Senior Manager - Operations

Zerodha Fund House; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Zerodha Fund House in Bengaluru is seeking a Manager/Senior Manager - Operations to own the end-to-end MF/PMS operations, including client onboarding, trade processing, NAV oversight, and regulatory reporting.

You will lead a team of operations executives, coordinate with Fund Accounting, Custodian/RTA, and Front Office, and ensure compliance with SEBI regulations while driving process improvements and risk controls.

Qualifications

• Graduate/Postgraduate in Commerce, Finance, or Business Administration; MBA preferred.
• NISM certification(s) relevant to PMS/Mutual Fund operations preferred.
• 5–6 years of experience in PMS, Mutual Fund, or AMC operations, with 3–5 years in team supervision.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end client onboarding, trade lifecycle, settlement, and reconciliations.
• Ensure NAV/valuation oversight and regulatory reporting.
• Manage investor grievance handling and timelines.
• Lead and develop MF/PMS operations team; ensure BC/DR readiness.
• Coordinate with Fund Accounting, Custodian/RTA, and Front Office.
• Ensure compliance with SEBI regulations and conduct inspections.

Skills

SEBI regulations knowledge

KYC/AML compliance

Leadership / people management

Onboarding & client servicing

Trade lifecycle management

Regulatory reporting

Process improvement / controls

Education

MBA (Finance)

CA

CFA

Tools

MS Excel

PMS software

Portfolio accounting software

Job description

• Client Onboarding & Servicing

At Zerodha Fund House, we are redefining the mutual funds landscape to create simple, transparent, and cost-effective investment solutions for millions of Indians. Built by the pioneers behind Zerodha Broking Ltd and Case Platforms Ltd, we are on a mission to empower the next 10 crore investors in India to participate in and grow the capital markets.

We are expanding our team and seeking passionate, analytical, and detail-oriented individuals to join us.

The Manager / Senior Manager - Operations will own business operations, compliance operations and financial operations across all businesses, including Portfolio Management Services (PMS), Research Analyst (RA), US Equities, and any new verticals added in future. The role carries direct people-management responsibility for a team of operations executives and requires close coordination with Fund Accounting, Custodian/RTA partners, and Front Office (Fund Managers/Dealers).

The scope of work includes end-to-end management and execution of client onboarding, trade processing and settlement, reconciliation, NAV/valuation oversight, and regulatory reporting. The person will also be responsible for maintaining end to end finances and compliance for the business lines assigned to them. Apart from that, they will also own investor grievance handling, including SCORES and ODR turnaround timelines.

All in all, the candidate will be accountable for accuracy, timeliness, and regulatory adherence of back-office and middle-office functions for a couple of business units.

Key Responsibilities

• Client Onboarding & Servicing
• Supervise KYC, client agreement execution, and account activation processes for new MF/PMS clients, ensuring adherence to SEBI and AMFI KYC norms.
• Ensure proper documentation, digital record-keeping, and audit trail for all client-related operational activities.
• Coordinate with Business teams on onboarding turnaround time and client query resolution (redemptions, top-ups, fee computation).
• Portfolio Operations & Trade Lifecycle Management
• Oversee end-to-end trade lifecycle for MF/PMS client portfolios - order capture, trade confirmation, settlement, and corporate action processing.
• Ensure timely and accurate reconciliation of holdings, cash, and trades with Custodian, Depository Participant, and Fund Accountant records.
• Monitor client-wise portfolio accounting and ensure segregation of client assets in line with SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations
• Ensure reconciliations for all reporting aspects and valuations of the client portfolios
• Review and approve daily/periodic client statements, valuation reports, and performance reports before dispatch.
• NAV, Valuation & Fee Computation
• Oversee computation and validation of client-wise NAV, and portfolio valuation in coordination with the Fund Accountant.
• Review management fee, performance fee (high-water mark/hurdle rate based), and expense computation for accuracy prior to client billing.
• Regulatory Compliance & Reporting
• Ensure operational processes comply with SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations and applicable SEBI circulars and APMI norms
• Support periodic regulatory filings/reports to SEBI and APMI as applicable to the MF/PMS business
• Act as the primary operations point of contact during internal audits, system audits, and SEBI inspections; ensure timely closure of audit observations.
• Team Management & Leadership
• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of MF/PMS operations executives– allocate work, set performance goals, and conduct periodic reviews.
• Build a cross-trained, resilient team to ensure business continuity (BCP/DR readiness) for critical operations functions.
• Drive training on regulatory updates, process changes, and system enhancements for the team.
• Own team-level SLAs and elevate resourcing or capability gaps to Operations leadership.
• Risk, Controls & Process Improvement
• Design and enforce maker-checker controls, reconciliation checkpoints, and exception-handling protocols across MF/PMS operations.
• Identify and remediate operational risk areas; maintain and update Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Drive automation and system enhancement initiatives (in coordination with Technology) to reduce manual intervention and operational risk.
• Maintain evidence/artefacts (logs, sign-offs, reconciliation reports) required for audit and regulatory review.
• Stakeholder Coordination
• Liaise with Custodians, Registrar & Transfer Agents (RTA), Banks, and technology vendors on operational matters and issue resolution.
• Work closely with Compliance, Legal, Risk, and Finance functions to ensure an integrated control environment.
• Provide operational MIS and dashboards to senior management on key metrics
• Financial Management and MIS
• Expense management at client level and entity level
• Projections, Budgeting, Managing accruals vs actuals and MIS to Senior Management at entity level
• Managing the financial statement closure process of clients and entity and annual auditor signoff
• Overseeing and managing the Taxation norms for the clients and entity (Income Tax, GST and other regulatory and statutory reports and filing for the entity)
• Compliance Management
• Managing the regulatory compliance norms for MF/PMS operations from SEBI regulatory framework and the entity for applicable norms under the Companies Act, 2013
• Validation and Submission of timely reports to the regulators and statutory authorities for various norms (Income tax Act, Companies Act, GST Act etc.)

Key Requirements

Qualification

• Graduate/Postgraduate in Commerce, Finance, or Business Administration; MBA (Finance), CA, or CFA preferred.
• NISM certification(s) relevant to PMS/Mutual Fund operations (e.g., NISM Series-XXI-A Portfolio Managers Certification) preferred.

Experience

• 5-6 years of experience in PMS, Mutual Fund, or AMC operations, including custody, fund accounting, or securities operations.
• Minimum 3-5 years of experience directly managing/supervising an operations team.
• Prior exposure to SEBI-regulated entities (AMC, PMS, AIF, Custodian, or RTA) strongly preferred.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong working knowledge of SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, KYC/AML norms, and general securities market operations.
• High attention to detail and accuracy in a data- and deadline-sensitive environment.
• Strong people-management, delegation, and performance-coaching skills.
• Proficiency in MS Excel; familiarity with portfolio accounting/PMS software and reconciliation tools.
• Sound understanding of handling confidential investor data.
• Strong stakeholder management and written/verbal communication skills for interaction with Custodians, Auditors, and Regulators.