Why State Street
State Street is one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors. Investment Services is a core State Street business, delivering servicing, operational, and technology solutions to asset managers, asset owners, insurance companies, and other institutional clients globally. Its capabilities span custody, fund administration, middle-office services, analytics, financing, and liquidity.
Joining State Street means working at the center of a sophisticated and highly regulated financial services ecosystem. Our Legal team partners with business and control leaders to solve complex challenges, support strategic growth, strengthen client relationships, and help shape the future of the investment servicing industry.
This position offers an experienced legal executive the opportunity to:
- Lead the legal strategy supporting a critical segment of State Street’s Investment Services business
- Advise senior executives on significant client, regulatory, operational, and reputational matters
- Work with leading asset managers, registered funds, investment advisers, and insurance companies
- Influence product, commercial, risk management, and transformation strategies
- Lead and develop a sophisticated team of attorneys and legal professionals
- Operate within a global organization while having significant responsibility for the Americas business
The Opportunity
We are seeking a seasoned attorney and strategic leader to serve as Managing Director, Asset Manager& Insurance Legal (Americas)
In this highly visible leadership role, you will lead the legal team supporting State Street’s Asset Manager and Insurance Segment clients across the Americas. The client base includes registered investment companies, ETFs, mutual funds, money market funds, business development companies, investment advisers, insurance companies, and related fund, adviser, and insurance complexes.
You will serve as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders, client-facing teams, and control functions on the legal, regulatory, commercial, operational, governance, and reputational matters affecting these client relationships. You will also provide strategic legal guidance across an extensive portfolio of asset servicing products and services, including custody, fund accounting, trustee services, fund administration, transfer agency, ETF servicing, collateral services, and related middle- and back-office solutions.
This opportunity requires an accomplished legal leader who combines strong knowledge of the registered funds and management regulatory environment with sound business judgment, operational understanding, and a practical, risk-based approach to legal advice. Experience involving insurance company clients and relevant insurance regulatory considerations is highly valued.
What You Will Be Responsible For
Strategic Legal Leadership
- Lead the legal function supporting Asset Manager and Insurance Segment clients across the Americas.
- Serve as a senior legal advisor to business executives on client strategy, product development, regulatory change, commercial arrangements, operational matters, governance, and risk.
- Develop legal strategies that support business priorities while appropriately managing legal, regulatory, operational, financial, and reputational risk.
- Translate complex legal and regulatory considerations into clear, practical, and commercially informed guidance.
- Identify emerging legal and regulatory developments and advise leadership on their potential business, client, product, and operational implications.
- Establish priorities and deploy legal resources effectively across a complex portfolio of matters.
Asset Manager and Investment Management Advice
- Provide expert guidance on matters involving registered investment companies, ETFs, mutual funds, money market funds, business development companies, investment advisers, and related client structures.
- Advise on the Investment Company Act of 1940, Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, applicable SEC rules and guidance, fiduciary obligations, disclosure requirements, and related regulatory expectations.
- Support legal and regulatory considerations involving fund structures, adviser relationships, governance, servicing models, client obligations, and operational arrangements.
Insurance Client Support
- Advise on legal and regulatory matters affecting the delivery of asset servicing solutions to insurance company clients.
- Provide guidance, directly or in partnership with internal and external specialists, on matters involving state insurance regulation, NAIC frameworks, insurer investment regulation, statutory accounting concepts, separate accounts, affiliated transactions, risk-based capital considerations, and related regulatory expectations.
- Help the business navigate the intersection of investment servicing requirements, insurance client needs, and applicable legal and regulatory obligations.
Products, Clients, and Commercial Matters
- Advise on custody, fund accounting, fund administration, trustee, transfer agency, ETF servicing, middle-office, securities lending, cash, collateral, and related solutions.
- Oversee the drafting, review, interpretation, and negotiation of complex asset servicing agreements, disclosures, client communications, and supporting documentation.
- Provide legal guidance on strategic client relationships, new products, service enhancements, operating model changes, and complex commercial arrangements.
- Support significant client negotiations and escalations with practical, solutions-oriented advice.
- Establish consistent and effective legal approaches across products, clients, and documentation.
Risk, Regulatory, and Cross-Functional Partnership
- Partner with Compliance, Risk, Audit, Operations, Product, Technology, Procurement, Client Service, and other functions on regulatory change, incident response, remediation, governance, and transformation initiatives.
- Manage or support interactions with regulators, fund boards, insurance client stakeholders, industry groups, outside counsel, and senior client representatives, as appropriate.
- Evaluate complex legal, regulatory, operational, and reputational risks and escalate significant matters to executive management.
- Strengthen legal processes, escalation protocols, knowledge management, and client support models.
- Promote consistency, efficiency, sound judgment, and risk awareness across the legal organization.
Leadership Responsibilities
- Lead, manage, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of attorneys and legal professionals.
- Set clear expectations, establish priorities, allocate resources, and ensure high-quality execution across complex and competing matters.
