Core Operations AVP

About the Role

State Street is seeking an Assistant Vice President (AVP) for Core Operations in Riyadh. This full-time role involves leading end-to-end post-trade custody operations in Saudi Arabia, covering clearing and settlement, cash and FX operational support, corporate actions/income, reconciliations, and client onboarding/account setup. The position operates Sunday to Thursday and is critical for enabling scalable market entry and growth by delivering strong, controlled post-trade operations aligned with local market infrastructure and rules.

Role Context and Impact

This role supports State Street's growth strategy, which includes expanding direct market presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). KSA is a priority market, supported by Vision 2030 reforms, increasing foreign participation, and strong institutional demand. The AVP will ensure a high-quality client experience through timely settlement, robust exception management, and strong controls as KSA market activity expands, thereby supporting the firm’s ability to deepen relationships with key institutional clients.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily settlement processing for Saudi Exchange trades, settling at Edaa in line with market cycles.
• Reconcile and validate client instructions, broker confirmations, and Muqassa clearing outcomes, resolving exceptions proactively.
• Monitor fails, manage aged items, and coordinate remediation according to Muqassa processes and local cut-offs.
• Oversee the instruction lifecycle, maintaining robust STP and control checks.
• Ensure funding readiness for DvP settlement and manage cash settlement processing and reconciliations.
• Investigate and clear cash breaks within cut-offs, escalating time-critical issues with clear impact articulation.
• Support FX activities for settlement and client cash needs, focusing on timeliness and exception reduction.
• Manage end-to-end asset servicing, including event capture, entitlement validation, booking, reconciliations, and issue resolution.
• Lead operational onboarding to ensure accounts are correctly set up and settlement-ready.
• Partner with Client Service, Compliance/KYC, and market counterparts to ensure smooth go-lives and operational readiness.
• Maintain daily controls, reconciliations, evidence retention, and audit-ready documentation.
• Lead and develop a small-to-mid sized operations team, setting objectives and coaching performance.
• Act as an escalation point and trusted partner for various stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement, automation, and standardization aligned with regional and global operating models.
• Build and manage KPI/MIS for post-trade performance and produce daily dashboards and monthly senior management reports.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related discipline; Master’s/MBA preferred.
• 10–12 years of experience across settlement, custody operations, corporate actions, FX operations, and reconciliations.
• 3+ years of people management experience; KSA/Middle East experience is strongly preferred.
• Strong knowledge of post-trade risk and controls, exception management, and stakeholder communication.
• Working knowledge of SWIFT and market messaging; familiarity with Bloomberg/Refinitiv and corporate actions platforms is advantageous.

Work Environment

This full-time position is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with operations conducted Sunday to Thursday. The role involves leading a team and collaborating with various internal and external partners within the KSA post-trade ecosystem.

Equal Opportunity Employer

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, State Street considers all qualified applicants for all positions without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, age, disability, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, citizenship, marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, familial status, military and veteran status, and other characteristics protected by applicable law.