Chief Operating Officer

ICE; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 230,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare coverage

401(k) plan

Life insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

ICE in Chicago – a leading market infrastructure provider – seeks a senior operations leader blending traditional clearing with digital asset custody. You will guide ICUS and IDTC day-to-day operations, partner with risk, treasury, and product teams, and drive resilience and governance across regulated environments.

The role requires 15+ years in financial market operations, deep regulatory understanding, and strong leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 15+ years of experience in financial market infrastructure operations.
• Experience overseeing operations in a regulated clearing house or custodian.
• Working knowledge of CFTC regulations and NYDFS trust requirements.
• Familiarity with digital asset custody and blockchain infrastructure.
• Strong track record in operational resilience and business continuity planning.
• Excellent leadership, project management and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Oversee ICUS day-to-day operations and address issues.
• Engage with clearing members and act as escalation point.
• Liaise with Operations, Risk, Treasury, and System Operations on clearing ops.
• Collaborate with ICE exchanges on new product launches.
• Prioritize ICUS development items across teams for timely delivery.
• Lead the ICUS clearing analyst team and feature requirements.
• Maintain high levels of operational resilience for ICUS.
• Manage internal audit follow-up and business continuity planning.
• Represent ICUS on ICE boards and committees.
• Support ICUS corporate strategy execution.
• Oversee IDTC day-to-day custody operations and transactions.
• Build relationships with IDTC customers and drive onboarding.
• Ensure custody procedures are maintained and improved.
• Coordinate with NYDFS on custody matters.
• Identify opportunities to increase efficiency and reduce risk.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Stakeholder management

Verbal and written communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

ICE Clear U.S. (ICUS) is a CFTC-registered Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) providing clearing services for futures and options on agricultural, equity and digital asset (crypto) products. As a regulated DCO, the COO is responsible for ensuring the clearinghouse operates safely and soundly, in compliance with CFTC core principles, and maintains the operational resilience and governance standards expected of systemically important market infrastructure.

ICE Digital Trust (IDTC) is a New York State chartered limited purpose trust company providing institutional grade custody services for digital assets. The business is at an early growth stage, with significant opportunity to build out its customer base and service offering. As a qualified custodian regulated by the NYDFS, the COO is responsible for the day-to-day operations of IDTC, including custody operations and the controls needed to meet NYDFS and client requirements.

This is a unique opportunity for the successful candidate to play a role at the intersection of traditional clearing and the introduction of blockchain technology into mainstream finance, including ICUS move towards 24/7 clearing for crypto based products and the expansion of collateral management using digital rails.

Responsibilities

• ICE Clear U.S.
  • Ensure that day-to-day operational issues relating to the activities of ICUS are managed and addressed
  • Regular engagement with clearing members, acting as an escalation point for operational issues
  • Liaise with Operations, Risk, Treasury and System Operations on clearing operations matters
  • Work with colleagues at ICE exchanges on new product launches
  • Prioritize development items for ICUS, working across development, quality assurance and project management teams to ensure timely, high-quality delivery
  • Responsible for the ICUS clearing analyst team and requirements for new features
  • Ensure ICUS maintains and continues to develop high levels of operational resilience
  • Manage internal audit follow-up and planning for clearing operations
  • Manage business continuity planning across clearing operations
  • Represent ICUS on relevant ICE boards and both internal and external committees as required
  • Support the development and execution of ICUS s corporate strategy
• ICE Digital Trust
  • External engagement with IDTC s customer base and target customers, building and maintaining strong institutional relationships
  • Work closely with Business Development on onboarding new customers and expanding custodian services
  • Be responsible for the day-to-day operational aspects of IDTC s digital asset custody business, including custody operations, transaction review and key management processes
  • Ensure IDTC s operational procedures are maintained and continuously improved
  • Liaise with the NYDFS on custody operations matters
  • Identify opportunities to increase operational efficiency and reduce operational risk across custody operations
  • Support the development and execution of IDTC s corporate strategy

Knowledge And Experience

• Bachelor s degree required
• 15+ years of experience in financial market infrastructure operations, with significant time in clearing, exchange, custody, banking or a related regulatory environment
• Experience overseeing operations in a regulated clearing house, or qualified custodian preferred
• Working knowledge of CFTC clearing house regulations and/or NYDFS trust company and virtual currency business requirements
• Familiarity with digital asset custody, private key management and blockchain infrastructure preferred
• Strong track record in operational resilience and business continuity planning
• Excellent leadership, project management and stakeholder management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

New York Base Salary Range

The expected base salary for this role, if located in New York, is between $230,000 - 330,000 USD. The base salary range does not include Intercontinental Exchange s incentive compensation. While we provide this range as general guidance, at ICE we compensate employees based on the skillset and experience of the individual. Regular full-time ICE employees are eligible for a suite of competitive employee benefits, including healthcare coverage (medical, dental and vision), a 401(k) plan, life insurance, time off, and paid leave for qualifying circumstances.

Illinois Base Salary Range

The expected base salary for this role, if located in Illinois, is between $230,000 - 300,000 USD. The base salary range does not include Intercontinental Exchange s incentive compensation. While we provide this range as general guidance, at ICE we com