- Provide meaningful coaching and feedback while supporting professional development, engagement, and career growth.
- Build talent and succession plans for critical legal capabilities and leadership positions.
- Create an environment of collaboration, accountability, sound judgment, ethical leadership, inclusion, and continuous improvement.
- Foster strong working relationships across Legal, business leadership, control functions, operations, product teams, and client-facing organizations.
- Drive operational excellence through effective delegation, prioritization, resource management, and knowledge sharing.
What We Value
The successful candidate will be a strategic and commercially minded legal leader who can operate effectively at the intersection of law, regulation, business strategy, client service, and operational risk.
The individual will bring:
- Executive presence and the credibility to advise and influence senior business and control leaders
- Strong judgment and the ability to make well-reasoned decisions in complex or high-pressure situations
- A practical, business-oriented approach to legal advice and problem-solving
- The ability to identify the issues that matter most and provide clear, actionable guidance
- Strong leadership skills and a demonstrated commitment to developing legal talent
- Intellectual curiosity and the ability to quickly understand sophisticated products, operating models, and client needs
- A collaborative style and the ability to build trusted relationships across functions and jurisdictions
- A commitment to integrity, ethical leadership, accountability, and disciplined risk management
Qualifications:
Juris Doctor from an accredited U.S. law school and active license to practice law in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
15+ years of legal experience advising registered investment companies, ETFs, mutual funds, money market funds, business development companies, investment advisers, asset managers, asset servicers, custodian banks, insurance companies, or other institutional financial services organizations.
Deep knowledge of and substantial experience advising on the Investment Company Act of 1940, Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, SEC rules, guidance, examinations, and related regulatory frameworks governing registered funds, investment advisers, and investment management businesses.
Demonstrated experience serving as a primary legal advisor on complex regulatory matters, including significant interaction with regulators, regulatory examinations, inquiries, remediation efforts, regulatory change initiatives, and interpretation of evolving regulatory requirements.
Experience practicing within or advising investment management organizations, registered funds, investment advisers, asset managers, or comparable regulated investment businesses, with the ability to provide practical guidance on governance, fiduciary obligations, disclosures, fund structures, servicing arrangements, and adviser relationships.
Experience supporting insurance company clients and familiarity with insurance regulatory frameworks, including NAIC guidance, statutory accounting concepts, separate accounts, insurer investment requirements, risk-based capital considerations, and related regulatory matters, is strongly preferred.
A combination of major law firm and in-house financial services experience is strongly preferred.
Strong understanding of asset servicing products and operating models, including custody, fund accounting, fund administration, trustee services, transfer agency, ETF servicing, middle-office services, collateral solutions, securities lending, and related institutional investment services.
Experience advising on legal, regulatory, commercial, operational, and reputational risks affecting large institutional clients and complex financial services businesses.
Demonstrated ability to serve as a trusted advisor to senior executives and influence decision-making across business leadership, Legal, Risk, Compliance, Operations, Product, Technology, Audit, and other control functions.
Proven experience leading, managing, mentoring, and developing attorneys and legal professionals, including building high-performing teams, succession planning, talent development, performance management, and organizational leadership.
Significant experience drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and overseeing complex commercial agreements, strategic client arrangements, outsourcing relationships, and other sophisticated legal documentation.
Ability to assess and communicate legal, regulatory, operational, financial, and reputational risks and provide clear, practical, and commercially focused recommendations in high-pressure situations.
Experience supporting strategic business initiatives, product development, technology transformation, operating model changes, regulatory remediation programs, and enterprise-wide change initiatives.
Experience interacting with fund boards, regulators, industry organizations, senior client stakeholders, outside counsel, and other external constituents.
Strong analytical, drafting, negotiation, communication, relationship management, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex legal concepts into actionable business advice.
Why This Role Is Distinctive
This position combines the reach of a global financial institution with the ownership and influence of a senior legal leadership mandate. The successful candidate will not simply respond to legal questions. They will help establish strategy, shape business decisions, develop talent, strengthen client relationships, and guide the organization through evolving regulatory, operational, and commercial challenges.
For a legal executive seeking broader business influence, meaningful team leadership, sophisticated client exposure, and the opportunity to support a core State Street business, this role offers a compelling next step.
Salary Range:
$170,000 - $282,500 Annual
The range quoted above applies to the role in the primary location specified. If the candidate would ultimately work outside of the primary location above, the applicable range could differ.
Employees are eligible to participate in State Street’s comprehensive benefits program, which includes: our retirement savings plan (401K) with company match; insurance coverage including basic life, medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, and other optional additional coverages; paid-time off including vacation, sick leave, short term disability, and family care responsibilities; access to our Employee Assistance Program; incentive compensation including eligibility for annual performance-based awards (excluding certain sales roles subject to sales incentive plans); and, eligibility for certain tax advantaged savings plans.
For a full overview, visit https://hrportal.ehr.com/statestreet/Home.
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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