Trading Associate

Bridgewater Associates, LLC; Westport (CT); On-site; USD 165,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Bridgewater Associates in Westport, CT seeks a Trading Associate to execute trades and develop insights for more informed decisions. You will collaborate with strategists and technologists to enhance our execution processes and implement our systematic rules.

The role emphasizes analytical thinking, strong communication, and comfort with nontraditional hours to cover Asia/Europe markets. A BA/BS is expected, with on-site work in CT or willingness to relocate.

Qualifications

• BA/BS or on track to graduate in 2025-2026 from an accredited undergrad.
• Interest in financial markets and game theory is a plus.
• Candidates must be on-site in Westport, CT or willing to relocate per business needs.

Responsibilities

• Execute Bridgewater's desired exposures using systematic, proprietary processes.
• Contribute to understanding of market microstructure, costs, participants, and products.
• Collaborate with technologists and researchers to build or overhaul investment implementation systems and strategies.
• Drive initiatives to improve quality, reliability, and efficiency of owned systems.
• Maintain strong relationships with liquidity providers and external vendors.
• Work with analytics to oversee transaction costs and execution outcomes.
• Some engineering work to evolve strategies and system logic may be required.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Thrives in fast-paced environment

Willing to work nontraditional hours

Interest in financial markets

Critical thinking

Automation mindset

Ownership

Education

BA/BS in progress

Job description

About Bridgewater

Bridgewater Associates is a premier asset management firm, focused on delivering unique insight and partnership for the most sophisticated global institutional investors.

Our investment process is driven by a tireless pursuit to understand how the world's markets and economies work — using cutting-edge technology to validate and execute on timeless and universal investment principles.

Founded in 1975, we are a community of independent thinkers who share a commitment to excellence. By fostering a culture of openness, transparency, and inclusion, we strive to unlock the most complex questions in investment strategy, management, and corporate culture.

Explore more information about Bridgewater on our website here.

Our Culture

Our culture is anchored in excellence, meaning constant improvement, and it is deeply tied to our mission. Because markets are objective, competitive, and getting smarter everyday, we need to keep rapidly improving to have any chance of beating them. Truth is our most essential tool for engaging with the markets and constantly improving because once you know what's true about your problems and opportunities, you can determine how to get better. Valuing truth means being transparent about your decision-making and mistakes, giving and receiving feedback with humility, and fighting for the best answers over hierarchy, ego, or self-interest. Operating this way is hard - it's only possible because we build meaning in our work and relationships. This meaning comes from the audacity of the mission, and the joy of working alongside people who make you a better version of yourself. The culture, like Bridgewater itself, is always evolving. In 1997 our founder Ray Dalio wrote down his lessons, starting with a Philosophy Statement which remains our foundation. This later evolved into a set of 300+ Principles. In 2022, when Ray transitioned the company, we re-underwrote several of those principles and evolved others, with a specific focus on Meritocracy. Today the culture sits, alongside our people, as our most important edge. When we get it right, it's the engine that powers everything else.

Explore more information about Bridgewater's culture on our website here.

About the Investment Implementation Department

The Investment Implementation teams are responsible for accuracy, reliability, and efficiency across signal generation, portfolio construction, and trading execution. The Signals team is responsible for deeply understanding the data that flows from the outside world into Bridgewater's trading systems. Portfolio Generation is responsible for translating our market view into optimal portfolios, while focusing on risk and diversification. Trading Execution is responsible for implementing BW's views of the world, while minimizing transaction costs and information leakage. Collectively, these teams are responsible for the day-to-day of Bridgewater's front office.

About the Trading Execution Team

We are responsible for implementing the investment views of the world's largest hedge fund while minimizing transaction costs and information leakage. We do this by constantly deepening our understanding of liquidity and market dynamics to develop systematic, non-discretionary trade execution strategies.

About Your Role

As a Trading Associate, you will execute trades, generate and evaluate ideas for how to make better trading decisions, and collaborate with strategists and technologists to constantly improve our processes, focusing on improving the implementation of our logic or increasing efficiency.

