Front Office Market Risk

Barclay Simpson; New York (NY); On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Barclay Simpson is recruiting a Front Office Risk Manager to work alongside a mortgage trading team in New York. This business-facing role focuses on how risk is taken, monitored, and controlled within a mortgage-backed securities trading environment.

The successful candidate will have strong U.S. Agency MBS knowledge, experience with rate and prepayment risks, and the ability to challenge trading activity with clear, credible judgment in a fast-moving market.

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of U.S. Agency mortgage-backed securities.
• Experience assessing rates, spread, convexity, and prepayment risk.
• Ability to provide credible challenge to trading activity.
• Experience in a front-office risk or desk-aligned risk role.
• Excellent communication with senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary business-side risk contact for mortgage-backed securities trading.
• Review portfolio exposures and explain risk drivers and market sensitivity.
• Assess exposure to rates, spreads, curve changes, and prepayment risks.
• Monitor financing, liquidity, balance sheet usage, and repo activity.
• Provide risk oversight of pools and structured mortgage products.
• Escalate issues in trade lifecycle and governance forums.
• Produce forward-looking risk views based on market conditions.
• Review proposed trades and ensure risks are understood before approval.
• Collaborate with control partners on governance and limit reviews.

Skills

US Agency MBS

Risk mgmt

Stakeholder comms

Market risk

Trading desk liaison

Job description

Front Office Risk Manager – Mortgage Products

A leading financial markets business is looking to hire a Front Office Risk Manager to work alongside a specialist mortgage trading team.

This is a business-facing risk role focused on how risk is taken, monitored, and controlled within a mortgage-backed securities trading environment. The position requires strong product knowledge, sound market judgment, and the ability to provide credible challenge to trading activity.

The role will involve close interaction with traders, finance, operations, and independent risk teams, ensuring that exposures are clearly understood and that risk-taking remains disciplined across changing market conditions.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary business-side risk contact for mortgage-backed securities trading activity.
• Review portfolio exposures and help explain the main drivers of risk, performance, and market sensitivity.
• Assess exposure to rates, spread movements, curve changes, volatility, and prepayment-related risks.
• Monitor the impact of financing, roll economics, repo activity, and balance sheet usage on trading positions.
• Evaluate liquidity, crowding, concentration, and exit considerations when reviewing risk appetite and position size.
• Provide oversight of pools and structured mortgage products, including relative value, premium risk, and embedded optionality.
• Identify issues linked to trade lifecycle, settlement, counterparties, and operational control, escalating where appropriate.
• Produce forward-looking risk views based on market conditions, technical factors, stress events, and downside scenarios.
• Review proposed trades and structures, ensuring risks are properly understood before positions are increased or approved.
• Work with control partners to support governance forums, limit reviews, and risk discussions.

Requirements

• Strong knowledge of U.S. Agency mortgage-backed securities or closely related securitized products.
• Familiarity with instruments such as forward-settling mortgage pools, roll trades, specified collateral, and structured Agency products.
• Experience assessing rates, spread, basis, convexity, volatility, or prepayment risk.
• Understanding of repo financing, liquidity, leverage, balance sheet, and funding considerations in a trading context.
• Ability to look beyond standard risk measures and apply scenario-based judgment.
• Prior experience in a trading, portfolio management, front-office risk, or desk-aligned risk role.
• Confidence to question assumptions and influence decisions in a constructive, commercially aware manner.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to present complex exposures clearly to senior stakeholders.

Candidate profile

This opportunity would suit someone who has worked close to a mortgage, rates, fixed income, or securitized products trading desk and understands how market risk, liquidity, and financing interact in practice.

The successful candidate is likely to be technically strong, pragmatic, and comfortable operating in a fast-moving trading environment where clear judgment and timely escalation are essential.