Settlements Associate

Phyton Talent Advisors; City of White Plains (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Phyton Talent Advisors is seeking an experienced FX settlements specialist in New York to own end-to-end settlement, payment processing, and reconciliation of spot FX, forwards, swaps, and NDFs. You will handle trade confirmations, cash movements, and exception management within a fast-paced operations team.

Responsibilities include monitoring settlement queues, producing management reporting, and coordinating with Front Office, Treasury, and external counterparties to resolve breaks and ensure

Qualifications

• Experience in Foreign Exchange operations, settlements, or middle office functions within financial institutions.
• Strong understanding of FX trade lifecycle: capture, confirmations, settlements, and payments.
• Proficiency with Excel and financial systems for reconciliation and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Validate, process, and settle FX transactions including Spot FX, forwards, swaps, NDFs, and related cash flows.
• Manage daily settlement activities: payments, netting, CLS-eligible settlement, non-CLS payments, maturities, value date processing.
• Monitor booking, confirmations, settlement queues, payment queues, and exceptions; investigate discrepancies and close breaks.
• Reconcile FX activity across internal systems and counterparties to ensure accurate books and records.
• Partner with Front Office, Middle Office, Treasury, Finance, Technology, Compliance, and external counterparties to resolve failed settlements and reduce breaks.
• Maintain transaction records and support audit, regulatory, controls testing, and management reporting.

Skills

FX settlements

Trade lifecycle

Excel

Communication

Reconciliation

Tools

SWIFT

CLS

Bloomberg

Murex

Job description

Own the end-to-end settlement, payment processing, exception management, and reconciliation of Foreign Exchange transactions, with a primary focus on Spot FX, FX Forwards, FX Swaps, NDFs, NDS, and related cash movements. In this role, you’ll sit at the center of the Derivative Operations team, ensuring trades, settlement instructions, payments, confirmations, and cash breaks are processed accurately, on time, and in line with internal controls, market deadlines, regulatory expectations, and counterparty requirements.

What you’ll do

• Validate, process, and settle Foreign Exchange transactions, including Spot FX, FX Forwards, FX Swaps, NDFs, NDS, and related FX cash flows.
• Manage daily settlement activities, including payment release, receipt monitoring, netting, CLS-eligible settlement, non-CLS payments, maturities, and value date processing.
• Monitor trade bookings, confirmations, settlement queues, payment queues, and exception reports; investigate discrepancies and drive timely break resolution through to closure.
• Reconcile FX activity and related cash movements across internal systems, correspondent banks, custodians, brokers, clearing utilities, and counterparties to ensure books and records remain accurate.
• Partner closely with Front Office, Middle Office, Treasury, Finance, Technology, Compliance, and external counterparties to resolve failed settlements, reduce recurring breaks, and support smooth trade lifecycle management.
• Maintain accurate transaction records and support audit, regulatory, controls testing, and management reporting requirements related to FX settlements and payment processing.
• Monitor CLS and non-CLS settlement activity, investigate unmatched trades or payment issues, and coordinate timely resolution before market and currency cut-off deadlines.
• Produce daily and weekly reporting for management and stakeholders, including clear commentary on failed settlements, aged breaks, high-risk exposures, and delayed payments.
• Investigate settlement fails, including fail-to-receive and fail-to-pay items, payment rejections, cash breaks, and claims, and provide Front Office partners with comprehensive analysis to support decision-making.
• Escalate disputed claims, high-risk exposures, unresolved settlement issues, and potential payment delays to the Front Office and Operations management for further review and appropriate next steps.
• Identify opportunities to improve FX settlement workflows, strengthen operational controls, reduce manual intervention, enhance straight-through processing, and support scalability across systems and processes.

Qualifications and Skills

• Experience in Foreign Exchange operations, settlements, trade support, treasury operations, or middle office functions, preferably within an investment bank, broker-dealer, asset manager, or financial institution.
• Strong understanding of the FX trade lifecycle, including trade capture, confirmations, settlements, payment processing, netting, value dates, maturities, amendments, and cancellations.
• Familiarity with industry utilities, messaging, and platforms such as SWIFT, CLS, Bloomberg, FXall, 360T, Alert, Misys/Finastra, Murex, and correspondent banking systems.
• Strong control mindset with the ability to identify settlement risk, elevate issues appropriately, and follow through on exception resolution.
• Detail-oriented and deadline-driven, with the ability to manage high-volume settlement activity, currency cut-offs, and competing priorities in a fast-paced trading environment.
• Analytical, proactive problem-solver with strong communication skills across Operations, Front Office, Middle Office, Treasury, Technology, and external counterparties.
• Proficiency in Excel and comfort working across financial systems, reconciliation tools, payment platforms, and reporting applications.
• Curiosity to expand your knowledge across multiple asset classes.