• Through extensive on-desk formal training and on-the-job informal instruction, TAs become well-versed in Bridgewater's trade execution strategies, the logic used to implement our strategies, and the production systems used to facilitate our logic.
• Once trained, our TAs carry out the core responsibilities of our department, including implementing our desired exposures, developing a distinct view of the outside world through close interaction with the markets, and driving the evolution of our execution strategy.
• Traders at BW do not have discretion in their trading and do not "manage a book" - instead, traders execute our desired exposures using a systematic set of rules developed by our team and strive to improve those rules by developing a world-class understanding of markets.
• This team is based in CT and trades global markets. Trading shifts may vary, but typical shifts include coverage during Asian, European, or New York market hours.
• A deep sense of intellectual curiosity will be needed to fuel your ability to deepen our understanding of ever-changing market structure and to drive the evolution of our systematic process.

Interested in learning more about working at Bridgewater? Hear about the experiences of some our employees here.

You will drive the following responsibilities:

• Executing Bridgewater's desired exposures according to our systematic, proprietary processes
• Contributing to Bridgewater's understanding of market microstructure, transaction costs, market participants, and products in the markets
• Working with technologists and researchers to construct new investment implementation systems and execution strategies or overhaul old ones
• Driving initiatives to improve the quality, reliability, and efficiency of the systems you own
• Developing and maintaining strong relationships with our liquidity providers and external vendors
• Work together with our analytics team to oversee our transaction costs and execution outcomes
• Traders may perform some engineering work to evolve our strategies and system logic and to conduct analysis.

You will be a click for the role if you:

• Are analytical, highly logical, and structured in your thinking
• Have excellent communication skills and can interact with counterparties and colleagues clearly and effectively
• Thrive in a fast-paced environment
• Are comfortable working nontraditional hours to implement our trades in Asia and European markets, and are excited about having a unique position at the nucleus of BW's trading activity through close interaction with the markets
• Are deeply interested in understanding financial markets, market structure, and game theory
• Can think critically about outcomes and transform perceptions into strategic changes
• Have a knack for automation and naturally seek ways to improve processes
• Hold a high degree of personal responsibility and ownership in everything you do

In addition, to succeed within our unique culture and work environment, individuals must demonstrate humility, innate curiosity, and openness to new ideas and approaches. Candidates must be driven, confident, and goal-oriented. All Bridgewater employees are expected to be honest, exceptionally direct, and eager to provide and receive objective feedback. Our employees constantly strive for self-improvement through feedback and self-reflection and are committed to the pursuit of excellence.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Possess a BA/BS (or are on track to graduate in 2025-2026), with a quality academic record, from an accredited undergraduate institution

Physical Requirements:

This is a fully on-site role (5 days/week), and this employee will work from our office in Westport, CT.

Why Choose Bridgewater?

It takes all types to make Bridgewater great. We seek a diverse group of innovative thinkers and push them to engage in rigorous and thoughtful inquiry. We develop people through an honest examination of their abilities and performance, enabling personal growth and professional development. We strive to provide you opportunities that will challenge you and unlock your potential.

In this role, you will grow with us by:

• Undergoing a training program of structured classes and on-the-job apprenticeship
• Taking ownership of increasingly complex systems and processes
• Taking on oversight and mentorship responsibilities to grow talent as you gain experience
• Opportunities to grow your career across Bridgewater depending on your strengths, weaknesses, and experience

Compensation Band:

The wage range for this role is $165,000 - $190,000 inclusive of base salary and discretionary target bonus. The expected base salary for this role is between 70%-80% of this wage range.

One of our core priorities at Bridgewater is to enable our employees to build a great life and career, and we believe our benefits are an important extension of that philosophy. As such, currently Bridgewater offers a competitive suite of benefits. Explore more information about Bridgewater's benefits on our website here.

Bridgewater reserves the right to change its current benefits program at any time, in a manner that is consistent with applicable federal and state regulations.

This job description is not a contract and confers no contractual rights, privileges, or benefits on any applicant or potential applicant. Bridgewater has the right to change any and all terms of this job description, including, but not limited to, job responsibilities, qualifications and benefits. Nothing in this job description constitutes an offer or guarantee of employment. Please note that we do not provide immigration sponsorship for this position.

Bridgewater Associates, LP is an Equal Opportunity Employer