Custodian Relationship Manager

Key Responsibilities

• Own and drive regular, structured relationship meetings with each major custodian and sponsor partner, tailored to the appropriate cadence per partner (e.g., monthly, quarterly, biannual)
• Serve as the primary point of contact and face of Vestmark in all custodian-facing engagements
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with key stakeholders across relationship management, trading technology, operations, and product teams at each custodian

Custodian Playbook Development & Ownership

• Build and maintain a comprehensive, per-custodian playbook that serves as Vestmark's authoritative operational guide for each major custodian relationship
• Document custodian-specific requirements for trading connectivity and RIA account onboarding
• Define and publish standard implementation timelines by custodian and complexity level (e.g., standard equity, fixed income, multi-custodian) to set accurate expectations during the sales and onboarding process
• Capture custodian-specific nuances — including lot selection methods, COAC authority settings, dividend payment configurations, proxy voting setup, and prime brokerage enrollment steps — so that Vestmark has a single source of truth across the organization when onboarding new clients
• Partner with Advisory Solutions, Client Delivery, Operations and Production Support to validate and continuously improve playbook content based on lessons learned from live implementations
• Ensure playbooks are versioned, maintained in a centralized and accessible repository, and shared cross-functionally as a standard onboarding resource

Advisor Experience: Marrying Custodian Setup with the Vestmark Platform

• Act as the internal bridge between custodian-driven configuration and the Vestmark Advisor platform (VAS/Advisor Suite), ensuring that the advisor-facing experience reflects a clean, seamless connection to the underlying custodial infrastructure
• Partner with Client Delivery and the Advisor Product teams to ensure that custodian integration details — trade routes, rep codes, account feeds, data adapters — are configured in a way that makes the Advisor Portal and Advisor Dashboard intuitive and immediately useful for advisors from day one
• Collaborate with Advisory Consultants to develop advisor-ready quick start guides and custodian-specific onboarding kits that translate the technical complexity of custodian setup into clear, actionable guidance for advisors
• Drive initiatives that reduce advisor friction at go-live — including IP whitelisting, user provisioning, account feed validation, and access to the Service Request Portal — so advisors can focus on managing client portfolios rather than navigating operational hurdles
• Identify and escalate gaps where custodian setup requirements are creating downstream advisor experience issues (e.g., delayed account activation, reconciliation breaks, trading errors), and work cross-functionally to resolve them

Contact & Knowledge Management

• Own and maintain a centralized master directory of key contacts at each custodian and sponsor, covering relationship managers, trading technology leads, operational contacts, and support teams
• Ensure the contact directory is current, accurate, and accessible to relevant internal stakeholders across Vestmark

Client Onboarding Velocity & Go-to-Market Coordination

• Partner with custodians to align on the pace and sequencing of new client onboarding onto custodial platforms
• Coordinate go-to-market rollouts for new Vestmark clients being brought onto a custodian's infrastructure
• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure smooth onboarding workflows, leveraging the custodian playbook to drive consistency and reduce one-off escalations

Escalation Management & Issue Resolution

• Act as the primary escalation path between Vestmark and custodians when issues arise (e.g., file delivery delays, trading errors, adapter failures, FIX session disruptions, reconciliation breaks)
• Coordinate cross-functionally to triage, investigate, and resolve issues with urgency and clear communication
• Ensure timely follow-through and documentation of root cause and resolution

Partnership Performance Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Regularly measure and report on the status, activity, and outcomes of all partner relationships (custodians, asset managers, consultants, and technology vendors) to Vestmark leadership
• Determine the efficacy of each partnership plan and make informed recommendations on prioritization, resource allocation, and whether additional stakeholders should be engaged
• Proactively identify areas of weakness in partner-facing processes and recommend enhancements to improve the partner experience and Vestmark's operational performance

Roadmap & Partnership Alignment

• Engage custodians in forward-looking roadmap discussions, including new product rollouts, infrastructure modernization, API capabilities, and partnership opportunities
• Document and maintain a running roadmap tracker for all custodian-driven milestones and Vestmark commitments
• Identify and communicate strategic implications of custodian changes to internal leadership and relevant teams

Qualifications

• At least 5–7 years of industry experience in relationship management, partner management, or client-facing roles within financial services, fintech, or wealth management technology
• Strong understanding of custodial operations, including trading workflows, file-based integrations (SFTP, FIX), custodial data adapters, and account data management
• Demonstrated experience building operational playbooks or standardized processes in a financial services or fintech environment
• Proven ability to translate complex custodian requirements into clear operational guidance for internal teams and end-user advisors
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder, multi-party relationships at both a strategic and operational level — including custodians, asset managers, consultants, and/or technology vendors
• Skilled at developing and cultivating partner relationships through thoughtful, positive, and engaging conversation; a genuine desire to understand partners' business models and ask thought-provoking questions
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional programs with technical and non-technical teams
• Strong project management skills, including the ability to track multiple parallel workstreams, identify process gaps, and recommend improvements
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences and vice versa, and to command credibility and authority with both operational and executive-level contacts
• Ability to profile firms and individuals, develop tailored engagement plans, and identify the right opportunities to bring to partners
• Self-starter mentality with the energy and initiative to build programs and relationships from the ground up, not just manage existing ones
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university
• Basic to intermediate proficiency in investment management and/or financial advisory concepts, including security types, investment products, portfolio management, investment performance, and general advisory operations