Executive Director, Deputy Corporate Secretary in London

About CLS

CLS is the trusted party at the centre of the global FX ecosystem. Utilised by thousands of counterparties, CLS makes FX safer, smoother and more cost effective. Trillions of dollars’ worth of currency flows through our systems each day. Created by the market for the market, our unrivalled global settlement infrastructure reduces systemic risk and provides standardisation for participants in many of the world’s most actively traded currencies. We deliver huge efficiencies and savings for our clients: in fact, our approach to multilateral netting shrinks funding requirements by over 96% on average, so clients can put their capital and resources to better use.

CLS products are designed to enable clients to manage risk most effectively across the full FX lifecycle – whether through more efficient processing tools or market intelligence derived from the largest single source of FX executed data available to the market.

Our ambition to make a positive difference starts with our people. Our values underpin everything that we do at CLS and define our working environment:

• Pivotal purpose
• Trusted guardian
• Targeted innovation
• Facilitate connections
• Delivering excellence
• Inclusive culture

What you will be doing

• With oversight from the Corporate Secretary, lead the day‑to‑day operations of the corporate secretarial function at CLS.
• Oversee governance support for the Board and its Committees, including agendas, materials, resolutions, minutes and governance records.
• Ensure governance processes are consistent, robust and regulator‑ready, reflecting CLS’s role as a systemically important Financial Market Utility.
• Act as a senior internal advisor to the Corporate Secretary, on corporate governance matters, fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest and entity governance matters.
• Own assigned governance documentation, including committee charters, governance policies, manuals and procedural standards.
• Oversee corporate maintenance and statutory compliance for CLS legal entities, including constitutional documents, filings and required registrations with the US and the UK.
• Lead governance‑related risk and control activities within the Chairs’ Office, including ownership of relevant RCSAs.
• Coordinate governance‑related responses to internal audit, regulators, and external auditors.
• Develop, and set quality standards for corporate secretarial and committee support staff.
• Manage director compensation.
• Prepare director conflicts of interest reviews.
• Oversee divisional policies and procedures.
• Partner closely with Legal, Risk, Compliance, Finance and Internal Audit to ensure governance practices align with CLS’s risk management and control framework.

What we’re looking for

• Extensive experience (10 yrs) in corporate governance, board operations or corporate secretarial functions within a regulated or systemically important financial services environment.
• Strong understanding of governance expectations applicable to a regulated entity.
• Demonstrated experience supporting Boards and Committees at a senior level.
• Exceptional drafting, editorial, and quality control skills for board level documentation.
• Proven ability to exercise sound judgment and discretion when handling high confidential information.
• Strong internal partnership skills, with the ability to influence across senior stakeholders.
• Experience leading and developing teams and setting high standards for governance execution.
• Comfortable operating with autonomy in a high stake, deadline‑driven environment.
• Strong familiarity with governance filing requirements in the US and the UK.
• International travel to quarterly in person board/committee meetings is required.

Professional qualifications / certifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Advanced degree (JD, MBA, Chartered Secretary Qualification (UK) or equivalent) strongly preferred.
• Professional governance qualification (e.g. CGI (UK), or CCGP (US) highly desirable).

Our commitment to employees

Holiday – UK/Asia: 25 holiday days and 3 ‘life days’ (in addition to)