Director, US Operations - Kraken Securities

Kraken, one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, is seeking a Director, US Operations to lead operations for Payward’s US equities business, Kraken Securities LLC. This role focuses on traditional stocks and xStocks, their tokenized equities product, advancing an open, global financial system.

This is a hands-on leadership role in a regulated entity where you will be a registered principal of Kraken Securities LLC, named on Form BD, and accountable for the operational side of the firm’s regulatory obligations. It requires genuine fluency in both traditional market plumbing and the operational realities of a digital-asset business. You will stay close to company strategy and cross-functional initiatives, partnering across Compliance, Legal, Finance, Product, Engineering, and Marketing to drive key initiatives and build a scalable team.

Responsibilities

• 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 (“four eyes”) 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 — and translate C-suite goals into clear targets for each business unit.
• Own launch readiness for new products and markets: prepare systems, policies and procedures, and test them end to end with our clearing firm, 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 manpower are in place to support 24X5 and transitioning 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 build 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 the executive presence to work comfortably with C-suite leaders, regulators, and external partners.
• Required at hire, or within an agreed window from start date: FINRA Series 7 (General Securities Representative), Series 99 (Operations Professional) and Series 24 (General Securities Principal).
• Preferred: Series 27 or 28 (Financial and Operations Principal).
• Also valued: Series 57 (Securities Trader) and Series 4 (options principal), or willingness to obtain them — these strengthen our principal coverage across trading and options.
• Must be eligible for registration and disclosure on Form BD, and comfortable carrying named-principal responsibility in a regulated entity.
• Series 63 / 65 / 66 as required by state registration.