Director, US Opera tions - Kraken Securities

As Director, US Operations at Kraken Securities LLC (part of Payward), you lead operations for the company's US equities business, including traditional stocks and xStocks, our tokenized equities product. You own the end-to-end trade operating model, order and settlement flow, cash flows, corporate actions, reconciliations, and regulatory readiness. You serve as a registered principal of Kraken Securities LLC, named on Form BD, and act as an operational control point accountable for the firm's regulatory obligations. This is a hands-on leadership role that demands fluency in both traditional market infrastructure and the operational realities of a digital-asset business.

What you'll do

• Own the end-to-end order flow for US equities, from inception through clearing and settlement, including reconciliation, corporate actions, and exception management
• Own xStocks operations: token issuance and redemption, inventory and liquidity management, movement of client and firm assets, and settlement across exchange, custodian, and on-chain venues
• Serve as a named principal of Kraken Securities LLC and act as an operational control point, including dual-approval sign-off on transactions and asset movements with coverage across time zones
• Design and implement the operating model for Kraken Securities and xStocks, aligned to strategic goals
• Build and run the operating systems for the business: policies, written supervisory procedures, controls, books and records, business continuity, and KPIs, translating C-suite goals into clear targets for each business unit
• Own launch readiness for new products and markets by preparing systems, policies and procedures, and testing them end-to-end with clearing firms, custodians, exchange partners and R&D teams to ensure compliance with US regulations
• Partner with Finance on financial controls around bank payments, customer funds and reserve requirements
• Ensure desk coverage and settlement/reconciliation controls and staffing to support 24x5 operations and transition to 24x7
• Own vendor and partner operations: clearing, custody, market data, liquidity providers and technology vendors, including onboarding, SLAs and ongoing oversight
• Own severity-1 operational escalation and incident response for the US entities, including root-cause review and remediation
• Set performance targets, monitor progress, and report KPIs and costs transparently to leadership
• Hire and develop a high-performing operations team, build the licensing bench and succession plan, and construct the organizational structure to scale
• Partner with functional leaders across Marketing, Compliance, Product, Engineering, and Operations to keep initiatives aligned and moving
• Contribute to strategy and growth planning to help build a sustainable business
• Support functions such as HR and IT in building procedures that link to corporate strategy

What you bring

• 12+ years of experience in brokerage or fintech operations, and/or at an operations consulting firm, including time inside a FINRA-registered broker-dealer
• Experience in crypto, brokerage, advisory, fintech, or another highly regulated industry
• In-depth knowledge of traditional financial markets: execution, clearing, settlement, custody, margin, securities lending, and corporate actions
• Working understanding of digital assets and tokenized securities, including custody models, on-chain settlement, and the operational controls they demand
• Direct experience operating under SEC and FINRA rules: books and records, supervisory procedures, trade reporting, and examination response
• Experience standing up or scaling operations for a new regulated product or entity, including launch readiness and regulatory approval processes
• A proven record of defining structured approaches to solve complex challenges
• End-to-end understanding of company value drivers and a strong working understanding of business analytics
• Experience hiring, managing, and developing operations teams
• Exceptional judgment and executive presence to work comfortably with C-suite leaders, regulators, and external partners
• FINRA Series 7 (General Securities Representative), Series 99 (Operations Professional) and Series 24 (General Securities Principal) required at hire or within an agreed window from start date
• Series 63 / 65 / 66 as required by state registration
• Eligibility for registration and disclosure on Form BD, and comfort carrying named-principal responsibility in a regulated entity

Nice to have

• Series 27 or 28 (Financial and Operations Principal)
• Series 57 (Securities Trader) and Series 4 (options principal), or willingness to obtain them to strengthen principal coverage across trading and options

About Kraken (Payward)

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has spent the last 15 years building a globally accessible financial infrastructure platform. Kraken, founded in 2011, is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for individual investors and institutional clients.