Head of Trust & Depositary (UK) — Senior Director in Edinburgh

BNY is seeking a Senior Director to lead the UK Trust & Depositary (T&D) business. This role is accountable for jurisdictional performance, regulatory compliance (including FCA CASS where applicable), exemplary client service, robust legal entity governance, disciplined financial oversight, and execution of the Global Operating Model. The Senior Director will set vision and direction, develop high-performing teams, act as a visible culture carrier, and raise BNY’s external profile—particularly in Edinburgh—through purposeful client engagement, strategic partnerships, and curated industry events.

The role embodies BNY’s Principles: Be Client Obsessed, Spark Progress, Own It, Stay Curious, Thrive Together, and advances our Strategic Pillars: Be More for our Clients, Run our Company Better, Power our Culture.

In this role, you’ll make an impact in the following ways:

• Strategic Leadership and Vision: Set the UK T&D strategic agenda aligned to global product strategy; translate strategy into clear objectives, measurable outcomes, and a disciplined execution plan. Drive innovation, risk reduction, operational resilience, and efficiency through continuous improvement and adoption of the Global Operating Model. Represent UK T&D in cross-functional forums; provide crisp, outcome-focused reporting on performance, risks, client pipeline, major escalations, and prioritization inputs.
• Team Leadership, Talent, and Culture: Build and lead a high-performing, diverse team with clear goals, accountability, and coaching; invest in succession planning and critical role coverage. Act as a visible culture carrier—model BNY Principles, foster psychological safety, collaboration, and growth mindsets; embed rigorous standards for conduct, ethics, and client-first behaviours. Elevate talent density through structured capability building (e.g., CASS, depositary obligations, AML/KYC, operational resilience), mentoring, and performance management. Champion DEI and a non-hierarchical, transparent leadership style; remove blockers and empower teams to deliver.
• Client Leadership and Market Presence (Edinburgh Focus): Increase BNY’s profile in Edinburgh: develop and execute a stakeholder engagement plan covering clients, prospective clients, asset managers, advisers, trade bodies, universities, and industry associations. Lead proactive client engagement: meet clients regularly, host executive roundtables, and conduct portfolio reviews to strengthen relationships and uncover growth opportunities. Organize and host client-facing events in Edinburgh (and UK-wide as relevant): set event strategy, themes and content; partner with Marketing/Communications; track ROI through attendee quality, satisfaction, and follow-on opportunities. Serve as a thought leader: deliver keynote talks, panels, and authored content; build partnerships with industry bodies to amplify BNY’s voice and influence.
• Client Service and Delivery Excellence: Embed a client-obsessed culture; ensure quality, timely service delivery, responsive escalation handling, and proactive communication. Oversee client pipeline reporting, new product requests, major escalations, and service recovery; ensure structured root-cause analysis and durable fixes.
• Regulatory Compliance and Relationships (including FCA CASS, where applicable): Ensure continued compliance with UK regulation and timely, accurate regulatory reporting; maintain constructive relationships with UK regulators. Collaborate with Regulatory Affairs to define, implement, and assure operating Principles and associated standards; sponsor regulatory/thematic inspections and drive remediation to closure. Maintain strong oversight of CASS governance (where applicable): systems/controls, breach management, reconciliations, record-keeping, CMAR reporting, acknowledgment letters, third-party custodian due diligence, and the CASS Resolution Pack.
• Legal Entity Governance: Operate within UK legal entity/branch governance; ensure appropriate reporting and escalation into committees, councils, and governance forums. Establish and chair local governance structures required by regulation and entity management; provide timely, accurate reporting.
• Financial Oversight and Operating Discipline: Exercise disciplined financial stewardship: monitor location revenue/expense performance, cost discipline, and efficiency gains; approve local management expenses within allocated budgets. Sponsor location strategy for offshore/outsourcing, ensuring strong controls, clear accountabilities, and service resilience.
• Risk, Controls, and Operational Resilience: Own the incident/breach lifecycle: detection, root cause analysis, remediation, regulatory notifications, lessons learned integration. Coordinate with Risk, Compliance, Legal, Operations, Technology, and Finance to ensure end-to-end control coverage, robust reconciliations, and resilient operations.
• Core FCA CASS Responsibilities (where applicable): Segregation, Reconciliation, Record-Keeping: Ensure segregation of client assets, complete and accurate records, and internal/external reconciliations with timely discrepancy remediation. Acknowledgment Letters & Third-Party Custodians: Maintain acknowledgment letters for client money accounts; exercise due skill, care, and diligence in selection, appointment, and review of custodians. CASS Resolution Pack: Maintain an up-to-date, readily retrievable pack linking to current records to support timely return of client assets in insolvency scenarios.

To be successful in this role, we’re seeking the following:

• Extensive senior leadership experience within UK trust/depositary, custody, or asset servicing, leading regulated business lines with proven external representation.
• Deep working knowledge of FCA CASS requirements applicable to client money/custody assets and practical operation of CASS controls and assurance.
• Strong familiarity with UK regulatory landscape (e.g., FCA, PRA) and depositary regimes; confidence engaging with regulators and industry bodies.
• Demonstrated capability in governance, risk management, operational resilience, and audit/regulatory remediation across complex, matrixed environments.
• Track record of building high-performing teams, developing talent, and shaping culture; skilled in change leadership and stakeholder influence.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree and/or professional qualifications (e.g., CISI, ICA, compliance/risk certifications) preferred.