About Eleven Recruiting
We are a specialized technology staffing agency supporting professional and financial services companies. Why do we stand out in technology staffing? We listen and act as advisors for our candidates on how they can best add value, find interesting projects, and pave a path for career advancement. We advocate for the best pay, diversity in tech, and the best job fit for every candidate we place.
Our client, a leading investment firm, is seeking a COO, Operations and AI to join their team in El Segundo, CA!
The COO / Business Manager serves as the operational and financial partner to Operations & AI Engineering leadership, a roughly 90-person organization supporting the middle office. Reporting to the Enterprise Solutions Engineering COO, the role helps manage how the function is run, funded, governed and communicated.
This mid-level consulting role provides business management, financial oversight, planning and governance support across cash wires, the full trade life cycle, settlement and trade matching, investment accounting, client solutions, and loan servicing (RML). It lets Engineering leaders stay focused on delivery and on bringing AI into operations workflows.
Responsibilities:Strategy-
Partner with Operations & AI leadership to develop and refresh the multi-year strategy, operating model and investment priorities.
-
Translate strategy into measurable OKRs/KPIs and track progress.
-
Evaluate build-vs-buy, automation, AI, sourcing and org-design options with clear financial and risk analysis.
-
Identify opportunities to simplify, automate and scale middle office processes, including cash wires, trade settlement and matching, and loan servicing.
Financial Management-
Own the annual budget, quarterly forecasts and monthly actuals-to-plan reporting for Operations & AI Engineering, including all required adjustments in the financial system for headcount, contractors, vendors, licenses and platform spend.
-
Manage vendor contracts, renewals, SOWs and procurement, and build the business case for existing and new investments, including AI tooling.
-
Track resource plans, contractor and vendor spend, and allocations with Finance.
Communication-
Own the content of the monthly newsletter: source, write and edit it, and secure approvals ahead of each issue.
-
Prepare materials and manage the communications cadence, including leadership updates, stakeholder briefings and operating reviews.
-
Produce executive-ready reporting on financials, operational metrics (wire volumes, settlement and matching rates, breaks), AI adoption, delivery status and risks.
-
Act as the point of coordination between Enterprise Solutions Engineering and its partners across Operations, Investment Accounting, Client Solutions and Loan Servicing.
-
Prepare materials for senior leadership, steering committees, and audit or review requests.
Day-to-Day Operations-
Manage the operating rhythm for a 90-person organization, including planning cycles, team meetings, resource allocation, capacity planning and workload management.
-
Coordinate onboarding/offboarding, access and tooling for the team and its contractors.
-
Coordinate with Risk, Security, Compliance and Audit to keep the function in good standing.
-
Support resourcing and org-design decisions, including contractor and vendor sourcing.
Program / Project Governance-
Establish and enforce the portfolio governance framework: intake, prioritization, stage gates, status reporting and RAIDD (risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies, decisions) management.
-
Maintain the roadmap and portfolio view across all active programs, including AI initiatives; keep delivery data current in the PMO tool.
-
Track milestones, budgets and benefits; escalate slippage and drive corrective action.
-
Manage steering committees and ensure decisions and approvals are documented.
Qualifications:Required-
8+ years of experience, including consulting or contract engagements, in business management, operations, finance or program management within asset management, private markets or financial services.
-
Working knowledge of middle office operations, including the full trade life cycle, settlement and trade matching, and the hand-off to investment accounting.
-
Experience with cash wire processes, including payment instructions, approval controls, dual authorization and bank or treasury platforms.
-
Familiarity with loan servicing operations and client solutions or client service functions.
-
Demonstrated ownership of a budget, including forecasting, vendor management and cost optimization.
-
Experience running program/project governance across a portfolio, including stage gates, RAIDD and executive reporting.
-
Strong understanding of internal controls, audit and SOX-type requirements.
-
AI-native: uses AI tools (e.g., Claude) day to day for analysis, budget work, presentations and reporting.
-
Exceptional written and verbal communication; comfortable presenting to senior leadership; able to work independently against a defined scope, deliverables and SOW.
-
Willingness to be hands-on and own tactical work end to end.
-
Advanced Excel/financial modeling and fluency with PMO, Jira/Confluence and BI tools.
-
Bachelor's degree in business, finance, accounting or related field.
Preferred-
Experience with private credit, private equity or alternative fund structures.
-
Experience with trade processing, matching or settlement platforms (e.g., DTCC, SWIFT, Loan IQ or similar).
-
Experience supporting AI or automation programs in an operations setting.
-
Prior experience as an interim or fractional COO, chief of staff or business manager for an operations or technology organization.
-
MBA, CPA, CFA or PMP.
Pay Rate: $80 - $100/hr
Your safety matters to us. To protect yourself from potential scams, remember that Eleven recruiters only contact you from @
elevenrecruiting.com email addresses. Be cautious of emails from other domains. Legitimate Eleven recruiters will never ask for money, fees, or banking information before your first day. If you're ever unsure about a communication, don't click any linksvisit
https://jobs.elevenrecruiting.com/directly for confirmed position openings.