Executive Director, Head of Client Service US

Socket.dev; New York (NY); On-site; USD 185,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

BBVA in New York is seeking a Head of Client Service US to lead the local team and personally execute onboarding for institutional clients. You will coordinate end-to-end onboarding governance across KYC/AML, Legal, Compliance, Risk, Operations, and Tech, ensuring data completeness and smooth client communications.

You will partner with Global Bankers and senior stakeholders, drive process improvements, and establish SLAs while maintaining a strong control environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in client onboarding and lifecycle management.
• Proven people-management in a complex, fast-paced environment.
• Understanding end-to-end onboarding workflows and cross-functional interactions.
• Experience coordinating with senior bankers, institutional clients and internal teams.
• Ability to manage multiple complex onboarding cases with strong prioritization.
• Knowledge of KYC/AML, sanctions, MiFID and EMIR requirements.
• Fluent English; Spanish is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the US Client Service team, setting clear priorities and managing day-to-day work.
• Coordinate onboarding changes with new products or activities.
• Own end-to-end governance of onboarding requests from intake to completion.
• Act as accountable owner of each request and ensure data is complete.
• Manage client communications between BBVA CIB and the client until onboarding is complete.
• Handle complex institutional onboarding cases with senior bankers and clients.
• Coordinate with KYC/AML, Legal, Compliance, Risk, Operations and tech teams.
• Supervise case progress and unblock exceptions or bottlenecks.
• Guide business teams on submitting onboarding requests and handling rejections.

Skills

Client onboarding

People management

KYC/AML

Stakeholder management

Onboarding workflows

English fluency

Spanish language (plus)

Education

Experience in Corporate & Investment Banking

Tools

Workflow management tools

Microsoft Office

Google Workspace

AI-enabled productivity tools

Job description

Excited to grow your career?

BBVA is a global company with more than 160 years of history that operates in more than 25 countries where we serve more than 80 million customers. We are more than 121,000 professionals working in multidisciplinary teams with profiles as diverse as financiers, legal experts, data scientists, developers, engineers and designers.

About the job:

Job Description:

About the area:

Client Service is a new CIB capability designed to establish a robust governance model for the client onboarding process in the United States. The team will serve Coverage, Global Markets and Global Transaction Banking, providing consistent coordination across client onboarding and lifecycle enablement activities.

The team will operate with end-to-end process ownership, request ownership and centralized client outreach. It will be aligned and closely connected with the global Client Service organization expected to be established, contributing to a scalable and homogeneous model across geographies.

The Head of Client Service US will lead the local team of Client Service professionals embedded with the business. In parallel, the role will personally execute onboarding for institutional clients, drawing on deep experience in client lifecycle management and senior stakeholder coordination.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the US Client Service team, setting clear priorities, allocating work and ensuring strong day-to-day management of professionals supporting Coverage, Global Markets and Global Transaction Banking.
• Coordinate with business teams to identify relevant changes to the onboarding process arising from the launch of new products or new business activities.
• Own the end-to-end governance of client onboarding and lifecycle enablement requests, from initial intake through completion, including new client onboarding, new product enablement and ongoing client enablement activities.
• Act as the accountable owner of each request once accepted, ensuring that data is complete, accurate and sufficiently robust for the process to progress efficiently through the specialist teams.
• Act as the single operational point of contact between BBVA CIB and the client until onboarding completion, coordinating documentation requests, resolving operational questions and managing communications with the appropriate internal stakeholders.
• Personally manage complex institutional client onboarding cases, working directly with Global Bankers, clients and internal teams to ensure a seamless onboarding experience.
• Coordinate dependencies and priorities across specialist teams, including KYC/AML, Legal, Compliance, Risk, Operations, Tax and relevant technology or registration teams. The role coordinates and escalates; specialist teams retain technical ownership and decision-making within their respective areas.
• Supervise case progress, identify bottlenecks early, follow up proactively with teams involved and lead working sessions to unblock exceptions or complex situations.
• Provide guidance to business teams on how to submit onboarding requests and manage rejections or rework arising from data-quality or completeness gaps.
• Ensure required registrations are requested in systems that are not directly integrated with the request entry process, including relevant operational platforms.
• Establish service-level expectations, monitor adherence, manage escalations and provide transparent status visibility to business stakeholders and senior management.
• Monitor KPIs, analyze pain points and lead continuous improvement initiatives to reduce turnaround times, improve operational excellence and support scale and process harmonization.
• Represent US Client Service in the development of the global operating model, sharing local insights, adopting common standards and contributing to global governance, procedures and training materials.
• Maintain a strong control environment by ensuring requests are handled in accordance with internal policies, procedures and applicable regulatory requirements.

