Reference Data Operations Analyst

Reference Data & Securities Operations Analyst

Location: Chicago

Position Summary

This role sits at the intersection of market data, product setup, and operational readiness. The analyst will ensure that core reference and static data used across trading, risk management, and downstream operations is accurate, complete, and fit for purpose. The position requires strong analytical skills, detailed knowledge of financial instruments, and the ability to collaborate across technical and business teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the accuracy and integrity of reference and static data supporting trading, valuation, risk, and reporting activities
• Analyze and interpret corporate action events and assess their impact on securities, positions, and analytics
• Partner with quantitative, risk, and finance teams to structure and model reference data for analytical and reporting use cases
• Set up and maintain a wide range of financial instruments, including (but not limited to):
  • Equities and fixed income products
  • Listed and OTC derivatives (options, forwards, swaps, CDS)
  • Complex and structured instruments such as digital, contingent, and multi-underlying products
• Act as a subject‑matter resource for internal data domains such as account hierarchies, broker records, and fee or charge configurations
• Coordinate with external data providers to source, validate, and remediate missing or incorrect data
• Work closely with technology teams to enhance workflows, automate recurring processes, and improve data controls
• Investigate and resolve inquiries from trading and front‑office teams related to positions, valuations, or P&L discrepancies
• Liaise with third‑party service providers supporting security master and corporate action processing

Skills & Competencies

• Highly self‑directed with a strong sense of ownership and accountability
• Demonstrated curiosity and initiative in identifying process improvements and data enhancements
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage both routine production tasks and time‑sensitive requests
• Clear and concise communicator, capable of coordinating hand‑offs and escalations across global teams
• Enjoys deep analysis and root‑cause investigation of complex data issues
• Comfortable collaborating with stakeholders across trading, risk, compliance, technology, and operations functions

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, or a related discipline
• At least 3 years of hands‑on experience working with financial reference or static data

Required Experience

• Ongoing maintenance of security master data across multiple asset classes
• Practical experience supporting equities, fixed income securities, options, interest rate swaps, and credit derivatives
• Hands‑on work resolving data exceptions, breaks, and reconciliation issues
• Prior use of ticketing or issue‑tracking tools (e.g., JIRA or equivalent)

Technical & Analytical Skills

• Advanced Excel proficiency applied to financialdatasets, including:
  • Lookup functions, conditional logic, text searches, and pivot tables
  • Structuring and analyzing large, multi‑source datasets
• Working knowledge of SQL for querying large databases, including joins, filtering, sorting, and aggregation
• Strong proficiency with financial market data platforms (e.g.,Bloomberg):
  • Researching instrument characteristics and corporate actions
  • Extracting data into spreadsheets and supporting semi‑automated workflows
  • Understanding data delivery mechanisms used to support security setup processes