Director, Operations, Procedures and Standards

Reporting directly to Vice President, Member Supervision Operations, Procedures and Standards, provides strategic leadership and guidance and establishes procedures and standards across the program as well as advising and collaborating with various groups conducting reviews of the program including the SEC, Internal Audit and Quality Assurance for the program. This includes developing controls and metrics to monitor program execution and effectiveness.

Essential Job Functions:

• Provide a robust operational risk framework within First and Second Lines of Defense.
• Spearheading operational risk event/incident remediations and escalations, key procedural control assessments, refinements, and monitoring.
• Oversee the development and implementation of, procedures, and technology necessary to address ongoing needs of the Program across all Firm Groups.
• Lead efforts to develop, maintain and continually enhance Compass procedures, Guidance, as well as associated job aid examples relating to the program.
• Periodically assess practices and determine if a need exists for a procedure to be developed or updated.
• Lead the effort to identify, prioritize and resolve, where warranted, areas of inconsistent procedural application within the program.
• Utilize an inclusive process to determine a course of action correcting the area of concern, or record the reasoning for retaining the inconsistency going forward,
• Work with MS Business Readiness, Training and/or Communications groups to implement corrective action and receive feedback on effectiveness.
• Develop and support the strategic leadership approach within the program.
• Maintains strong working knowledge of developments in the industry and works with management and other departments as needed to evolve the program to address such changes.
• Develop recommendations for corrective action implementation plans across the program in connection with oversights and lead implementation efforts.
• Coordinate with other departments in preparing responses, talking points and document productions relating to oversights, access (e.g., SEC, states) and ad hoc information requests relating to the program.
• Respond to inquiries from, and create and implement resolution plans for, Quality Assurance, Internal Audit and FINRA CCO exams/inquiries and related findings and conclusions.
• Lead coordinated effort with Data Analytics to continuously develop, implement, and improve periodic, trend and ad hoc reporting including but not limited to monthly program and/or grouping reports for the program.

Education/Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience required. Major in Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business Administration, or related fields preferred.
• MBA, JD, other graduate degree and/or relevant industry certification(s) preferred
• Significant securities, compliance or financial regulatory experience
• Prior experience in FINRA’s Exam and/or Risk Monitoring program preferred
• Advanced analytical skills and experience in the financial industry
• Demonstrated experience relating to all inherent industry risks (i.e. Operational, Sales Practice, Fraud and Deception, Money Laundering, Accuracy of Regulatory Capital, Credit, Market, Liquidity, and/or Segregation of Client Assets
• Significant experience managing projects and/or people

Knowledge Requirements:

• Expert knowledge of FINRA's risk hierarchy
• Expert knowledge of securities rules and regulations
• Expert knowledge of firm business models, business lines, customer bases, products and services
• Expert knowledge of FINRA departments and their mandates

Skill Requirements:

• Self-starter and able to administer very complex assignments concurrently, including unstructured assignments that require autonomy and independent judgement.
• Advanced Verbal and Written Communication skills
• Intermediate-to-Advanced level proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint  Advanced ability to manage time effectively

For work that is performed in CA, CO, HI, MN, VT, IL, Jersey City, NJ, New York City, NY, MA, WA, MD, Washington, DC, NJ State and NY State, please refer to the chart below for the salary range for the corresponding location. In addition to location, actual compensation is based on various factors, including but not limited to, the candidate’s skill set, level of experience, education, and internal peer compensation comparisons.

CA: Minimum Salary $150,600, Maximum Salary $305,000

CO/HI/MN/VT*: Minimum Salary $131,100, Maximum Salary $254,000

IL*: Minimum Salary $144,000, Maximum Salary $279,500

Jersey City, NJ/NYC, NY: Minimum Salary $157,300, Maximum Salary $305,000

MA/WA: Minimum Salary $131,100, Maximum Salary $292,300

MD/Washington, DC: Minimum Salary $150,600, Maximum Salary $292,300

NJ State: Minimum Salary $144,000, Maximum $305,000

NY State: Minimum Salary $131,100, Maximum Salary $305,000

*Including positions performed outside the state but reporting to an office or manager in that state.

