The Head of Transformation and Governance is a critical and multifaceted role that supports all aspects of the COO function outside of Operations, Risk and CASS. With a direct reporting line into the COO, you will be responsible for:
· COO Projects/Change Management and COO Governance (the ‘management office’)
· Technical Triage
· Technology and Cyber Security/Resilience
· Intra Company agreements and oversight (particularly SEI Guernsey and US entities)
What you will do:Specific Responsibilities
Responsibilities within these four overall workstreams (in addition to any ad hoc COO support requirements) are as follows:
› COO Projects/Change Management
SIEL’s change delivery process is split between multiple teams inside and outside of the COO function. The UK Change team is responsible for onboarding (and occasional offboarding) of client firms. The UK Solutions team is responsible for defining and delivering client business and technical requirements into production as part of a quarterly release cycle. Both teams are not within COO. Therefore, all COO project initiatives outside of these two activities sits within your remit and you will be accountable for ensuring all changes made across COO are implemented in a controlled manner. Specifically you will be accountable for:
o Managing the portfolio of projects and non-BaU demand for the SIEL COO function
o Helping to set up - and subsequently chairing - the COO Projects Committee, whose task is to provide oversight of all COO projects in progress, set priorities (aligning with business strategy and risk appetite), manage supply and demand, and retaining oversight of all resourcing requirements. This includes providing oversight of CSM demand (workflow tool), where smaller change request items are captured
o Understanding the UK Change client firm requirements and ensuring that their team is appropriately supported and resourced from an operational perspective (implementations require client and account data creation in production and potentially new ‘day 1’ processes and controls, which needs BaU resource – the COO Projects Committee can provide oversight of this demand alongside all other change requirements)
o Understanding the UK-specific content of each quarterly release, and working with UK Solutions and the appropriate COO functions to implement new functionality and benefits
o Understanding, and tracking, the remediation of demand from Risk, Compliance, First Line and Audit functions
o Creating the COO Project Office to support the project portfolio – methodology, templates, training and reporting/management information.
o The Project Office will also be accountable for capturing minutes and actions at senior COO Committees (at a minimum the Projects Committee and Operating Committee), Committee packs (including compiling all materials from all COO functions – Operations Projects, Triage, CASS, Vendor Management, Risk, Premises, IT, HR and Special Topics – and providing the QA to ensure the materials are fit for purpose and consistent), chasing issues and actions for updates from previous committees, ownership of the COO RAID log, and archiving all materials for audit purposes. This includes the definition and maintenance of all Committee Terms of References.
o Via appropriate governance and documentation repositories, be the ’design authority’ for COO. This includes being the custodian of operations’ processes and controls and working alongside the Head of Operations to ensure they have Operational ownership and are current (and where change initiatives impact these processes and controls, running the mechanism to ensure Operations makes the appropriate updates)
o The production of COO Management Information on a monthly and quarterly basis
› Technical Triage
The Technical Triage team is accountable for review and resolution (either by fixing or passing on to the appropriate team) of all SIEL Platform (SWP) issues, as passed on by the front-line technical helpdesk. Responsibilities include:
o Resolving all ‘business as usual’ system-related issues according to internal and client SLAs
o Creating and distributing MI to provide full transparency on types of issues, how they are being resolved, and whether isolated or systematic
o For systematic issues, ensuring they are handed to the appropriate team (via the CSM allocation process) for ownership and resolution. This aligns with the COO Projects Committee which you will also be accountable for
› Technology and Information Security/Resilience
The COO function is accountable for establishing, implementing, embedding and assessing the ongoing appropriateness of robust and defensible organisational arrangements, internal systems, controls and procedures across the organisation. As the technology and infosec lead, you will be accountable for:
o Working alongside Risk and Technology to maintain oversight of SIEL’s Operational Resilience status (across technology/infosec, business continuity and disaster recovery). Although the actual activities sit outside of your function – and Risk ensures appropriate plans are in place – your role is to ensure the COO has oversight of Operational Resilience and any remediation activities are managed through the COO Projects/Triage teams
o Understanding SIEL’s business strategies and plans and ensuring, from a technology/infosec perspective, that they are reasonable in terms of development plans, capacity and other related expectations
o Supporting the COO Operational Risk and Resilience Teams in the ongoing design, implementation, embedding and frequently testing of the ongoing adequacy and effectiveness of the operational technology and infosec resilience frameworks, policies and procedures. This includes taking any necessary actions – including escalation and reporting – where necessary
o As part of vendor and other governance frameworks, ensuring a) technology and infosec-related incidents are identified, recorded, managed/controlled. Measured and resolved in accordance with SIEL’s risk and control frameworks and policies, b) technology updates and new developments are managed in an effective manner and sufficiently and robustly tested prior to their release, and c) overseeing technology supply to and from SIEL according to the above
› Intra Company agreements and oversight
A significant number of UK capabilities are provided by the US entity, covering technology, infosec, infrastructure and corporate services. Whilst the services themselves – and supporting SLAs – are defined by SGSI, your team will be responsible for maintaining oversight of these services and ensuring the SLAs are met, issues are managed and enhancements to services are delivered.
o Alongside SGSI, SIEL has a number of other vendor relationships which require the same level of oversight.
o Support of SEIG (SEI Guernsey) – approximately £4.5Bn offshore assets for 3,500 clients are processed out of the SEIG. Your team will be accountable for ensuring this vendor relationship, and the overall operating model/interface between the UK and Guernsey, has appropriate oversight with all activities being monitored and issues triaged and addressed.
› Other Responsibilities
In addition to the management of these overall workstreams, you will have the following responsibilities:
o Producing and delivering appropriate training on the operational, technology/cyber and change management frameworks, policies and procedures to all relevant employees as aligned to their respective roles and responsibilities
o Working alongside HR and functional leads on a people development plan, to ensure that the COO organisation has the appropriate skills, knowledge, experience and expertise required to run the function at all levels.
What we need from you:› Demonstrable experience of leading technical and business change within financial services
› Track record of creating and running financial services change functions
› Strong technical knowledge and experience with cyber security and technical resilience
› Operations and vendor management experience desirable
What we would like from you:› Someone who will embody our SEI Values of courage, integrity, collaboration, inclusion, connection and fun. Please see our website for more information. https://www.seic.com
SEI’s competitive advantage:
To help you stay energised, engaged and inspired, we offer a wide range of benefits including comprehensive care for your physical and mental well-being, strong pension plan, tuition reimbursement, hybrid working environment, and a work-life balance that enables you to relax, recharge and be there for the people you care about.
We are a technology and asset management company delivering on our promise of building brave futures (SM)—for our clients, our communities, and ourselves. Come build your brave future at SEI.
SEI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and so much more…
After over 50 years, SEI remains a leading global provider of investment management, investment processing and investment operations solutions. Reflecting our experience within financial services and financial technology our UK office is based between the City of London and the growing technology hub of Shoreditch. The open plan nature of our office space, flowing lines and numerous art installations are designed to encourage innovation and creativity in our workforce. We recognise that our people are our most valuable asset and are (literally) invested in your success; we know that a healthy, happy and motivated workforce is key to our continued growth. We are focused on ensuring a healthy work-life balance and offer our employees benefits, which include private medical care for you and your family, access to GPs online for appointments, enhanced family leave, volunteer days, access to thriving employee networks and not forgetting free fruit.
SEI Investments (Europe) Ltd (‘SIEL’) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 191713).