Head of Operations (Digital Transfer Agency) US

• Job Title: Head of Operations – US
• Reporting To: Head of Operations, ZILO UK operations hub
• Location: Boston, United States

About ZILO

Join the Future of Technology with ZILO™

At ZILO™, we’re redefining what’s possible in technology. ZILO™ is the UK-based FinTech specialising in global asset and wealth management software, designed to scale and transform businesses of all types using our own developed AI Technology.

Our mission is to digitalise the future of the global asset management industry. We are a team of experts with decades of combined experience at leading firms globally, who thrive in fast-paced environments and want to shape the future of technology. Every individual plays a key role in driving progress and making a real impact. We continuously strive to innovate and improve.

About the Digital Transfer Agency

ZILO is establishing a digital transfer agency: a regulated transfer agency service for tokenised funds, running on technology ZILO builds itself. The service maintains the register and the legal record of title for funds whose units are issued as tokens, across the United States, Luxembourg, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

This is transfer agency as a regulated service rather than a software product, and the obligations are the same ones a traditional transfer agency carries. The register has to be accurate, complete and able to withstand examination, and the registered entity in each jurisdiction answers to its own regulator for everything done in its name. What differs is that the record is digital-native rather than a mirror of an existing one, so the way the work is performed and evidenced is being built from first principles rather than inherited.

Day-to-day processing is delivered from ZILO’s centralised operations hub in the United Kingdom, serving a registered entity in each jurisdiction. That makes the in-jurisdiction roles genuine oversight roles rather than nominal ones, and it means everyone in the team works to one standard across more than one regulator.

These are founding roles in that service. The processes, controls and evidence standards are being set now, and the people who join will shape them rather than inherit them.

About the Role

The Head of Operations – US holds in-jurisdiction operational accountability for the SEC-registered transfer agent: US-hours coverage of the dealing window, turnaround performance, escalation ownership, and the operational face of the registrant to the SEC, to the fund’s board and to the distributing broker-dealer. The role will work in conjunction with the UK operations hub for the completion of processes but owns the outcome in the United States.

It is the senior ZILO operations role in the jurisdiction and line manages the Operations Analyst – US.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Accountability in Jurisdiction
• Hold in-jurisdiction operational accountability for the registrant’s performance of the transfer agent rule set: turnaround under Rule 17Ad-2, posting and the control book under Rule 17Ad-10, aged record differences under Rule 17Ad-11, and the creation and retention of records under Rules 17Ad-6 and 17Ad-7 – whether the underlying processing is performed in the United States or by the UK operations hub.
• Own the operational outcome of the US transfer agency: dealing window coverage, turnaround against Rule 17Ad-2, exception clearance and escalation, and the daily operational close in US hours.
• Act as the escalation point between the UK hub and the US registrant, ensuring that issues arising outside UK working hours are handled promptly and evidenced.
• Oversee the delegated processing performed by the UK hub for the US line, testing that it is delivered to the ZILO standard and to the standard the SEC expects of the registrant itself.
• Own the operational readiness of the US line at launch, including cutover, parallel running and the operational elements of the registration and go-live plan.
• Line manage the Operations Analyst – US, setting objectives, reviewing output and holding the standard of the in-jurisdiction team.
• Hold the US operational oversight recorded against the controls operated by the UK hub for the US line, reviewing their operation and the evidence they produce rather than re-performing them.
• Maintain continuity of the US line through planned and unplanned absence, with the UK hub analysts providing named cover for processing and a documented handover at each end of the US day.
• Register and Reconciliation
• Hold in-jurisdiction accountability for the integrity of the master securityholder file across its two parts – the canonical on-chain record and the off-chain book-entry layer joined by ZILO-controlled referential linkage.
• Own the daily three-way reconciliation outcome for the US line and the timely investigation and clearance of breaks.
• Exercise the TA Controller function for the US line as the named primary holder, including the operational execution of token clawback and forced transfer where lawfully instructed. Where the primary holder is unavailable the function passes to the Head of Operations, ZILO UK operations hub, as standing delegate, and each use of the delegation is recorded and evidenced.
• Counterparty and Provider Management
• Manage the operational relationship with the distributing broker-dealer, covering order flow, payment attestation quality and exception handling.
• Support oversight of the fund accountant, custodian, and the identity and screening providers as they affect the US line, feeding into external service-provider oversight.
• Represent operational capability in due diligence, client operational reviews and fund board reporting.
• Control and Governance
• Evidence the operation of the controls assigned to the US operations line and support the annual internal accounting control study so that it reaches every layer, including technology.
• Contribute to SEC examination readiness, providing operational records, walkthroughs and evidence on request.
• Escalate operational risk events, near misses and control failures through the risk and compliance line without filtering.
• Regulatory Accountability
• Rule 17Ad-1 et seq – turnaround, recordkeeping and the operational standards applying to a registered transfer agent.
• Rule 17Ad-2 – turnaround of items and the associated reporting where standards are not met.
• Rule 17Ad-10 – posting, the control book and maintenance of the master securityholder file.
• Rule 17Ad-11 – reporting of aged record differences and buy-ins.
• Rule 17Ad-13 – the annual study and evaluation of internal accounting control, to which this role contributes operational evidence.
• FATCA, 26 U.S.C. 1471–1474 – operational support to the withholding and reporting obligations of the US line.
• Form TA-1 – disclosure as an officer or control person of the registrant, and amendment of the form where that changes.

Requirements

• Essential
• Proven operational leadership in a US transfer agency, fund administration or investment platform environment, with direct experience of a registered transfer agent’s obligations.
• Working knowledge of the Section 17A and 17Ad rule set applied in practice, not in theory – turnaround, recordkeeping, control book, aged record differences and the annual control study.
• Experience owning a dealing window end to end, including cut-off enforcement, forward pricing and the operational consequences of a late or failed NAV.
• Experience of an outsourced or intra-group delivery model, holding a provider to account while remaining answerable to the regulator for the outsourced work.
• Strong reconciliation discipline and the judgement to distinguish a timing break from a control failure.
• Confident escalation and clear written communication, including the ability to produce records that will stand up in an SEC examination.
• Experience of line managing operational staff and of holding a standard across a team working in more than one location.
• Eligible to be fingerprinted and submitted for an FBI criminal history record check through an approved channeler under Rule 17f-2, which is a condition of appointment.
• Desirable
• Exposure to tokenised funds, digital assets or blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.
• Experience of a transfer agent operating a money market fund, including same-day and intraday dealing patterns.
• Experience of a transfer agency launch or registration, rather than only steady-state operation.
• Familiarity with broker-dealer distribution relationships and payment attestation models.
• Experience of transfer agency platforms such as Multifonds, GTAS or similar.
• Skills and Attributes
• Operational ownership – able to hold the outcome in jurisdiction while the work is performed elsewhere, without either duplicating the hub or rubber-stamping it.
• Regulatory literacy – a genuine understanding of what a registered transfer agent owes the SEC, and the judgement to translate that into daily practice.
• Comfort with novelty – a digital-native register behaves differently from a traditional one, and the role requires someone who will engage with that rather than force old patterns onto it.
• Attention to detail – a high standard of accuracy in processing, documentation and control evidence, recognising that errors on a register carry direct investor consequences.
• Adaptability – comfortable in a growth-stage environment where not every process or answer yet exists, and willing to help build what is missing.
• Clear communicator – able to explain operational and regulatory matters plainly to colleagues, auditors, counterparties and regulators.