Operations Associate- Futures
Job Title: Operations Associate
Location: Chicago (on-site)
Salary: $90k-$110k + bonus
Summary:
This is an excellent opportunity to join a hedge fund and support a growing trading business focused on futures, options, equities, and other derivative products. Working closely with portfolio managers, traders, brokers, and external counterparties, you will play a key role in overseeing the full trade lifecycle, including trade support, reconciliations, settlements, clearing, and exception management. The role offers significant exposure to front-office teams and is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys solving complex operational challenges, and is passionate about driving automation, process improvements, and scalable operational infrastructure to support the continued growth of the business.
In this role you will be responsible for:
- Experience supporting futures, options, equities, and/or derivative products throughout the trade lifecycle.
- Knowledge of trade reconciliations, settlements, expirations, corporate actions, and interactions with clearing brokers and counterparties.
- Ability to investigate and resolve breaks, support daily operational controls, and ensure accurate trade processing.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with an eye toward process improvement and operational efficiency.
- Exposure to technology-driven environments, automation initiatives, and workflow enhancements.
- Strong communication skills with experience partnering with traders, portfolio managers, and external market participants.
- High attention to detail, strong ownership mentality, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced investment management environment.
The ideal candidate should have the following qualifications and skills:
- 3+ years of experience in operations, middle office or trade support functions.
- Ability to perform T+0 trade reconciliations, investigate breaks, and resolve operational exceptions in a timely manner
- Experience interacting with clearing brokers, FCMs, exchanges, and external counterparties.
- Strong understanding of cash management, position reconciliation, and daily operational controls.
- Proven ability to partner directly with traders, portfolio managers, and other front-office stakeholders.
- Exposure to automation, workflow enhancements, or process improvement initiatives.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
- High attention to detail with the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Proficiency in Excel; exposure to SQL, Python, VBA, or other automation tools is highly desirable.
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