Upvest, founded in 2017, enables any financial institution to offer great investment experiences to its customers. Upvest is an investment firm regulated by the German supervision authority (BaFin). The company currently employs 160+ people across Europe with its headquarters based in Berlin, Germany.

The company is backed by the world’s largest venture capital funds and investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, BlackRock, Earlybird, HV Capital, Notion Capital, and ABN Amro Ventures, as well as by renowned fintech entrepreneurs (including Maximilian Tayenthal, founder of N26, and Felix Haas, founder of IDnow).

We’re looking for fintech enthusiasts to join us in creating the financial infrastructure of tomorrow. We’re building the first European Investment API to enable any financial institution offering a wide range of efficient and transparent investment products, such as stocks and ETFs in nominal, portfolio, and fractional form. Our mission and vision is to make investing as easy as spending money.

We’re based in Berlin but would consider hiring remotely in Germany for this role. If you do want to move to Germany, we’re happy to support your relocation.

Upvest has entered a phase of strong growth with substantial daily business. Currently this is driven by a number of prime fintech clients but will soon be enhanced by more classic banks / enterprise clients. In parallel, the range of ISINs and asset classes and therefore operational complexity is quickly increasing. The Operations team at Upvest is responsible for managing the end-to-end investment lifecycle from brokerage through to clearing and settlement, corporate actions, reconciliation etc. Due to the high level of automation the focus is on monitoring the platform, handling edge-cases and dealing with exceptions. This requires high levels of knowledge, functional and technical abilities and highly efficient processes.

To run, grow and develop the operations team we are looking to fill the role of Director of Operations. This role is a critical leadership role focused on overseeing day-to-day business activities and driving strategic initiatives within Upvest. It requires extensive industry experience, a forward-thinking and pragmatic mindset, and a strong understanding of financial services regulations. The ideal candidate thrives in a dynamic environment, has an entrepreneurial mindset and excels at conceptualising and implementing scalable operational models.

Role and responsibilities:

The scope of the Director Operations covers brokerage as well as post-trade activities, distributed in a number of teams. It is expected to grow in line with company growth.

• Ops Excellence & Enablement
• Brokerage
• Corporate Actions
• Clearing / Settlements
• Transfers
• Payments
• Reconciliations
• AFC (Anti Financial Crime)

Operational Oversight:

• Own, manage and optimize daily operations across brokerage and post-trade activities

• Ensure seamless execution of orders and trades for our B2B partners

• Establish a strong KPI-driven mindset for continuous improvements and efficiency gains throughout the operations domain

• Be the point of escalation for daily operational issues, while ensuring the team is staffed and equipped to deal with standard day-to-day business

• Support in the continued development of the Upvest Operational Panel to reflect your teams priorities in ProdEng development (while ensuring a conscientious balance between automation needs for risk reduction and pragmatic operational staffing set up)

Strategic Leadership:

• Jointly with the COO and the COO Chief of Staff define the Operations strategy to scale and mature Upvest Operations in the coming years of high-growth

• Serve as the conduit between product and operations teams, providing a senior market expert's perspective during key product discoveries

• Take a leading role in defining our growing execution and post-trade strategies including strategic partner requirements

• Own and drive strategic initiatives to (a) improve the operating models of Upvest, (b) improve profitability or enable new revenue streams (e.g. securities lending, margin trading etc.)

Client Journey Engagement:

• Play a key role as senior operations stakeholder in the client journey, contributing to process workshops and other high-value client-facing interactions

• Provide insights and recommendations on operational setups to enhance the client experience and end user experience based on your practical experience

Regulatory Compliance:

• Ensure regulatory compliance (Mifid II, SRD II etc.) in all operational processes, adequate tracking of process execution, work instructions and controls

Team Leadership:

• Build, develop and lead a robust, scalable and highly efficient operations team to support the company’s growth

• Foster a high-performance culture, emphasizing execution excellence, risk management and client-centricity

Candidate requirements:

• Multiple years of relevant experience in an Operational leadership role within Financial services, preferably in the Fintech space

• Excellent leadership skills and the ability to coach, shape and develop people and teams

• Detailed and deep knowledge of investment processes (trade and post-trade) and capital markets

• Modern builder mindset, eager to shape and define the operational processes of one of the fastest growing Fintechs in the Financial Infrastructure area

• Strong communication skills in English. German skills and other languages are an asset

• Excellent analytical, problem-solving and organisational skills

• Self-starter, well organised and able to manage multiple priorities and meet tight deadlines

• Proactive approach to staying updated with regulatory changes

• Remote work is fine, expectation is to be spending at least one week per month in Berlin plus ad-hoc visits as required

Why Upvest?

• We're working on solving a hard problem: fixing the European securities financial infrastructure that empowers more people to be able to invest. You have the opportunity to contribute to this change.
• We invest in you. From access to a personal coach, development budget and plenty of opportunities to grow in your role.
• We take hiring seriously with a strong focus on keeping a high bar when interviewing (equally important is that we hire decent people, who are passionate about their craft and helping us achieve our shared mission).
• While we're not quite fully-remote, we are committed to being a flexible employer, as we understand you don't have to be in the office to do your best work.
• We live a culture of empowerment, trust (that we hire the best people and get out of their way) and openness (there's a greater advantage in sharing information than keeping it to ourselves).

Our values:

• Learn and grow. We aim high to shape our future. We give and request honest feedback knowing that we develop together. Progression over Perfection.
• Team first. We make it easy for others. We value our differences and are open to others' opinions. We win and celebrate together! Team over Egos.
• Own the outcome. Whether we win or we lose, we stand together. We are proactive and get the job done. Outcome over Process.
• Tell the story. We always start with the why. We share knowledge to empower others. Transparency over Complexity.

Upvest is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees