RFS Operations – Business Manager

Job description

About Waystone Waystone is a leading asset-servicing solutions provider of institutional governance, administration, risk and compliance services to financial institutions. With over 25 years’ experience and a comprehensive range of specialist services to its name, Waystone helps our clients structure, operate and grow through our expertise, innovation and digitisation, backed by the operational scale to support global expansion. Summary: The Business Manager – Operational Transformation & MI will be a senior individual contributor responsible for helping Operations leadership run the business with greater discipline, transparency and pace. The role combines business management, operational problem solving, stakeholder coordination, transformation delivery, and the development of strong MI, reporting and governance routines. The successful candidate will have a practical “fixer” mentality: able to take ambiguous operational issues, impose structure, identify root causes, mobilise stakeholders, drive actions to closure, and turn recurring issues into scalable, measurable and controlled ways of working. The individual should be comfortable working across process, data, controls, reporting, operating rhythms and change delivery. Technology and automation awareness will be valuable, but the primary requirement is the ability to improve operational performance, strengthen accountability and provide senior leaders with clear insight for decision-making. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES • Act as a trusted business management partner to Operations leadership, helping translate strategic priorities into clear plans, governance routines, deliverables and measurable outcomes. • Identify operational pain points, recurring issues, control weaknesses, reporting gaps and process inefficiencies, then shape pragmatic solutions that improve execution and accountability. • Build, maintain and continuously improve MI and reporting across Operations, including KPI packs, productivity reporting, capacity views, risk and issue dashboards, benefits tracking and executive updates. • Define meaningful performance measures and reporting standards that provide clear insight into volumes, service levels, turnaround times, exceptions, ageing, quality, resourcing, client impact and control effectiveness. • Lead cross-functional initiatives from problem definition through delivery, including planning, stakeholder engagement, RAID management, action tracking, dependency management, implementation readiness and BAU handover. • Create structure where it is missing: clarify ownership, document decisions, establish working groups, maintain action logs, follow up on commitments and ensure senior stakeholders have visibility of progress and blockers. • Analyse operational data and qualitative inputs to identify root causes, trends and opportunities for process standardisation, simplification, control improvement and productivity uplift. • Develop concise business cases, option papers and decision materials covering benefits, risks, costs, dependencies, assumptions, implementation considerations and recommended actions. • Support the design and embedding of operating rhythms, including management meetings, performance reviews, escalation forums, transformation updates and reporting cadence. • Partner with Operations, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Finance, Client Service and other stakeholders to resolve blockers, align priorities and ensure changes are practical, controlled and adopted. • Support preparation of leadership, executive and governance materials, ensuring messaging is clear, evidence-based and action-oriented. • Promote a culture of disciplined execution, transparency, continuous improvement and ownership, challenging manual or fragmented ways of working where better approaches are available. • Where appropriate, help identify opportunities for workflow, data, automation or tooling improvements, ensuring that process, controls, ownership and MI are defined before technology solutions are pursued. • Produce high-quality documentation, including process maps, reporting definitions, SOPs, implementation plans, status reports, post-implementation reviews and stakeholder communications. REQUIREMENTS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements below are representative of the knowledge, skill and ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Experience and skills: • Significant experience in operations, business management, operational transformation, change delivery or process improvement, ideally within asset management, fund administration, ManCo, ACD or broader financial services. • Strong track record of taking ambiguous business issues and converting them into structured analysis, practical solutions, clear actions and measurable outcomes. • Demonstrable “fixer” mindset: proactive, resilient, commercially aware and comfortable stepping into complex or under-structured situations to create momentum. • Strong MI and reporting capability, including the ability to define KPIs, build reporting packs, analyse operational data, identify trends and present insight clearly to senior stakeholders. • Advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills are expected; exposure to Power BI, data visualisation, SQL, workflow tools or automation platforms would be advantageous. • Good understanding of operational controls, exception management, regulatory sensitivity, client service expectations, auditability and risks created by manual or fragmented processes. • Strong project and delivery discipline, including scope management, planning, RAID management, stakeholder engagement, testing coordination, implementation readiness and transition to BAU. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce crisp executive updates, decision papers and governance materials. • Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to work across Operations, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Finance and senior leadership without relying on direct authority. • High attention to detail, strong analytical judgement, professional integrity and commitment to quality, client service and internal policy requirements. • Curious, practical and improvement-oriented, with an interest in how data, workflow and technology can support stronger operating discipline and better decision-making. Education: • Graduate or Master’s degree. • Six Sigma Green Belt or Lean certification is a must, Black Belt will be added advantage • Automation, Data Analytics, API/integration, or AI/IDP related certification is desired • Project management qualification like PMP or Prince 2 or CAPM is desired Work timings : EMEA business hours