Position

The Trust Operations Lead will oversee the Trust Operations function for the Rockefeller Trust Companies (RTC) — Rockefeller’s Delaware and nationally chartered (OCC-regulated) trust companies — a differentiated fiduciary offering of the Rockefeller Private Office. Reporting to the Head of Operations for Rockefeller Capital Management, this leader holds end-to-end accountability for the operating model, controls, and day-to-day execution of trust operations. The Trust Operations Lead manages a team of operations professionals and plays a major role in managing the relationship with the firm’s trust platform technology provider, ensuring the systems, processes, and controls that support fiduciary account administration are efficient, resilient, and audit-ready.

We are seeking a solutions-oriented, strategic thinker who looks around corners and thrives on delivering white glove service to internal and external clients, in line with Rockefeller’s culture of excellence. We seek a highly proactive leader and operator who anticipates control weaknesses before they materialize, pressure-tests processes, designs durable solutions that scale, and builds institutional credibility with Internal Audit, Compliance, and regulators.

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage, and develop a team of Trust Operations professionals, establishing clear accountability, coverage, and a consistent daily operating cadence across the Delaware and nationally chartered trust companies.
• Own the end-to-end Trust Operations operating model — people, process, and technology — establishing the practices, processes, and procedures that govern trust account transactions and fiduciary account administration.
• Play a major role in managing the relationship with the firm’s trust platform technology provider, including service levels, system releases and upgrades, automation, and integration across multiple inter-related platforms.
• Design, implement, and own end-to-end control frameworks across systems, with clear ownership, evidence standards, and governance.
• Anticipate emerging control weaknesses early, pressure-test processes, and prevent repeat failures through proactive, prevention-first issue management.
• Manage relationships with external custodians, systems vendors, proxy voting vendors, statement vendors, and tax reporting providers; resolve complex, sensitive issues involving securities trades and trust account transactions.
• Oversee the timely and accurate completion of trust regulatory and tax reporting, including OCC fiduciary requirements (Regulation 9) and annual Reg 9 account reviews, call reports, and applicable state and federal filings, in coordination with Compliance and Tax.
• Drive complex, cross-functional workstreams and transformation initiatives with clear timelines, accountability, escalation paths, and closure of open items.
• Maintain audit-ready documentation discipline — procedures, root-cause analyses, remediation plans, and routine reporting that stand up to Internal Audit, Compliance, and regulatory scrutiny.
• Establish and run a standing governance cadence (e.g., weekly operations review, monthly controls review, and quarterly Trust Operations & Compliance Committee reporting) with defined owners and standard artifacts.
• Own centralized issue management — a single backlog for findings and incidents with severity, root cause, remediation owners, due dates, and evidence requirements.
• Contribute to the Risk and Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) program in coordination with executive management, senior managers, and quality assurance.
• Make decisions regarding hiring, performance management, and staffing; evaluate performance and recommend salary actions and promotions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 10–15 years of experience in Trust Operations, including leadership of regulated fiduciary operations at scale.
• Experience with both Delaware and nationally chartered trust companies regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience owning the relationship with — and the implementation, optimization, and integration of — a trust accounting or trust platform technology provider.
• Deep knowledge of trust and fiduciary requirements, including OCC Regulation 9, account and asset transfer policies, securities settlement, and fiduciary tax reporting.
• Thorough knowledge of securities and securities trading.
• Track record of designing and owning end-to-end control frameworks in an audit- and examination-ready environment.

Skills

• Solutions-oriented, strategic thinker who “looks around corners” — highly proactive, anticipating issues and preventing repeat failures.
• Strong technical and systems-integration fluency to manage multiple, inter-related platforms and scale processes efficiently.
• Deep regulatory, risk, and controls expertise; able to design, implement, and own end-to-end control frameworks with clear ownership and evidence standards.
• Strong program and execution leadership; drives complex cross-functional workstreams to closure without external escalation.
• Audit-ready documentation and reporting discipline (procedures, root-cause analyses, remediation plans).
• Constructive, collaborative leadership style that invites challenge and builds credibility with Internal Audit, Compliance, and regulators.
• Excellent leadership ability to direct, motivate, and develop staff.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, organizational ability, and attention to detail.