Investment Grade Corporate Bond Trader

NM Investment Management Co; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company seeks a Corporate Bond Trader for its Investment Grade Credit Trading desk in Milwaukee. You will work with Portfolio Management and Credit Research to manage approximately $75 billion in IG credit investments, focusing on best execution and efficient decision-making.

You report to the Head of IG Credit Trading. The role requires solid fixed income knowledge, trading experience, and strong communication skills.

Qualifications

• Solid understanding of fixed income markets and corporate bond trading.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the investment dialogue and decision‑making processes for corporate bond portfolios.
• Develop and maintain portfolio objectives and benchmark-relative weights across industries and issuers.
• Execute IG corporate bond trades, and equity/ETF trades as needed.
• Synthesize data from trading platforms, pricing analytics, and market information to form a market view.
• Translate analysis into actionable execution plans balancing price, size, timing, and market impact.

Skills

Fixed income markets

Corporate bond trading

Trading discipline

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Ethics and integrity

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree pursuing / CFA a plus

Tools

Bloomberg Terminal

MarketAxess

Tradeweb

Python

SQL

Copilot

Job description

Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company, located in Milwaukee, WI, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.Our firm manages almost $300 billion of insurance, annuity, and pension fund assets. Our goal is to achieve superior and sustainable long-term performance through a disciplined investment process and an experienced staff. At Northwestern Mutual, the Public Investments team manages approximately $135 billion in fixed income securities and derivatives for the company’s General Account and related entities.

About the Job:

Our Public Investment team seeks a Corporate Bond Trader for its Investment Grade (IG) Credit Trading desk. Alongside the Portfolio Management and Credit Research teams, the IG Credit Trading team helps oversee $75 billion of cash and investment grade credit investments across a variety of client portfolios. The successful candidate will bring experience, eagerness, and enthusiasm to the role, continually seeking new ways to measure and achieve best execution while helping improve our capabilities and speed to decision-making. He or she will report to the Head of IG Credit Trading.

What You’ll Do:

• Contribute to the investment dialogue and investment decision-making processes governing corporate bond portfolios
• develop and maintain command of portfolio objectives and composition including benchmark-relative weights across industries, issuers, capital structure, and tenor Distill and proactively convey market information to portfolio managers and research analysts, and to other internal constituencies as needed / relevant Execute IG Corporate bond trades, as well as equity and ETF trades as needed
• cultivate strong professional relationships with trading counterparties and the broker‑dealer community at large Synthesize data from multiple trading platforms, dealer runs and axes, and pricing and liquidity analytics to form a cohesive market view
• translate that analysis into a clear, actionable execution plan that balances price, size, timing, and market impact Develop and refine decision‑support frameworks
• help advance efficiencies in idea generation, and trade analysis and execution
• continually seek opportunities to incorporate technology / AI, and financial markets products innovation into our process A focus on risk‑adjusted return and relative value is essential as portfolios are managed for total return against industry benchmarks Bring a growth mindset and a willingness to help wherever needed
• take on new and evolving responsibilities across the desk as priorities shift, in support of positioning the team for success

What Experience You’ll Bring:

• Solid understanding of fixed income markets and corporate bond trading, as would be consistent with 5-10yrs of experience Passion for financial markets, and a strong interest in trading Bachelor’s degree
• progress towards a Master’s degree and/or CFA a plus Experience with financial modeling and, at a minimum, a basic understanding of how AI and other technical advances are reshaping institutional investing and trading
• proficiency in Python, SQL, Copilot a plus Familiarity with Bloomberg, and electronic trading platforms such as MarketAxess and Tradeweb Works well independently while promoting and contributing to a strong team dynamic Attentive to detail, with excellent oral and written communication skills Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to navigate complex situations involving multiple stakeholders Unassailable ethics and integrity; trustworthy, reliable, creative, and motivated

Compensation Range:

We believe in fairness and transparency. It’s why we share the salary range for most of our roles. However, final salaries are based on a number of factors, including the skills and experience of the candidate; the current market; location of the candidate; and other factors uncovered in the hiring process. The standard pay structure is listed. Grow your career with a best‑in‑class company that puts our clients' interests at the center of all we do.

Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds. We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.

What started in Milwaukee, WI has grown into 7,000+ home office professionals split across 3 campuses: New York City, Franklin and downtown Milwaukee (HQ) - each one bringing with it its own unique talent and culture.

In a company with such a long and storied history, this may be the most exciting and important time to be part of Northwestern Mutual as we are growing our digital and tech capabilities and are always on the lookout for bright, tech‑savvy candidates.

We believe relationships are built on trust. That our lives and our work matter. These beliefs launched our company over 160 years ago. Today, they're just a few of the reasons why people choose to build careers at Northwestern Mutual.

Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds. We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.