Client Onboarding Operations Associate

Morgan Stanley; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 103,000; Full time

Job summary

Morgan Stanley is seeking an Associate in Client Onboarding Operations to lead end-to-end onboarding for new accounts, coordinating with Legal, Credit, Risk and other teams. You will manage client relationships, resolve issues, and ensure smooth onboarding for complex fund launches and products.

The role requires strong communication, organizational skills, and 3–5 years of relevant experience, with a hybrid work model and office attendance about 3 days per week.

Qualifications

• College/University degree or equivalent with a business focus and relevant/proven experience.
• Hybrid working environment with expectation of going to the office on average 3 days per week.
• At least 3–5 years' relevant experience would generally be expected to find the skills required for this role.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the end-to-end onboarding process, from document collection to account initiation, ensuring all operational setups and reporting are completed ahead of client launch.
• Partner with Business Units, Legal, Credit, Risk, other Ops teams, and Clients to prioritize onboarding activities, resolve bottlenecks, and expedite issues to minimize business or client impact.
• Act as the primary contact for fund launches and onboarding inquiries. Manage complex conversations, engage the right stakeholders, and ensure clients are accurately set up. Escalate and resolve issues with urgency and integrity.
• Demonstrate knowledge of entity structures, regulatory requirements, jurisdictions, and internal process flows.
• Maintain awareness of market conventions and regulatory frameworks (e.g., Dodd-Frank, EMIR, MiFID II). Understand client reference data, account setup platforms, trading systems, and derivatives products; including post-trade processes.
• Collaborate with internal MS stakeholders to drive process improvements and implement technology solutions that reduce risk and enhance client experience. Engage in transformation initiatives, share best practices, and promote scalable solutions across teams.

Skills

Transaction lifecycle

Interpersonal skills

Client facing

Communication

Problem solving

Organizational skills

Presentation skills

Teamwork

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent (business focus)

Job description

We're seeking someone to join our team as an Associate in Client Onboarding Operations. The Client Onboarding team supports all product and functional areas directly and indirectly impacted by new and organic account openings related to the following divisions IED and FID, OTC Clearing and Listed Derivatives products (excluding PB). Onboarding represents the client's interests to internal counterparts, including, but not limited to, Credit Risk, Counterparty Risk, Documentation and Legal. As the central point of contact for the client away from their Sales coverage, Onboarding ensures any client issues are promptly surfaced, escalated, and resolved in a timely manner.

This position requires very strong relationship management, organizational and communication skills to have a successful commercial impact on the process. In addition, knowledge about the Firm's products and services is of paramount importance to providing full-service support to the client.

The Client Onboarding Group is responsible for establishing and implementing procedures and controls related to account opening as well as identifying opportunities to streamline the Onboarding process. The team works to enhance current technology to effectively capture and manage client relationship information and reference data.

In the Operations division, we partner with business units across the Firm to support financial transactions, devise and implement effective controls and develop client relationships. This is a Director level position within Client Service & Relationship Management, which is responsible for managing internal and external client relationships. We do this by engaging in client service activities, optimizing the client experience, and managing vendor/external business partner relationships.

Interested in joining a team that's eager to create, innovate and make an impact on the world?

What you'll do in the role:

• Client Onboarding Leadership: Oversee the end-to-end onboarding process, from document collection to account initiation, ensuring all operational setups and reporting are completed ahead of client launch.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Partner with Business Units, Legal, Credit, Risk, other Ops teams, and Clients to prioritize onboarding activities, resolve bottlenecks, and expedite issues to minimize business or client impact.
• Client Relationship Management: Act as the primary contact for fund launches and onboarding inquiries. Manage complex conversations, engage the right stakeholders, and ensure clients are accurately set up. Escalate and resolve issues with urgency and integrity.
• Subject Matter Expertise: Demonstrate knowledge of entity structures, regulatory requirements, jurisdictions, and internal process flows.
• Regulatory & Product Knowledge: Maintain awareness of market conventions and regulatory frameworks (e.g., Dodd-Frank, EMIR, MiFID II). Understand client reference data, account setup platforms, trading systems, and derivatives products (e.g., swaps, futures, options, forwards), including post-trade processes.
• Process Optimization & Innovation: Collaborate with internal MS stakeholders to drive process improvements and implement technology solutions that reduce risk and enhance client experience. Engage in transformation initiatives, share best practices, and promote scalable solutions across teams.

What you'll bring to the role:

• Technical understanding of transaction life cycle in one or more asset classes (Equity & FI Cash, Rates, Credit and Equity OTC Derivatives, OTC Clearing, Listed Derivatives, FX, Commodities)
• Very strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to deal with Sales and Trading, all levels of the client organization and representatives from Morgan Stanley infrastructure teams
• Client facing experience & ability to manage expectations effectively
• Proven experience with external institutional client communication and interaction
• Exceptional problem-solving ability.
• Exceptional organizational skills.
• Strong listening and verbal/written communications
• Strong presentation skills
• Ability to independently navigate the Morgan Stanley organization
• Ability to work within a quickly changing environment and remain composed under pressure
• Conceptual understanding of Pre & Post Execution Onboarding process across various products (Legal, Credit, Docs, NMR, Compliance etc.)
• Ability to work as part of a team and adapt to the needs of the team as they arise
• College/University degree or equivalent with a business focus and relevant/proven experience
• Able to work in a Hybrid working environment with expectation of going to the office on average 3 days / week
• At least 3-5 years' relevant experience would generally be expected to find the skills required for this role

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MORGAN STANLEY:

At Morgan Stanley, we raise, manage and allocate capital for our clients - helping them reach their goals. We do it in a way that is differentiated - and we've done that for 90 years. Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren't just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you'll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There's also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work.

To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices into your browser.

Expected base pay rates for the role will be between $65,000 and $103,000 per year at the commencement of employment. However, base pay if hired will be determined on an individualized basis and is only part of the total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, other short and long-term incentive packages, and other Morgan Stanley sponsored benefit programs.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in experience and background. Our recruiting efforts reflect our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion, where individuals are hired, developed, and advanced based on their skills and talents.

Our workforce reflects a broad cross-section of the global communities in which we operate, bringing a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and experiences.

For more information, please visit: https://www.morganstanley.com/people-opportunities/eeo.