Senior Operations Specialist

Job Location: Montclair, NJ (In‑Person, Full‑Time Role)

About the role

Serve as a senior point of contact for client service and account operations within the Personal Wealth Division, handling complex account servicing, custodial workflows, client‑facing operational issues, process documentation, mentoring junior staff, and supporting day‑to‑day workflow.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior point of escalation for client service requests referred by advisors and junior operations staff, including account transfers, distributions, beneficiary changes, and account maintenance.
• Own resolution of complex or time‑sensitive client service issues end‑to‑end, coordinating directly with clients, advisors, and custodians as needed.
• Monitor service‑level turnaround for the team and flag issues before they affect the client experience.
• Process and oversee account opening, transfers (ACAT), money movement, and account maintenance across Fidelity and Schwab platforms.
• Serve as the team’s subject‑matter expert on both custodians’ operational workflows, systems, and forms, and act as primary liaison to custodian service teams.
• Identify and resolve exceptions, NIGO (not‑in‑good‑order) items, and reconciliation discrepancies between custodial records and internal systems.
• Maintain accuracy and completeness of client and account data within Salesforce/Salentica, including workflows, activity tracking, and household relationships.
• Build and refine CRM workflows, templates, and reporting views that support the operations and advisory teams.
• Train and support junior staff on CRM data entry standards and best practices.
• Support billing, performance reporting, and account reconciliation processes within Black Diamond.
• Identify and correct data discrepancies between Black Diamond, custodial data feeds, and the CRM.
• Document and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for core operations workflows.
• Mentor and provide day‑to‑day guidance to junior operations staff, including reviewing their work for accuracy prior to submission.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce error rates, and streamline workflows across the department’s technology stack.
• Assist in onboarding and training new operations hires.
• Ensure account servicing and documentation practices comply with firm policy and applicable regulatory requirements for a federally registered RIA.
• Escalate potential compliance or supervisory concerns to the Chief Compliance Officer promptly.
• Maintain accurate records to support books‑and‑records and audit requirements.

Qualifications

Required

• 3–5 years of experience in operations at an RIA, broker‑dealer, or custodial/clearing environment, with direct, hands‑on experience servicing accounts on Fidelity and/or Charles Schwab advisor platforms.
• Working fluency with Salesforce or Salentica CRM and with Black Diamond (or comparable portfolio reporting/performance platform).
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office 365, particularly Excel and Outlook.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex client service issues independently and with sound judgment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the professionalism required for direct client and custodian contact.
• High attention to detail and comfort working within a compliance‑driven environment