Candidates can expect salary offers that range from the minimum to the mid-point of the salary range. FINRA provides full pay ranges so that the candidate can consider their growth potential while at FINRA.

#LI-Hybrid

To be considered for this position, please submit an application. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

The information provided above has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work of the position. It is not a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required.

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FINRA strives to make our career site accessible to all users. If you need a disability-related accommodation for completing the application process, please contact FINRA's Employee Relations team at 240.386.4865 or by email at [email protected]. Please note that this process is exclusively for inquiries regarding application accommodations. 

Employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Non-exempt employees are also eligible for overtime pay in accordance with federal, state, or local law. As part of its dedication to employee wellness, FINRA provides comprehensive health, dental and vision insurance. Additional insurance includes basic life, accidental death and dismemberment, supplemental life, spouse/domestic partner and dependent life, and spouse/domestic partner and dependent accidental death and dismemberment, short- and long-term disability, long-term care, business travel accident, disability and legal. FINRA offers immediate participation and vesting in a 401(k) plan with company match and eligibility for participation in an additional FINRA-funded retirement contribution, tuition reimbursement, commuter benefits, and other benefits that support employee wellness, such as adoption assistance, backup family care, surrogacy benefits, employee assistance, and wellness programs.

Time Off and Paid Leave*

FINRA encourages its employees to focus on their health and wellness in many ways, including through a generous time-off program of 15 days of paid time off, 5 personal days and 9 sick days, unless otherwise required by law (all pro-rated in the first year). Additionally, we are proud to support our communities by providing two volunteer service days (based on full-time schedule). Other paid leave includes military leave, jury duty leave, bereavement leave, voting and election official leave for federal, state or local primary and general elections, care of a family member leave (available after 90 days of employment); and childbirth and parental leave (available after 90 days of employment). Full-time employees receive nine paid holidays.

*Based on full-time schedule

Important Information

FINRA’s Code of Conduct imposes restrictions on employees’ investments and requires financial disclosures that are uniquely related to our role as a securities regulator. FINRA employees are required to disclose to FINRA all brokerage accounts that they maintain, and those in which they control trading or have a financial interest (including any trust account of which they are a trustee or beneficiary and all accounts of a spouse, domestic partner or minor child who lives with the employee) and to authorize their broker-dealers to provide FINRA with duplicate statements for all of those accounts. All of those accounts are subject to the Code’s investment and securities account restrictions, and new employees must comply with those investment restrictions—including disposing of any security issued by a company on FINRA’s Prohibited Company List or obtaining a written waiver from their Executive Vice President—by the date they begin employment with FINRA. Employees may only maintain securities accounts that must be disclosed to FINRA at one or more securities firms that provide an electronic feed (e-feed) of data to FINRA, and must move securities accounts from other securities firms to a firm that provides an e-feed within three months of beginning employment.

You can read more about these restrictions here.

As standard practice, employees must also execute FINRA’s Employee Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement without qualification or modification and comply with the company’s policy on nepotism.

Search Firm Representatives

Please be advised that FINRA is not seeking assistance or accepting unsolicited resumes from search firms for this employment opportunity. Regardless of past practice, a valid written agreement and task order must be in place before any resumes are submitted to FINRA. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at FINRA without a valid written agreement and task order in place will be deemed the sole property of FINRA and no fee will be paid in the event that person is hired by FINRA.

FINRA strives to make our career site accessible to all users. If you need a disability-related accommodation for completing the application process, please contact FINRA's Employee Relations team at 240.386.4865 or by email at [email protected]. Please note that this process is exclusively for inquiries regarding application accommodations.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, citizenship status, color, disability, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, veteran status or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local laws.

FINRA abides by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-741.5(a). This regulation prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals on the basis of disability and requires affirmative action by covered prime contractors and subcontractors to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with disabilities.

FINRA abides by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-300.5(a). This regulation prohibits discrimination against qualified protected veterans and requires affirmative action by covered prime contractors and subcontractors to employ and advance in employment qualified protected veterans.

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