At a Glance

Tasks: Lead product development for Direct Custody across EMEA, MENA&APAC, including market infrastructure, settlement, asset servicing, and platform modernization.

Company: Join State Street, a global leader in custodian banking, asset servicing, and securities infrastructure.

Benefits: Enjoy flexible work arrangements, competitive medical care, global mobility programs, and extensive educational support.

Why this job: Play a central role in State Street’s transformation of its Direct Custody and Clearing (DCC) capabilities, shaping modern, scalable, multi-market solutions.

Qualifications: 10+ years in securities services with strong product, market, and operational experience; deep knowledge of regional custody markets (Europe, Middle East, APAC).

Other info: Diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity are at the heart of how we work and lead.

Global Custody: Direct Custody – Head of Direct Custody Product Development, MD

Employer: State Street Corporation

State Street’s Product organization is seeking an experienced leader to serve as Direct Custody Product Development Lead for EMEA, MENA&APAC. This individual will drive the modernization, expansion, and strategic development of State Street’s Direct Custody platform and service model across more than 30 markets.

You will partner with the Global Product team, Regional Product Heads, Global Delivery (operations), Technology, Market Management to execute the product development agenda. This includes modernizing core custody capabilities, enhancing settlement and asset servicing features, redefining client experience, and supporting migrations from legacy platforms to State Street’s strategic custody architecture.

This role directly contributes to State Street’s Custody product strategy and is a key leadership position within a major transformation program to strengthen State Street’s competitiveness in Direct Custody globally.

You will lead the design and development of future-state platforms, enable market expansions, improve client experience, and deliver scalable, efficient custody capabilities for institutional clients.

Function

The individual will bring deep expertise in Direct Custody, covering settlement, safekeeping, market infrastructure, asset servicing, and local regulatory models across EMEA, MENA, and APAC. This leader will work closely with operations and technology teams to deliver the custody strategy and implement new product features and market capabilities.

You will have a key role in supporting the Global Head of Product Development and will be instrumental in shaping State Street’s custody platform and operating model of the future.

Responsibilities

The Lead will be accountable for delivering the following:

Strategic Delivery

• Execute on the Direct Custody strategy for EMEA, MENA&APAC, including market expansion and modernization initiatives.

• Build and enhance strategic custody platforms, ensuring alignment to global standards and regional regulatory requirements.

• Consolidate legacy custody processes and platforms to enable a unified global operating model.

Platform & Product Development

• Develop new custody product features across settlement, corporate actions, income processing, proxy voting, tax services, and market connectivity.

• Support platform modernization initiatives, including strategic migration of clients, markets, and processes from legacy platforms.

• Oversee the development and analysis of product-related change, including commercially-viable and client focused business cases, with prioritization and approval of product, operational and regulatory change.  Business cases to be managed in-collaboration with Product Management, Technology and Global Delivery.

• Evaluate digital opportunities, including DLT, market automation, digital asset support, and ISO 20022 enhancements.

Roadmap & Planning

• Deliver a clear product roadmap in collaboration with the Head of Product Development, with annual prioritization, budgeting, and capability planning.

• Lead solution design for market and client migrations across all supported markets and legal entities.

Change Leadership

• Lead product-related change analysis and business case development; ensure commercial viability and operational scalability.

• Oversee regulatory, operational, and client-driven changes affecting EMEA/MENA/APAC custody markets.

• Ensure alignment with local regulatory frameworks, market infrastructure changes, and State Street policies.

Operating Model & Architecture

• Drive development of the Direct Custody capability model, including process simplification, automation opportunities, and future-state technical stack selection.

• Collaborate with Product, Technology, and Global Delivery to define efficient operating models for new and existing markets.

• Responsible for ensuring appropriate governance, compliance with policies/frameworks and oversight of issues, risks, audit and compliance items.

• Support annual planning and funding prioritization activities where required

• Oversee archival of documentation and other program artifacts associated with development and implementation activities so that they are maintained for future business needs and audit purposes

Skills

• Strong understanding of Direct Custody, including settlement cycles, market infrastructure, local regulations, CSD/CCP rules, corporate actions, and tax operations.

• Ability to design custody product capabilities and platform behaviours using industry-leading practices.

• Excellent communication skills to articulate product changes to stakeholders and train junior team members.

• Ability to oversee and edit product documentation, BRDs, and solution designs to ensure completeness and clarity.

• Strong Agile experience (User Stories, Epics, backlog grooming, product ownership).

• Ability to work effectively across global virtual teams, including product managers, developers, operations, sub-custodians, and market utilities.

• Advanced analytical, strategic thinking, and presentation skills.

• Demonstrated track record delivering complex change using both Agile and Waterfall methodologies.

• Strong stakeholder management, able to navigate large organizations and gain alignment.

• Proven ability engaging complex global clients and designing custody operating models and features.

Experience

• 10+ years’ experience in Securities Services with strong focus on Direct Custody or Global Custody.

• Product management experience within a major custodian or market infrastructure provider.

• Prior operations and/or technology experience supporting custody activities.

• Experience with multi-market custody platforms, CSD connectivity, and regional market infrastructures.

• Experience delivering change programs across global environments.

Outcomes expected from the roles

• In depth understanding of Direct Custody

• Driving a change agenda and execution of the development initiatives to improve the overall operating environment for State Street

• Proactive input and idea generation for product development roadmap

• Maintain up to date understanding of regulatory headwinds and other industry disruptors and industry bodies that could impact the area

• Responsible for issue and risk escalation

• Project /initiative ownership as requested, with appropriate reporting (with PMO) of prioritized and approved change

• Appropriate governance and audit trail on documentation of all key decisions and actions.

Split of role:

• Product Design & Development : 60%

• Business Analysis : 10%

• Market / Client interaction : 30%

About State Street

Across the globe, institutional investors rely on us to help them manage risk, respond to challenges, and drive performance and profitability. We keep our clients at the heart of everything we do, and smart, engaged employees are essential to our continued success.

We are committed to fostering an environment where every employee feels valued and empowered to reach their full potential. As an essential partner in our shared success, you’ll benefit from inclusive development opportunities, flexible work-life support, paid volunteer days, and vibrant employee networks that keep you connected to what matters most. Join us in shaping the future.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we consider all qualified applicants for all positions without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, age, disability, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, citizenship, marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, familial status, military and veteran status, and other characteristics protected by applicable law.

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