Digital Asset Portfolio Enablement & Governance Lead - Executive Director

Digital Assets Strategy Enablement & Governance Lead – Executive Director

Wealth Management Platforms
Purchase, NY

The role of the Executive Director on the Platforms Digital Assets team will serve as the orchestration and governance lead to drive delivery of the firm’s digital asset initiatives across technology, product, risk, compliance, legal, operations, and the field. Reporting into the business and product organization, this role is designed for a leader who can translate strategy into execution – establishing the right forums, decisioning, controls, and operating cadence – while actively unblocking teams and accelerating outcomes.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments and individuals from more than 1,200 offices in 43 countries.

Morgan Stanley is committed to helping its employees build meaningful careers and we strive to be a place for people to learn, achieve and grow.

Department Overview

In the Wealth Management division, we help people, businesses and institutions build, preserve, and manage wealth so they can pursue their financial goals

Wealth Management (WM) Platforms manages industry-leading platforms, across all WM channels and client segments, to provide a unified digital experience, unlock growth, and deliver efficiencies for Advisors, Clients, and Institutions. WM Platforms consists of nine sub-teams including: Field Experience & Platforms, Digital Client Experience & Platforms, Workplace Platforms, Automation & Workflow Solutions, Digital Trading & Investing, UX Design & Research, Strategy & Execution. Business Control & Support, and the Chief Operating Office.

What you’ll do in the role:

Orchestrate Delivery Across Digital Asset Portfolio:

• Lead cross-functional execution for multiple digital asset workstreams, e.g., custody and wallet infrastructure, client experience, etc., ensuring teams move from concept to production

• Translate executive priorities into a structured roadmap with clear milestones, dependencies, and measurable outcomes

• Proactively identify and resolve blockers across technology, vendors, data, security, risk sign-offs, and operating model readiness

Support Fit-for-Purpose Governance that Enables Speed:

• Design and provide oversight for governance forums (SteerCo, architecture review, risk/compliance, etc.) that are decision-oriented with clear agendas, owners, and outcomes

• Define the operating model for digital assets in Platforms, including roles/responsibilities, RACI, intake/prioritization, escalation paths, and decisioning

• Ensure governance is lightweight but rigorous, enabling delivery while meeting control expectations

Embed Risk, Regulatory, and Control-by-Design:

• Partner with Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Controls to ensure initiatives are designed to meet evolving regulatory requirements and internal policies

• Own the traceability of key decisions, approvals, and control artifacts without creating bureaucracy

Organizational Enablement: Field and Home Office Training, Curriculum, and Presentations

• Support creation of advisor-ready and home office curriculum (modular content, job aids, playbooks, FAQs, scenario-based learning) covering digital asset fundamentals, firm-approved use cases / products, client suitability considerations, risk disclosures, operational flows, and what can / cannot be said

• Develop and maintain a field communications cadence tied to launches and policy updates, e.g., quarterly enablement series, launch toolkits, “what changed” updates

• Deliver live and virtual presentations to the field (regional meetings, advisor townhalls, leader forums) translating complex topics into practical, client-relevant narratives

• Equip field leadership with presentations and speaking points, and coach internal champions to scale delivery

• Create mechanisms to capture field feedback and feed insights back into product, platforms, and governance prioritization

Stakeholder Engagement & Leadership:

• Partner with product leads and platform engineering to ensure initiatives meet business needs and are scalable, secure, and supportable

• Coordinate with Wealth business stakeholders (advisors, client service, operations, finance) to ensure readiness for launch, training, and adoption

• Lead through influence and collaboration – bringing teams