About Altruist
Altruist is transforming the multi-trillion dollar wealth management industry by building an AI platform for wealth professionals. We partner with financial advisors nationwide, empowering them to grow, optimize time and resources, and deliver superior outcomes for their clients.
We're looking for exceptional talent to help us achieve our mission of making financial advice better, more affordable, and accessible to all. If you're passionate about challenging the status quo and want to do the most important work of your life, we'd love to meet you!
But first, our values
Kindness - Kindness doesn’t just equal niceness. We listen to understand. We embrace, and encourage healthy debate and diverse perspectives. We approach conflict openly, honestly, and respectfully.
Brilliance - Humility is the skill we’re most proud of and possessing a growth mindset is always top of mind. We take ownership in everything we touch; regularly using our unique superpowers to reach a common goal as a team. We succeed and fail as one.
Grit - When challenges arise, we stay laser focused on achieving our mission and finding a way forward, even when it’s hard. We are nimble and maintain a sense of urgency, swiftly adapting to change and overcoming obstacles.
About the position
Altruist is entering an exciting phase, and we're looking for a Head of Clearing Operations to join our Operations department!
What you’ll do
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Clearing Operations Leadership & Execution
- Lead self-clearing operational functions across Trade Capture & Processing, Clearance & Settlement, Reconciliations, Corporate Actions, Margin, Options, Stock Borrow/Loan, Fails Management, Asset Servicing, and Exception Management.
- Ensure accurate, timely, and compliant processing across the full trade lifecycle for equities, options, fixed income, and other supported products.
- Establish clear ownership, escalation paths, controls, and service-level expectations across all clearing workflows.
- Maintain daily operational discipline across critical processes including trade settlement, cash and securities breaks, margin calculations, and lifecycle events.
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Strategy, Scale & Automation
- Define and execute a clearing operations strategy aligned with Altruist’s self-clearing roadmap and growth objectives.
- Design scalable operating models that minimize manual intervention through automation, straight-through processing, and intelligent exception handling.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives to reduce operational risk, settlement fails, cost-to-serve, and manual touchpoints.
- Implement metrics-driven management, including KPIs, KRIs, root-cause analysis, and continuous control testing.
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Technology & Product Partnership
- Partner with Product and Engineering to translate clearing requirements into scalable platform capabilities.
- Ensure clearing operational readiness for new products, market structure changes, regulatory updates, and volume growth.
- Serve as the primary clearing subject-matter expert in product design discussions to ensure operational integrity and scalability.
- Leverage data, reporting, and workflow tools to provide real-time visibility into clearing performance and risk.
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Financial Stewardship & Vendor Management
- Partner with Finance to manage clearing operations budgets, capacity planning, and ROI for clearing-related investments.
- Own relationships with clearing vendors, market utilities, and service providers including DTCC, NSCC, OCC, exchanges, and third-party service firms.
- Negotiate contracts, monitor vendor performance, and ensure alignment with operational, financial, and regulatory requirements.
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Risk Management, Compliance & Regulatory Engagement
- Partner with Compliance, Risk, and the FINOP to ensure timely and accurate regulatory reporting, reserve calculations, margin reporting, and reconciliation of breaks.
- Maintain strong internal controls over cash, securities, margin, and custody-related processes.
- Lead clearing operations preparation and participation in FINRA, SEC, and other regulatory examinations.
- Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate clearing-related operational, financial, and regulatory risks.
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People Leadership & Culture
- Build, lead, and develop a high-performing clearing operations organization, including hiring, onboarding, coaching, and succession planning.
- Establish a culture of accountability, ownership, risk awareness, and operational excellence.
- Set and deliver OKRs tied to clearing efficiency, control effectiveness, settlement quality, and customer impact.
- Develop future leaders and subject-matter experts across clearing disciplines.
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Customer & Advisor Impact
- Own clearing outcomes that directly impact RIAs and their clients, including settlement accuracy, timeliness, and asset safety.
- Partner with Customer Success and Support to resolve complex clearing issues and systemic settlement or asset-servicing problems.
- Reduce downstream service and support needs through improved clearing processes, tooling, and transparency.
What you’ll bring
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Experience & Expertise
- 10+ years of progressive clearing operations experience at a self-clearing broker-dealer.
- Deep expertise in U.S. securities clearing, settlement, custody, margin, options, and asset servicing.
- Strong working knowledge of FINRA, SEC, DTCC, NSCC, OCC, and exchange rules governing clearing and settlement.
- Proven experience scaling clearing operations in a high-growth, technology-driven environment.
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Leadership & Execution Skills
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex clearing teams and functions with strong risk and control orientation.
- Ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on operational execution.
- Track record of driving automation, straight-through processing, and operational resilience.
- Sound judgment in managing operational risk, market events, and volume spikes.
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Technology & Systems
- Demonstrated ability to apply technology, automation, and data to transform clearing operations.
- Experience partnering closely with product and engineering teams in an agile environment.
- Proficiency with FIS Phase 3 strongly preferred; familiarity with modern clearing and brokerage platforms a plus.
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Communication & Collaboration
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence across Product, Engineering, Finance, Compliance, Risk, and Customer Experience.
- Ability to clearly articulate clearing risks, controls, and performance to executive and regulatory audiences.
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Mindset & Culture Fit
- Strong ownership mindset with comfort operating in ambiguity and high-accountability environments.
- Detail-oriented with a strong appreciation for controls, precision, and asset protection.
- Thrives in a fast-paced, scaling self-clearing environment.
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Licensing & Credentials
- FINRA Series 7, 63, and 24 required.
- Series 4, Series 27, or willingness to obtain additional licenses as required over time.
Success looks like
- Highly automated, resilient clearing operations supporting growth with minimal incremental risk.
- Strong settlement performance with low fail rates and timely break resolution.
- Clean regulatory exams and consistently accurate clearing and custody reporting.
- A clearing organization viewed as a strategic strength and risk mitigant for Altruist.
What we bring
Attracting and retaining top-tier talent is a priority. We are proud of the culture we’ve built and are cognizant of the ever-changing professional landscape. Our dynamic offering of perks and benefits are tailored for you to feel your best while doing your best.
- A hybrid work schedule for most positions to promote strong, in-person collaboration.
- Stunning, amenity-filled office spaces in Culver City, CA, San Francisco, CA, and Dallas, TX. Our offices are intentionally designed for comfort, collaboration, and productivity.
- Competitive pay and equity for eligible positions.
- Premium healthcare, dental, and vision insurance plans (HMO and PPO).
- 401k savings plan with a 4% match and immediate vesting.
- 16 week paid parental leave.
- Professional growth and development opportunities including an employee mobility program and an annual L&D budget allocation for each employee.
- Company perks program (includes discounts on pet insurance, fitness, cell phone plans, entertainment and travel, etc.).
- Financial guidance program (includes counseling on navigating debt, tracking personal spend, saving and planning goals, home-purchasing preparedness, etc.).
- One month work from anywhere policy (with the exception of a few countries).
Total compensation includes a competitive benefits package, along with equity in the form of Stock Options (ISOs) for eligible roles. For salaried positions, a salary offer will be determined by a number of factors including experience, skill level, internal pay equity, geographic location, and other relevant business considerations. We review all employee pay and compensation programs regularly to ensure fair, equitable, and competitive pay. At Altruist, we are committed to providing fair, equitable, and competitive compensation by leveraging market data to inform our pay bands. Base salaries will be reviewed at regular intervals throughout the year, typically in conjunction with performance review cycles. By evaluating compensation on a regular basis, we are able to reward high performance and ensure all employees have opportunities for growth.
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Altruist we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role, but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
