Job Description

Our client, Farmers and Merchants Trust Company, a high-touch corporate trust and investment management company, has retained us to identify a VP, Head of Finance & Operations, to join their organization. This individual will report to the incoming Chief Financial Officer and will serve as a critical leader responsible for overseeing the company’s financial operations, back-office infrastructure, and regulatory environment.

About Farmers and Merchants Trust Company

Farmers and Merchants Trust Company (FMTC) is a high-touch corporate trust and investment management company that has operated in California since 1920. FMTC has offices from Santa Barbara to Newport Beach and prides its operations on maintaining its premium service levels to its clients. The Company is run by the founding Walker family, which continue to prove their dedication to the conservative business practices that have stood the test of time.

Their website is

About the role

This role is a key hire as the organization evolves its leadership structure and builds out a more robust finance and operations function under a new Chief Financial Officer.

The Head of Operations is the lead operations officer supervising a team of individuals that runs one of four main pillars within the Company. We’re looking for strategic leadership, a hands-on VP, Head of Operations, to lead FMTC operations through our next stage of growth. This position encompasses overseeing all client transactions, settlement of investments, financial accounting, technology stack, fulfilling compliance requirements, and serving as key partner with the other pillars (Finance, Trust Administration, and Investments) within the Company.

The VP, Head of Finance & Operations will be responsible for leading the firm’s back-office infrastructure, including financial operations, trust operations support, and regulatory processes. The role is highly operational in nature and requires a leader who is comfortable being hands-on, managing teams, and ensuring accuracy, control, and efficiency across all processes.

This individual will partner closely with the CFO and executive leadership, with the opportunity to contribute to financial analysis and strategic initiatives over time, while maintaining primary ownership of operational execution.

The following information will provide more insight. After reviewing the details below our hope is that you may know someone who would be interested in this highly visible role. Feel free to distribute this document to others.

If you have any questions or require further information, please contact Adam Kaufman at 818.216.7684 or adamkaufman@kaufmansearch.com.

Key Responsibilities:

Finance Responsibilities

• Manager of Finance and Operations Departments;
• Lead strategic initiatives in-line with the FMTC strategic plan;
• Problem solve for operational inefficiencies;
• Review daily and monthly bank reconciliations;
• Approver for daily wire verification up to approved limit;
• Assist as second verification on transactions as necessary;
• Verify fee implementation on client accounts;
• Responsible for Department’s compliance requirements with regulatory agencies;
• Responsible for preparation of annual budgets for Finance and Operations Departments.

Data Analytics Responsibilities

• Drive enterprise data analytics and reporting roadmap, aligning initiatives with company-wide strategy and objectives
• Provide strategic and operational insights backed by data to functional teams across the company
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand and prioritize data and reporting needs (e.g., business KPIs, client segmentations, financial reporting, forecasting)
• Create data analysis reports, ensuring high-quality and relevant insights
• Generate reports and dashboards to analyze/track business performance and support business decisions
• Ensure enterprise data quality through automated data audits and other mechanisms, following business requirements
• Maintain clear and comprehensive documentation of data standards (e.g., sources, models, pipelines, etc.)
• Follow best practices in data analytics/engineering, including version control, security, and change management procedures
• Serve as a voting member of the Trust Administrative Committee (TAC), and other committees as assigned;
• Provide recommendations to management regarding changes to transaction process and procedures;
• Provide technical expertise in the areas of trust operations, technology, and management of complex transactions;
• Responsible for Operation Department Policies and Procedures;
• Work closely with the Operations, Investment, Trust Administration, and Real Estate staff, and Executive Management to administer transactions within client accounts;
• Keep current on all laws and regulations related to the administration of trust accounts;
• Special project as needed.

Technology Responsibilities

• Serve as the Information Security Officer for the Company;
• Create and maintain the Information Security policy and program;
• Create and maintain the Information Security Incident Response Plan;
• Responsible for the Acceptable Use policy agreement, communications control standards, electronic mail standard, media storage and disposal standard, and record retention standard;
• Point of contact regarding service issues, complex transactions, and errors between FMTC and software (currently Trust Desk, PDS, and Sage);
• Responsible for analyzing and making recommendations on the tech-stack within FMTC that services the Finance and Operations Departments;
• Maintain awareness of emerging products and services and new developments in the industry;
• Acquire and apply knowledge of industry products, services, and processes in handling complex accounts (e.g. irrevocable, IRA, distributing trusts, trust agency, etc.).

Manager Responsibilities

• Responsible for Department’s timecards, overtime, and ADP requirements;
• Responsible for mid-year and annual performance reviews of the Departments’ employees;
• Create Key Performance Index scorecards for Departments and report to Management on a quarterly basis;
• Create alignment with corporate goals;
• Act as educator and mentor to Departments employees on continuing education, operational efficiencies, and improvement to existing processes;
• Fulfill educational credits as necessary to stay in compliance with regulatory requirements.

Qualifications:

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• 5+ years work experience as a manager of a team
• Proficient knowledge of FIS, SEI, Innovest or similar accounting platform;
• Proficient in trust compliance rules and regulations;
• Proficient in banking regulations O and W;
• Minimum 3+ year work experience in data-related roles
• Demonstrated proficiency in a data analytics tooling (e.g., SQL, DBT, Python, Tableau, Excel)
• Ability to analyze structured/unstructured data and derive actionable insights
• Experience managing end-to-end analytics projects
• Ability to synthesize and present data insights in a way that drives decision-making
• Deep experience working with and joining disparate data sources
• Preferred - experience in applying advanced analytical approaches to deliver on key business objectives (e.g., forecasting, client segmentations, etc.)
• Preferred - data analytics or reporting-related experience with Databricks, Salesforce, Addepar, and/or Workday
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills
• Comfort with ambiguity and proven ownership mindset
• Effective communication, both orally and in writing
• Strong attention to detail with a high degree of accuracy and consistency
• Ability to lead projects end-to-end, in a structured way, and with minimal supervision
• High standards of professionalism and confidentiality
• Solid understanding of the role of fiduciaries and delivery of trust services;
• Ability to be effective under pressure;
• Advanced ability to prioritize and multi-task;
• Ability to professionally interact with all levels of employees and clients;
• Effectively work independently as required.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor in Finance or Accounting required; MBA/CPA a plus.
• 10+ years working experience in trust and estate administration and planning preferred (Executive Management may make exceptions, if needed);
• Additional certifications is a plus.

About Kaufman Search: For more than 35 years we have been specializing in the placement of Accounting, Finance, Tax and Human Resources professionals in Southern California. Our expertise, contacts, and reputation combine to help companies identify, attract, and acquire the most talented professionals. Thank you. For more details please visit . Thank you.

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