Equities Trade Support- Director

Morgan Stanley Investment Management Operations is seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Equities Trade Support expert to join the Public Markets Middle Office and provide high-touch operational partnership to Portfolio Managers and Traders. This role serves as a day-to-day point of contact for front office stakeholders, ensuring smooth end-to-end operational support across the equity trade lifecycle, governing strong control frameworks, and timely issue resolution across trade capture, confirmations, settlement, cash/position reconciliations, and key lifecycle events.

The position provides an opportunity to partner closely with MSIM Trading, Technology, Compliance, Counter parties, Prime Brokers/Clearing Brokers, Custodians and various functional teams within MSIM Operations to proactively monitor transaction/position data quality and resolve issues that could impact trade execution, settlement, valuation, risk, and client/regulatory reporting. The successful candidate exercises sound operational judgment, maintains composure in high-pressure, time-sensitive market environments, and effectively manages risk across multiple products while delivering exceptional support and issue resolution.

As a Director, you will contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, leverage automation and AI-enabled solutions to drive innovation, and champion operational excellence by enhancing processes, achieving our strategic business outcomes and delivering world-class service to our clients.

Key Responsibilities:

Trade Support Coverage:

Provide dedicated day-to-day operational support to Portfolio Managers and Traders across applicable asset classes including equities and foreign exchange, ensuring timely and accurate processing of trades from execution through settlement.

Serve as a primary point of contact providing proactive oversight of trade lifecycle controls, booking quality, and operational readiness for front office stakeholders.

Anticipate front office needs and proactively resolve front-to-back workflow issues (trade capture, allocations, confirmations, settlement, clearing), ensuring minimal disruption to investment decision-making.

Monitor start-of-day readiness (cash/positions reconciliation, breaks, pricing/valuation flags, unmatched confirmations, settlement fails) and consult stakeholders on exposures, exceptions, and required actions.

Issue Resolution and Escalation:

Perform root cause analysis and permanent corrective actions to drive resolution of trade lifecycle and operational issues (allocations, confirmations, exceptions/breaks, settlement fails, fees/interest accruals, corporate actions where applicable), partnering with Custodians, Brokers/Clearing Brokers, Technology, and Compliance, as applicable.

Exercises sound operational judgment with a strong risk and control mindset, proactively identifying, assessing, and resolving trade issues while ensuring timely escalation of material risks.

Optimization:

Identify opportunities to streamline trade support processes, increase straight-through-processing, implement industry best practices, reduce manual touchpoints, and enhance preventative controls using automation and AI-enabled solutions.

Maintain accurate support KPIs/KRIs (e.g., breaks, failed trades, aging, incident volumes, turnaround times) and deliver actionable insights to Middle Office leadership and front office stakeholders.

Contribute to procedures, playbooks, and training; coach peers/juniors as needed to ensure consistent processes and effective knowledge transfer.

Partner on change initiatives (platform enhancements, new products/strategies, market/regulatory obligations) and prioritize work based on activity, risk, and business needs, escalating where appropriate.

Experience and Qualifications:

6+ years of experience in equities trade support, middle office, or investment operations at a global asset manager, bank, or financial institution.

Proven experience supporting front-to-back workflows and partnering closely with PMs/Traders and downstream operations teams from execution through settlement and reporting.

Strong understanding of equity and foreign exchange market…