Commercial Director

Role Summary:

The Commercial Director is a senior leadership position within Terracegate, responsible for defining and executing the firm's Client service strategy across its Global Family office practice. The role carries full accountability for service delivery quality, client satisfaction, team performance, and operational excellence across all geographies.

The incumbent will serve as a key member of Terracegate's senior leadership team, partnering closely with the CEO, COO, and Business Development to shape the firm's growth agenda, client proposition, and internal capabilities. They will be the guardian of the client experience from initial onboarding through to the day-to-day delivery of financial reporting, NAV calculations, and bespoke family office advisory support.

The successful candidate will bring an entrepreneurial mindset, demonstrating the ability to build, scale, and continuously improve functions, proactively identify opportunities, and operate effectively in a high-growth, evolving environment.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Strategic Leadership & Function Ownership

• Define and own the multi-year strategy for the Client & Delivery Services function, aligned to Terracegate's broader business objectives and growth ambitions.
• Represent the function at the senior leadership level, contributing to firm-wide strategic decisions, budget cycles, and board-level reporting.
• Lead organisational design for the function, including headcount planning, geographic expansion, role architecture, and succession planning.
• Champion a client-first culture across the business, embedding service excellence as a core value at all levels of the organisation.
• Drive the firm's continuous transformation agenda identifying and delivering structural improvements to how Terracegate serves its global family office clients.
• Act as an entrepreneurial leader within the business, identifying new opportunities, challenging existing ways of working, and driving initiatives that support Terracegate's growth, scalability, and competitive positioning.

2. Client Relationship Management — Family Office Focus

• Serve as the senior relationship owner for Terracegate's most strategic and complex family office mandates, engaging at Principal, CIO, and Family Office Director level.
• Build deep, trust-based relationships with clients across global jurisdictions, acting as a trusted partner and adviser across their entire financial reporting and operational needs.
• Lead client onboarding at a governance level, ensuring seamless transitions, bespoke service design, and consistent delivery against agreed service parameters.
• Personally manage critical escalations, service recovery situations, and at-risk client relationships, acting decisively to protect and enhance client satisfaction and retention.
• Conduct regular executive-level client reviews, providing strategic insight and demonstrating Terracegate's value beyond the transactional.
• Strong cultural intelligence and communication agility, with the ability to build trusted relationships with clients across diverse markets, backgrounds, and business cultures.
• Experience working with or for international fund managers, institutional clients, or global financial services firms, with an understanding of the nuances of cross-border client servicing and delivery.

3. Financial Reporting Oversight & Quality Assurance

• Maintain ultimate accountability for the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of all financial reporting delivered to clients.
• Ensure adherence to applicable accounting standards, regulatory requirements, and Terracegate's internal policies and quality frameworks.
• Provide senior review and sign-off on complex or high-sensitivity client deliverables, with particular attention to consolidated family office reporting.
• Stay current with evolving accounting standards and regulatory changes relevant to global family offices, ensuring the function adapts proactively.
• Oversee the resolution of complex financial discrepancies, engaging with clients and internal stakeholders to communicate clearly and resolve issues efficiently.

4. People Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, inspire, and develop a high-performing client services team, fostering a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Define and own the talent strategy for the function including hiring, onboarding, performance management, career development, and retention.
• Build a leadership pipeline within the team, identifying and developing future managers and senior contributors.
• Set clear performance expectations and conduct regular, structured reviews with direct reports, linking individual goals to team and firm-level outcomes.
• Stay current with industry trends and best practices in fund accounting, sharing knowledge and insights with the team.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning and professional growth within the team.
• Partner with HR on capability frameworks, learning & development programmes, and employer brand initiatives relevant to the function.
• Cultivate a diverse, inclusive, and psychologically safe team environment in which individuals are empowered to grow and contribute at their best.

6. Process Improvement, Automation & Technology

• Own the process improvement roadmap for the function, identifying opportunities to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and scalability across delivery operations.
• Lead or sponsor automation and technology adoption initiatives that reduce manual effort and increase the reliability of client deliverables.
• Collaborate with technology and operations teams to define system requirements, test solutions, and embed new tools within client delivery workflows.
• Implement and continuously strengthen internal controls, ensuring compliance with industry regulations and best practices relevant to family office services.
• Establish and track operational metrics that provide visibility into process health and create a foundation for data-driven decision-making.

7. Commercial Accountability

• Manage the function's operating budget, ensuring cost discipline while maintaining the investment required to deliver best-in-class service.
• Monitor and report on financial performance indicators tied to service delivery including client retention rates, delivery accuracy, and NPS.
• Identify commercial opportunities within the existing client base, working with Business Development to scope and price expanded service offerings.
• Contribute to revenue protection strategies ensuring service quality and responsiveness are consistently strong enough to underpin client renewals and referrals.
• Demonstrate commercial and entrepreneurial thinking by identifying opportunities to enhance client value, improve service offerings, increase operational leverage, and contribute to the firm's long-term growth objectives.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• 10-15 years of progressive experience in client services, fund administration, or family office operations, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership or Head-of-function role.
• Demonstrable experience managing complex, multi-jurisdictional relationships with ultra-high-net-worth clients or family offices at a principal level.
• Strong understanding of family office financial reporting, NAV calculations, consolidated reporting, and the broader ecosystem of family office advisory services.
• Proven track record of building, scaling, and leading high-performing client services teams in a demanding, accuracy-critical environment.
• Experience operating in a global or cross-cultural context, with sensitivity to the diverse needs of international family office clients.
• Resilient and decisive under pressure, with excellent judgement in complex or ambiguous situations.
• Strong communicator across all formats and levels from concise board-level reporting to detailed operational debriefs with the team.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a proven ability to build, scale, and improve teams, processes, and client service functions within a growing business environment.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity, taking ownership beyond defined responsibilities, and driving initiatives from concept through execution.