Sr. Lead-UK Transfer Agency (UKTA) Operations

079 NT Management Services Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Northern Trust in the United Kingdom is seeking a Senior Lead UK Transfer Agency-Operations to drive regional operating model transformation, governance and client engagement across UK, Ireland and India.

The role demands extensive Transfer Agency expertise, risk and control oversight, and the ability to lead multi-location teams while delivering scalable fund administration and regulatory compliance.

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in Transfer Agency, fund administration or related regulated finance.
• Strong knowledge of TA processes including dealing, registration, settlement and investor servicing.
• Experience with regulatory frameworks (CASS, AML/FCC, etc.) and operational resilience.

Responsibilities

• Lead evolution of the UKTA operating model and contribute to strategic change.

Skills

Senior operational leadership

Transfer Agency expertise

Regulatory awareness

Control and risk judgement

Transformation experience

Client and executive communication

Commercial and financial discipline

TA platforms

Payment settlement reconciliation

MI dashboards KPI reporting

Automation and process improvement

Education

Degree-level education or equivalent

Financial services qualifications (beneficial)

Tools

TA platforms

Workflow tools

Reporting solutions

Job description

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions. Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide. With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

The Sr. Lead UK Transfer Agency-Operations position is a critical individual contributor role within UK Transfer Agency (UKTA), accountable for operational leadership, service delivery, governance and control oversight across UK, Ireland and India activity. The role supports the Head of UKTA by leading BAU operational management, maintaining an effective control environment, driving regulatory compliance, supporting client and prospect engagement, and delivering strategic priorities across service, risk, efficiency and transformation. The role has senior operational accountability across a multi-location UKTA operating model, supporting complex fund administration and shareholder servicing activity across onshore, nearshore and offshore teams. The role requires oversight of high-volume, time-critical BAU activity, regulatory obligations, client change, operational resilience events, service-critical processes and cross-functional stakeholder management. The role is expected to operate as a senior escalation point, trusted adviser and accountable owner for operational execution, ensuring the function remains scalable, controlled and aligned to UKTA, regional and global Transfer Agency strategy.

Key accountabilities include

• Operating model and transformation: Lead the evolution of the UKTA regional operating model, partnering with TA executive leadership to scale processes, simplify activity, implement automation and deliver strategic change initiatives.
• Risk, control and governance: Maintain a robust operational control environment, ensuring that risks, incidents, breaches, audit findings and control gaps are identified, assessed, escalated and remediated in line with governance expectations.
• Regulatory and compliance oversight: Ensure operational processes remain aligned to relevant regulatory obligations, including CASS, AML/FCC, Consumer Duty, operational resilience, data privacy and applicable fund administration requirements.
• Client and stakeholder engagement: Support RFPs, prospect presentations, due diligence activity, new business onboarding, existing client engagement and senior client escalations on behalf of UKTA Operations.
• Escalation and issue management: Act as a senior escalation point for regulatory, operational, service and client-impacting matters, ensuring decisions are appropriately framed, documented, escalated and resolved with urgency and control.
• Business continuity and resilience: Support business continuity activity, operational management of outages, SLA-critical incidents and operational resilience events, ensuring clear ownership, communication and recovery discipline.
• Industry and governance representation: Represent UKTA in relevant internal governance forums, client meetings, executive updates and external industry forums, ensuring the operational perspective is clearly articulated.

The ideal candidate should have a fair amount of the following skills & experience

• Senior operational leadership: Significant experience in Transfer Agency, fund administration, asset servicing, investment operations or a comparable regulated financial services environment.
• Transfer Agency expertise: Detailed understanding of end-to-end Transfer Agency operational processes, including dealing, registration, settlement, distributions, commissions, investor servicing and operational oversight.
• Regulatory awareness: Strong knowledge of collective investment schemes, Authorised Contractual Schemes, Long Term Asset Funds and relevant regulatory frameworks, including CASS, AML/FCC, Consumer Duty, operational resilience and data privacy.
• Control and risk judgement: Strong judgement in operational risk, issue management, incident resolution, root cause analysis and control remediation, with the ability to operate effectively under pressure.
• Transformation experience: Track record of delivering operating model change, process improvement, automation, workflow enhancement, technology adoption or cross-jurisdiction programme delivery.
• Client and executive communication: Strong stakeholder management, presentation and communication skills, with experience engaging senior leadership, clients, auditors, regulators, oversight teams and offshore or nearshore partners.
• Commercial and financial discipline: Ability to manage resources, budgets, capacity, workforce planning and service priorities in a controlled and commercially effective manner.
• Familiarity with Transfer Agency platforms, workflow tools, client servicing systems and reporting solutions.
• Strong understanding of payment, settlement, reconciliation, investor record keeping and operational data processes.
• Demonstrated ability to use MI, dashboards, KPI/KRI reporting and trend analysis to manage service, risk, capacity and efficiency.
• Working knowledge of automation, workflow improvement, control design and operational process optimisation.
• Degree-level education or equivalent industry experience is expected.
• Relevant financial services, Transfer Agency, fund administration, risk, compliance or investment operations qualifications would be beneficial.
• Project, change, Lean, Six Sigma, Agile or process improvement qualifications would be advantageous.

Work Authorization

Applicants must have the right to work in the United Kingdom at the time of application and for the duration of employment. Please note that Northern Trust is unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role. This includes Skilled Worker visas, Global Business Mobility routes, Graduate visas, Youth Mobility Scheme, High Potential Individual visas, Scale-up Worker visas, Temporary Worker visas, and other employer-sponsored visa categories.

Working With Us

As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve. Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [e-mail], or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

Terms and Conditions

Candidate Privacy Notice California Applicant Privacy Notice Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision (U.S) Transparency in Coverage Disclosure – North America Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center or call 1-800-807-0302 (North America), [phone] (Asia Pacific), 1800-425-0333 (India), [phone] (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

APAC/INDIA EEO STATEMENT

It is the policy and practice of Northern Trust to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. Northern Trust does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion or belief, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or age. All employment decisions will be made in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our obligations under the law and codes of practice. This includes human resources’ decisions relating to recruitment, terms and conditions of employment, transfers, promotions and access to learning and development.

Canada EEO STATEMENT

Northern Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Hiring and other employment decisions at Northern Trust are made without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, ethnic origin, age, disability, citizenship, veteran status, sexual orientation, record of offences, marital status, family status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial, or local law, regulation, or ordinance.

EMEA EEO STATEMENT

It is the policy and practice of Northern Trust to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. Northern Trust does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion or belief, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or age. All employment decisions will be made in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our obligations under the law and codes of practice. This includes human resources’ decisions relating to recruitment, terms and conditions of employment, transfers, promotions and access to learning and development.

USA EEO STATEMENT

It is the policy of The Northern Trust Company to afford equal opportunity in all phases of employment without regard to an individual's age, race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic tests and information, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status or any other legally protected status.

EEO Know Your Rights (U.S.)