Senior Trust Officer – Complex Estates & Fiduciary

OneGroup; Buffalo (NY); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

11 paid holidays

Paid vacation

Medical insurance

Vision & Dental insurance

401K with generous match

Pension

Tuition Reimbursement

Job summary

Community Financial System, Inc. (CFSI) is seeking a Trust Officer III to develop, service and administer fiduciary accounts in accordance with legal documents and bank policies.

The role handles complex assets, estates, and diverse trust types, while building lasting client relationships. You will collaborate with Wealth Management teams, attorneys, and auditors, supervise staff, ensure regulatory compliance, and drive business opportunities.

Qualifications

• Formal legal/estate planning knowledge required or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum five years in trust industry; three years as Trust Officer preferred.
• Strong analytical, communication and documentation skills; able to interpret complex documents.

Responsibilities

• Administer and service complex fiduciary accounts per legal documents and policy.
• Respond to client inquiries; document communications to reduce risk.
• Develop new business opportunities with Wealth Management and external professionals.
• Supervise assigned personnel and provide coaching as needed.
• Maintain accurate trust accounting and regulatory compliance.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Written communication

Verbal communication

Analytical skills

Interpret legal documents

Mathematical skills

Accounting knowledge

Tax knowledge

Detail-oriented

Self-starter

Computer skills

Trusts and estates knowledge

Driver's license

Education

J.D.

CTFA

CFP®

MBA

Bachelor’s degree or related experience

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Overview

At Community Financial System, Inc. (CFSI), we are dedicated to providing our customers with friendly, personalized, high-quality financial services and products. Our retail division, Community Bank, N.A., operates more than 200 customer facilities across Upstate New York, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont and Western Massachusetts. Beyond retail banking, we also offer commercial banking, wealth management, investment management, insurance and risk management, and benefit plan administration.

Just as our employees are committed to helping our customers manage their finances, we’re committed to our employees. After all, they make it happen for our customers every day.

To ensure our people can enjoy long and successful careers here at CFSI, we offer competitive compensation, great benefits, and professional development and advancement opportunities. As an equal-opportunity workplace and affirmative-action employer, we celebrate and support a diverse workplace for the benefit of all: our employees, customers and communities.

Responsibilities

A Trust Officer 3 is responsible for developing, servicing and administering assigned accounts in a fiduciary capacity in accordance with account agreements, terms of legal documents, Trust Policy, state fiduciary statutes, banking regulations, and federal/state laws. In addition servicing existing accounts the Trust Officer III will be expected to develop new business opportunities for the department. The nature of the accounts are more complex, are of significant asset size, include a variety of asset types, and overall have increased difficulty or are considered of higher risk to the Bank. The types of accounts serviced include but are not limited to: non-discretionary agency accounts; discretionary agency accounts; directed and discretionary IRAs; guardianships/conservatorships;

various types of trusts including revocable, irrevocable, and testamentary trusts; and estate settlement accounts. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Administer accounts in accordance with stated account agreements and/or legal documents to ensure fiduciary duties and responsibilities are carried out to avoid risk and/or surcharges to the Bank.
• Administer and settle estates in accordance with a decedent’s Last Will & Testament.
• Respond to inquiries or requests for information from clients/beneficiaries, accountants, attorneys, courts, interested parties, auditors, regulators, and internal Bank personnel, as appropriate.
• Document account files to reflect client/beneficiary communications, instructions, and authorizations to avoid/minimize risk to the Bank.
• Communicate account instructions/changes, as needed, to Trust Management, portfolio managers, tax preparers, and operations personnel.
• Work with portfolio managers in the development of investment objectives and policy statements.
• Maintain updated account files and ensure trust accounting system reflects accurate coding for regulatory and risk management purposes.
• Perform annual administrative reviews on accounts, and other annual, quarterly, daily, and/or recurring tasks as required by applicable policies, laws and regulations, governing documents, and/or court orders.
• Direct liquidation of funds, when needed, for distributions and/or expenses from account.
• Analyze, recommend or determine discretionary distribution decisions in accordance with legal instrument and Trust Policy.
• Oversee and administer unique/non-standard assets in accounts, including real estate, when applicable.
• Prepare interim and final accountings for trusts and estates, as needed.
• Develop and maintain relationships with Wealth Management personnel for cross selling business opportunities.
• Develop and maintain relationships with area market centers of influence (e.g. accountants, attorneys, financial planners) to generate new business.
• Comply with Bank and Trust operating policies and procedures.
• Achieve client service goals as established in the Bank’s operating plan.
• Promote Trust services to internal and external sources.
• Supervise assigned personnel.
• Provide guidance and training support to Trust personnel as needed or directed.

