Your Opportunity
Director Trust Administration
Job US-DE-Wilmington
Our Opportunity
Schwab’s Personal Trust Services (“PTS”) organization provides personal trust products and services to Schwab’s clients, including individual investors, beneficiaries, RIAs, and corporate fiduciaries. PTS products and services are provided through three separate legal entities; Charles Schwab Trust Company, Charles Schwab Trust Company of Delaware, and CS&Co. PTS products cover the full fiduciary, agency, and custody spectrum, including fiduciary trust administration and investment management, directed trustee, trusteed IRA, administrative agency, trust reporting, and trust outsourcing. PTS currently serves $35 billion in assets under management, administration, and custody, meeting the needs of over 1,000 independent RIAs and over 9,000 individual families.
The position of Director of Trust Administration is responsible for leading and supervising the management of trust administration consistent with applicable regulations, laws and industry standards for our two state-chartered retail trust companies; Charles Schwab Trust Company (“CSTC”) a Nevada state trust company, and Charles Schwab Trust Company of Delaware (“CSTCD”) a Delaware state trust company, while reporting to the Director-Chief Fiduciary Officer for Personal Trust Services.
In this role you will:
- Accountable for the overall leadership, governance, and execution of the Trust Administration function, including ownership of all policies, procedures, controls, and administrative operations.
- Provide strategic and operational oversight of multiple Trust Administration teams across geographic locations, ensuring consistent execution of fiduciary responsibilities, including pre- and post-acceptance reviews, annual account reviews, discretionary decision-making, governing document interpretation, and administration of trusts in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and governing instruments.
- Own the development, engagement, and retention of a high-performing team, with accountability for employee experience, professional development, succession planning, and workforce stability as reflected in engagement and attrition metrics.
- Ensure team members possess the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to meet fiduciary obligations through comprehensive training, coaching, and ongoing professional development programs.
- Demonstrate leadership presence across the organization through participation in business events, strategic offsites, employee engagement initiatives, and cross-functional activities that support organizational objectives.
- Establish team objectives, performance expectations, and accountability measures; oversee execution against goals and conduct performance and development discussions with direct reports to support organizational success.
- Lead the development and expansion of Ultra High Net Worth trust administration capabilities and partner with key stakeholders to design, implement, and enhance trust products and service offerings.
- Chair the Discretionary Distribution Committee, ensuring sound fiduciary decision-making, effective challenge, appropriate risk management, and comprehensive documentation of committee deliberations, oversight activities, and reporting obligations.
- Maintain accountability for the design, implementation, and effectiveness of departmental policies, procedures, controls, and governance practices to support compliance, risk management, and operational excellence.
- Serve as the primary representative for Trust Administration activities with senior leadership, preparing and delivering quarterly reporting on operational performance, risk matters, strategic initiatives, and key outcomes to Schwab leadership and governance committees.
- Partner with Compliance, Risk Management, Internal Audit, and other control functions to ensure regulatory, fiduciary, and operational requirements are met; serve as the accountable leader for responses to testing, monitoring, audit, and regulatory inquiries.
- Own the timely, accurate, and effective delivery of the department’s core responsibilities, including fiduciary administration, client experience, risk management, and issue escalation, ensuring concerns are identified, addressed, and elevated appropriately.
- Serve as site leader for the Delaware office, providing local leadership, fostering employee engagement, and promoting organizational culture and business objectives.
- Representing the organization at industry conferences, client-facing events, and trust-related forums, strengthening external relationships and enhancing market awareness of Trust Administration capabilities.
- Lead the evaluation, documentation, and continuous improvement of Trust Administration processes, driving scalability, efficiency, risk reduction, and an exceptional client experience across both full-trustee and directed-trustee service models.
- Act as a senior Personal Trust Services leader responsible for helping define business strategy, influence organizational direction, and execute strategic initiatives that advance fiduciary excellence, business growth, and operational effectiveness.
What you have
- 15+ years’ experience in personal trust.
- Bachelor’s degree or higher, JD preferred, or equivalent work experience.
- Strong knowledge of the principles of trust administration and practical experience in administering trusts governed by Delaware and Nevada law, a plus.
- Superior organizational skills and the ability to oversee multiple priorities without sacrificing quality or accuracy.
- Excellent interpersonal and communications skills and the ability to deal effectively with a variety of people.
- Highly motivated and a self-starter.
- Strong emotional intelligence/maturity
- Experienced in effectively assessing, selecting and developing talent for the firm; adept at providing balanced, direct and measurable feedback to employees. Experience managing multiple priorities and supervising distinct teams with varied strengths.
- Purpose driven leader who display confidence and courage in business and talent decisions, actions and communications with a shown ability to take decisive action when needed including championing ideas, position or dissent.
- Able to act decisively in making solid, informed judgment calls in response to both the technological and critical regulatory environment and the day-to-day business issues.
- Thrives on initiating, building and encouraging strong authentic relationships inside and outside the group; highly reciprocal; navigates and activates alignment across organizational silos.
- Ability to work well with a diverse range of partners and proactive, can-do attitude