Senior Lead, Investment Accounting Data & Operations

Guardian; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Guardian is seeking a senior data governance leader to oversee investment reference data, quality controls, and governance standards in a hybrid NYC office. You will collaborate across investment, operations, accounting, and technology teams to onboard products and resolve data issues.

The role requires 5+ years in investment operations or data management, strong product knowledge, and proven leadership. You will drive process improvements and maintain documentation for governance frameworks.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Information Systems, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience within investment operations, investment accounting, data management, capital markets, asset management, or financial services.
• Prior leadership or team management experience with responsibility for oversight, development, and accountability of staff.
• Strong understanding of investment products, including fixed income, equities, private markets, or alternative investments.
• Demonstrated experience with operational controls, reconciliations, data governance, and process improvement.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and collaborate effectively across business and technology functions.

Responsibilities

• Oversee security master setup, maintenance, and data governance processes to ensure accurate and complete investment reference data.
• Establish and maintain data quality controls, monitoring processes, and operational governance standards.
• Partner with investment, operations, accounting, and technology teams to onboard new investment products and support changes to existing portfolios.
• Investigate and resolve data quality exceptions, reference data issues, and operational discrepancies.
• Collaborate with reconciliation, accounting, and reporting teams to support issue resolution and maintain data consistency across platforms.
• Lead operational governance activities, including metrics reporting, issue management, root cause analysis, and escalation processes.
• Support platform implementations, system enhancements, testing activities, and business transformation initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, automate manual processes, and strengthen the overall control environment.
• Develop and maintain documentation, procedures, and governance frameworks supporting investment operations and data management activities.

Skills

Data governance

Data quality

Analytical thinking

Project leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related field

Tools

Excel

Power BI

PowerPoint

Job description

You will

• Oversee security master setup, maintenance, and data governance processes to ensure accurate and complete investment reference data.
• Establish and maintain data quality controls, monitoring processes, and operational governance standards.
• Partner with investment, operations, accounting, and technology teams to onboard new investment products and support changes to existing portfolios.
• Investigate and resolve data quality exceptions, reference data issues, and operational discrepancies.
• Collaborate with reconciliation, accounting, and reporting teams to support issue resolution and maintain data consistency across platforms.
• Lead operational governance activities, including metrics reporting, issue management, root cause analysis, and escalation processes.
• Support platform implementations, system enhancements, testing activities, and business transformation initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, automate manual processes, and strengthen the overall control environment.
• Develop and maintain documentation, procedures, and governance frameworks supporting investment operations and data management activities.

You have

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Information Systems, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience within investment operations, investment accounting, data management, capital markets, asset management, or financial services.
• Prior leadership or team management experience with responsibility for oversight, development, and accountability of staff.
• Strong understanding of investment products, including fixed income, equities, private markets, or alternative investments.
• Demonstrated experience with operational controls, reconciliations, data governance, and process improvement.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and collaborate effectively across business and technology functions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with investment platforms, data repositories, portfolio management systems, and reporting tools.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Power BI, PowerPoint, and related analytics tools.
• Experience supporting technology implementations, data transformation initiatives, or operating model enhancements.
• Knowledge of automation, data analytics, artificial intelligence tools, and emerging technologies within investment operations.

Location /Travel

Hybrid role: 3 days in the Hudson Yards, NYC office. 2 days WFH

Our Promise

At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals. Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.

Inspire Well-Being

As part of Guardian’s Purpose – to inspire well-being – we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues. Explore our company benefits at www.guardianlife.com/careers/corporate/benefits. Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Guardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.

Accommodations

Guardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [e-mail]. Please note: this resource is for accommodation requests only. For all other inquires related to your application and careers at Guardian, refer to the Guardian Careers site.

Visa Sponsorship

Guardian Life is not currently or in the foreseeable future sponsoring employment-based visas (e.g., such as an H-1B). In order to be a successful applicant, you must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship/support now or at any time in the future.

Notice Regarding Guardian’s Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment

As part of Guardian’s job application process, Guardian may use artificial intelligence tools ("AI Tools") to automate the sorting and filtering of information provided by applicants as part of its preliminary screening. This preliminary screening may be used to help identify applicant materials and resumes relative to their indication that the applicant meets the requirements for the specific job for which they are applying, as specified in the listing posted on Guardian’s jobs website (Careers at Guardian at https://www.guardianlife.com/careers). At Guardian, we do not use AI Tools to substantially assist or replace human judgment or discretionary decision making in our hiring process. All hiring decisions will be made by Guardian colleagues.

Please be aware that if you apply for a specific position with Guardian, you will have the choice of opting out of Guardian’s use of AI Tools during the job application process. If you would like to request an alternative process that does not utilize AI Tools or would like to request a reasonable accommodation, within ten business days of your position application, you must email your request to [e-mail], making sure to provide your name and job requisition identification number. Guardian will retain your applicant materials and resume and all information therefrom in accordance with Guardian’s document retention policy, a copy of which you may request via [e-mail].

Additionally, at applicable times, Guardian will make public the most recent bias audit results for such AI tools, which may be found here.

Current Guardian Colleagues: Please apply through the internal Jobs Hub in Workday.