Essential Duties:

• Analyze agreements and legal documents associated with assigned accounts to determine purpose/intent, the Bank’s legal capacity, co-authorities, legal requirements, fee provisions, required distribution provisions, discretionary distribution provision language, restrictions, taxation and tax reporting requirements, accounting/reporting requirements, asset retention, investment authority, investment restrictions, terminating events, and other matters of administrative importance.
• Communicate with clients by phone, letter, or email on account related matters as needed, and respond to client inquiries in a timely manner while adequately documenting all communications.
• Maintain up to date, accurate, neat, organized, and well documented files.
• Maintain accurate account information details on the trust accounting system including synoptic coding, restricted assets, statement recipients, recipient tax coding, etc.
• Perform documented annual administrative review of accounts in accordance with Trust policy and procedures.
• Review distribution requests to ensure their legitimacy, proper authorizations, document language provisions, funds availability, etc.
• Monitor uninvested cash and account liquidity for cash requirements and communicate with portfolio and/or investment managers as needed.
• Prepare annual filings to courts, state agencies, and federal agencies, when required.
• At account termination, ensure the Bank’s legal responsibilities are properly discharged, approved authorizations are received, and ensure terminating fees are calculated and received.
• Escalate legal threats, security concerns, or other matters of concern to Trust Management and/or appropriate risk management personnel.
• Hire and work cooperatively with outside professionals on account related matters including appraisers, attorneys, accountants, real estate agents, insurance agents, and investment advisors, subsidiaries of the Bank, and members of Wealth Management.
• Develop and maintain relationships with professionals listed above for the development of new business for Trust, Wealth Management and the Bank.
• Actively promote services of Trust, Wealth Management, and the Bank both internally and externally. Participate and present at internal meetings. Externally, participate in community related events and serve on civic/non-profit Boards when possible.
• Develop a thorough understanding of current clients and their respective financial situations, needs, and families in order to effectively promote appropriate financial and estate planning strategies and products, and to further develop business from new and existing clients, both within Trust and in conjunction with other Wealth Management divisions.
• Maintain active awareness of changes in law that affect the servicing and administration of Trust Department accounts.
• Provide quality service to customers, whether internal or external.
• Demonstrate cooperative efforts in working with other departments and within own department.
• Maintain proficient knowledge of, and demonstrate ongoing compliance with, all laws and regulations applicable to this position. Ensure ongoing adherence to pertinent policies, procedures, and internal controls, and meet all job-specific training requirements in a timely fashion.
• Supervise assigned personnel.
• Perform other related duties as assigned from time to time.

Qualifications

Education/Training:

• J.D., CTFA, CFP®, MBA, Bachelor’s degree, or related professional experience.
• All applicants must be 18 years of age or older.

Skills:

Strong inter-personal skills; strong written and verbal skills including comfort level for public speaking; strong analytical and problem solving skills; ability to analyze, comprehend, and interpret legal documents; strong mathematic skills; accounting knowledge; income tax knowledge and/or experience; strong attention to detail with ability to work independently and manage deadlines/workflow; self-starter; strong computer skills including use of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; knowledge of trusts, estates, investments, employee benefits, and estate planning; valid driver’s license.

Experience:

Minimum of five (5) years' experience in the wealth management or trust and estate industry, with preference given to candidates with experience planning and/or administering trusts and estates.

Other Job Information

Compensation: Commensurate with experience to include base salary plus potential for annual merit increase, discretionary annual incentive payments, and new business incentive awards as applicable. In addition to your competitive salary, you will be rewarded with benefits including: 11 paid holidays, paid vacation, Medical, Vision & Dental insurance, 401K with generous match, Pension, Tuition Reimbursement, Banking discounts and the list goes on!

Physical Requirements:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be required to stand, walk or sit. Use hands and fingers, handle or feel, reach with hands or arms, and speak and hear. The employee may occasionally be required to lift and or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and the ability to focus.

The Company is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

The Company will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with a disability. If you have a physical or mental impairment and would like to request an accommodation with respect to the application process, please contact the Human Resources Department.

Minimum

USD $80,000.00/Yr.
Maximum

USD $139,633.00/Yr.