Senior Client Service Specialist

Private Wealth Office locations for applicant consideration:

Iowa: Des Moines or Cedar Rapids

Nebraska: Omaha

Missouri: St. Louis

Texas: San Antonio or Midland 

Senior Client Service Specialist

Position Summary

The Senior Associate & Operations Specialist is responsible for administering complex investment account services and coordinating account maintenance, transfers, registrations, and client servicing with custodians , reviewing and approving high-dollar and higher-risk transactions within delegated authority, and resolving non-routine account and transaction matters. The position requires evaluating risk, applying organizational policies and regulatory requirements, maintaining operational controls, and protecting customer and organizational interests.

The Specialist ensures account-opening, account-maintenance, and funds-movement activities are completed accurately, securely, and in accordance with established policies, procedures, and compliance standards. The position also collaborates with colleagues supports operational improvements, and advises management on significant account, transaction, and control matters.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

1. Account Administration

• Open and establish client accounts, ensuring documentation and client information are complete, accurate, and compliant with applicable requirements.
• Process complex account-maintenance requests, including ownership and authorized signer changes, beneficiary updates, account restrictions, closures, and other non-routine requests.
• Understand and adhere to account agreements, policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements to resolve account issues and determine appropriate actions.
• Evaluate unusual, incomplete, or exceptional account requests and determine whether additional documentation, investigation, approval, or escalation is necessary.

2. Funds Movement and Transaction Administration

• Process, review, and authorize wires, transfers, account-to-account movements, and other transactions within delegated authority limits.
• Evaluate transaction instructions, supporting documentation, authorization, and risk indicators to determine whether transactions should be approved, modified, held, or escalated.
• Assess high-dollar, time-sensitive, unusual, or higher-risk transactions for potential fraud, operational risk, documentation deficiencies, and policy exceptions.
• Coordinate with internal departments to resolve complex transactions and maintain appropriate documentation and audit trails for significant decisions.

3. Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance

• Identify, assess, and resolve operational, financial, fraud, compliance, and customer-account risks associated with account administration and transaction processing.
• Apply requirements relating to customer identification, account ownership, transaction authorization, fraud prevention, privacy, information security, and regulatory compliance.
• Determine when additional investigation, management review, or escalation is warranted and participate in resolving significant account or transaction issues.
• Maintain operational controls, protect confidential information, and recommend corrective actions or control improvements when deficiencies or recurring risks are identified.

4. Operational responsibilities and decision-making

• Independently evaluate complex or non-routine circumstances, consider available alternatives, and make or recommend appropriate decisions within delegated authority.
• Exercise discretion when established procedures do not address a specific situation and determine when exceptions require additional review or management approval.
• Serve as a subject-matter resource on complex account-service, transaction-processing, policy, and control matters.
• Review operational practices for accuracy, consistency, and compliance; identify recurring issues; and recommend improvements to procedures, controls, and workflow.
• Assist management in developing, implementing, and updating operational standards, procedures, and controls.

5. Business Operations and Continuous Improvement

• Analyze operational information to identify trends, control weaknesses, risk exposure, and opportunities to improve efficiency and service quality.
• Assist with gathering information requested for audits, examinations, control assessments, and initiatives involving account services, transaction processing, regulatory compliance, and risk management.
• Support the testing and implementation of system enhancements, procedural changes, and operational controls.
• Advise management on significant operational issues, customer-impacting matters, control effectiveness, and recommended corrective actions.

6. Perform other duties as assigned.

Authority and Accountability

Accountable for exercising sound judgment within established authority, including:

• Approving or escalating high-dollar, unusual, or higher-risk transactions, within delegated authority.
• Resolving complex account-maintenance requests and non-routine customer-account issues.
• Identifying and responding to potential fraud, compliance, and operational risks.
• Applying organizational policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
• Determining appropriate actions when circumstances fall outside routine processing standards.
• Recommending operational, procedural, and control improvements.

Decisions may be subject to subsequent management review.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated 5+ years experience in RIA, brokerage, banking, financial services, or a related field.
• Strong knowledge of investment accounts, account ownership, money movement, operational controls, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Proven ability to analyze complex situations, resolve non-routine issues, and make sound decisions within delegated authority.
• Working knowledge of risk management, internal controls, fraud prevention, and regulatory compliance.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills.
• Ability to interpret and apply policies and procedures to situations that fall outside routine processing standards.
• Ability to work independently with limited direct supervision while maintaining confidentiality and sound judgment when handling sensitive financial information.