing outcomes, order-routing performance, service standards and client-impacting issues.
• Oversee best execution, Consumer Duty outcomes, trading controls and conduct, working closely with Operations, Risk, Compliance and relevant Best Execution forums.
• Oversee broker, market maker and execution counterparty performance, ensuring service levels, market access and liquidity arrangements support strong client outcomes.
• Ensure Trading Services operates within defined control frameworks, risk appetite and operational resilience expectations, with effective incident response, root-cause analysis and remediation.
• Provide business leadership and subject matter expertise for trading improvements, regulatory change, market access enhancements and order journey improvements.
• Lead, develop and inspire a high-performing team of approximately 15 colleagues, creating a culture of client focus, operational excellence, commercial accountability, strong risk awareness and collaboration.

This role is permanent, full time (37.5 hours per week) and is based in our Bristol office (BS2 0PS). You'll be based in our office at least three days a week, giving you the opportunity to collaborate closely with colleagues while benefiting from the flexibility of hybrid working.

Senior leadership experience

• Senior leadership experience within retail brokerage, an investment platform, dealing, trading services or financial markets, with accountability for trading execution, dealing operations or client-facing trading services.
• Deep understanding of retail brokerage execution models, market structure, order capture, routing, execution and the operational demands of high-volume trading environments.
• Strong knowledge of equities, ETFs, funds and trade execution workflows, including electronic and dealer-assisted execution, worked orders, fulfilment and exception management.
• Experience leading dealing, trading operations or execution support teams, with strong supervision, control, escalation, incident management and service performance disciplines.
• Strong understanding of best execution, Consumer Duty, market conduct, operational resilience and execution-related risk and control frameworks.
• Experience managing brokers, market makers, liquidity providers or execution counterparties, with a focus on service performance, execution quality and client outcomes.
• Ability to use trading, execution and operational management information to assess service quality, strengthen controls and support commercial and client outcome decisions.
• Strong commercial awareness, leadership, stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders, external partners and cross-functional teams.

Desirable experience

• Experience delivering trading enhancements, regulatory change or operational improvements across Product, Technology, Operations, Risk and Compliance.
• Experience shaping order capture requirements and validating order fulfilment processes.
• A track record of building an inclusive, high-performing and client-focused trading function.

Here at HL, we're the UK's number 1 investment platform for private investors, based in Bristol. For more than 40 years we've helped investors save time, tax and money on their investments. To achieve our mission, we believe we have a workplace like no other, with constant learning, dynamic teams, and a great ethos. We're steered by core values that promote service, quality, innovation, and opportunity in everything we do.

• Discretionary annual bonus and annual pay review
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays and 1-day additional Christmas closure
• Option to purchase an additional 5 days holiday
• Flexible working options available, including hybrid working
• Enhanced parental leave
• Pension scheme up to 11% employer contribution
• Income Protection and Life insurance (4 x salary core level of cover)
• Private medical insurance
• Health care cash plans - including optical, dental, and outpatient care
• Health screening programme
• Help@hand - confidential support including mental health counselling and remote GP
• Wellhub - unlimited access to fitness providers and wellness coach sessions
• Variety of travel to work schemes with bike storage and shower facilities
• Inhouse barista and deli serving subsidised coffee and sandwiches
• Two paid volunteering days per yeardependant on role level
• only available to select during our annual benefits window, in November each year