Knowledge & Skills

• Significant experience in client onboarding, client lifecycle management, KYC coordination, account opening or related roles within Corporate & Investment Banking
• Demonstrated people-management experience, including the ability to build, develop and lead high-performing teams in a complex, fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end onboarding workflows and the interactions among Coverage, Global Markets, Global Transaction Banking, Compliance, Legal, KYC/AML, Risk and Operations.
• Experience managing institutional client onboarding and working directly with senior bankers, institutional clients and internal specialist teams.
• Ability to manage complex portfolios of concurrent cases while applying sound prioritization, rigorous follow-up and strong attention to detail.
• Working understanding of relevant onboarding requirements, including KYC, AML, sanctions, MiFID and EMIR. Deep technical expertise in each specialist domain is not required.
• Strong process governance, stakeholder management, escalation and change-management capabilities.
• Experience using workflow management tools, reporting dashboards, Microsoft Office, Google Workspace and AI-enabled productivity tools.
• Fluent English required; Spanish is considered a plus.

Other Skills (e.g. Interpersonal, Communication etc)

• Executive presence and excellent communication skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships with clients, senior bankers and specialist teams.
• Strong client-service orientation, sound judgment and a high degree of ownership and accountability.
• Proactive, solutions-oriented leadership style, with the ability to influence across teams without direct reporting lines.
• Transformation and change-oriented mindset, with the ability to embed a continuous-improvement approach in the onboarding process.
• Ability to work under pressure, manage competing priorities and drive decisions and actions to completion.
• Collaborative mindset and comfort working across functions, products and geographies within a developing global operating model.
• High level of professionalism, responsiveness and attention to detail.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

With respect to this position in our New York Office, the expected base salary ranges from $185,000 to $225,000. It is not typical for offers to be made at or near the top of the range. Salary offers are based on a wide range of factors including relevant skills, training, experience, education, and, where applicable, certifications obtained. Market and organizational factors are also considered. In addition to salary and a generous employee benefits package, successful candidates are eligible to receive a discretionary bonus.

*Employment eligibility to work with BBVA in the U.S. is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions

Legal requirements

It is not typical for offers to be made at or near the top of the range. Salary offers are based on a wide range of factors including relevant skills, training, experience, education, and, where applicable, certifications obtained. Market and organizational factors are also considered. In addition to salary and a generous employee benefits package, successful candidates are eligible to receive a discretionary bonus.

Pay Transparency Policy Statement

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information (41 C.F.R. 60-1.35 (c)).

Individuals with Disabilities

BBVA USA, BBVA Securities Inc., and BBVA S.A. New York Branch invite all interested and qualified applicants to apply for employment opportunities. If you are a U.S.-based job seeker with a disability who is unable to use our online tools to search and apply for jobs, please contact us by emailing: [e-mail] or by calling toll-free (in the U.S.) 1-844-664-9275. Please indicate the specific type of assistance needed*.

*The disability access telephone line and email address are reserved solely for job seekers with disabilities requesting accessibility assistance or an accommodation. Please do not call about the status of your job application if you do not require accessibility assistance or an accommodation. Messages left for other purposes, such as following up on an application or non-disability related or technical issues, will not receive a response.

EEO Statement

BBVA USA, BBVA Securities Inc., and BBVA S.A. New York Branch have a firm and unwavering policy to provide equal employment opportunity without regard to age, citizenship, color, disability, ethnic origin, gender, gender identity and expression, marital status, nationality, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, genetic predisposition, protected veteran status, or any other status or classification protected by federal, state or local law. This policy includes all job groups, classifications and organizational units. With regard to employment, this policy extends to applicants and covers our recruiting, hiring, promotion, transfer, demotion, discipline, termination, benefits, compensation and training practices as well as social and recreational activities.

View the "EEO is the Law" & "View the EEO is the Law Supplement Poster" poster. BBVA USA, BBVA Securities, Inc., and BBVA NY are equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.