Trading Operations Associate

Connect Search, LLC; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Connect Search, LLC in Chicago is seeking a Trading Operations professional to act as an operational partner to investment teams, covering end-to-end trade processing from entry to settlement across multiple assets.

The role leads initiatives to raise straight-through processing rates, streamline workflows, and evaluates technology to support that effort. You will partner closely with technology on design, specs, testing, and deployment, reporting to an SVP.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 4+ years of investment operations experience across derivatives, collateral management, regulatory reporting, and multi-asset trade settlement.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills with data-driven improvements.
• Exceptional communication with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Self-starter who operates independently with sound judgment.

Responsibilities

• Primary trade operations coverage for multiple credit strategies: staging, booking, and allocating fixed income, equity, and bank debt transactions.
• Support across a second set of trade processing workflows and contribute to integration initiatives.
• Communicate and resolve trade processing discrepancies with traders, accounting, and reconciliations.
• Monitor trade lifecycle activity to ensure timely settlement deadlines with counterparties.
• End-to-end processing of bespoke and privately negotiated settlements.
• Resolve escalated settlement failures and exceptions with custodians and internal teams.
• Lead continuous improvements to increase STP rates across business lines.
• Reinforce escalation protocols to surface operational risks.
• Cross-coverage to maintain continuity of trade processing.
• Partner with technology on business requirements, specs, testing, and deployment.
• Develop procedures, documentation, and training materials.
• Build relationships across investment teams, technology, finance, and compliance.

Skills

Strong analytical skills

Exceptional communication

Independent self-starter

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

CTM

ALERT

SWIFT

FIX

VCON

Job description

This Trading Operations seat acts as an operational partner to investment teams across two business lines, handling end-to-end trade processing: entry, allocation, confirmation, communication, and settlement.

The work goes beyond daily execution. The firm is midway through an operational integration between the two business lines, and this person will lead initiatives to raise straight-through processing rates, streamline workflows, and evaluate technology supporting that effort. Expect close partnership with technology on designing, spec'ing, testing, and delivering new system functionality. The seat reports to an SVP on the Operations team.

What You’ll Own

• Primary trade operations coverage for multiple credit strategies: staging, booking, and allocating fixed income, equity, and bank debt transactions across accounts, funds, and SPVs per PM and trading allocation guidelines
• Dedicated support across a second set of trade processing workflows, plus active contribution to integration initiatives harmonizing processes and systems across both business lines
• Proactive communication and issue resolution with traders, accounting, reconciliation, and other stakeholders on trade processing discrepancies
• Monitoring of trade lifecycle activity to ensure timely communication to counterparties, custodians, and downstream systems against settlement deadlines
• End-to-end processing of bespoke and privately negotiated settlements
• Resolution of escalated settlement failures and exceptions with custodians, counterparties, and internal teams
• Continuous improvement work to increase STP rates across both business lines
• Reinforcement of escalation protocols so operational risks surface and resolve per firm policy
• Cross-coverage to maintain continuity of trade processing without service disruption
• Partnership with technology on business requirements, functional specs, testing, and deployment
• Operational procedures, documentation, and structured training and knowledge transfer
• Relationship building across investment teams, technology, finance, compliance, custodians, and counterparties

What You Bring

• Bachelor's degree required
• 4+ years of investment operations experience with demonstrated expertise across derivatives, collateral management, regulatory reporting, and multi-asset trade settlement
• Experience with industry-standard trade utilities and protocols including CTM, ALERT, SWIFT, FIX, and VCON, plus familiarity with relevant market agreements and regulatory frameworks
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills, with the ability to assess complex operational data, identify root causes, and implement data-driven improvements
• Exceptional communication with both technical and non-technical audiences
• Self-starter who operates independently with sound judgment and stays composed across concurrent priorities

Compensation

Competitive base salary plus discretionary bonus. Comprehensive benefits package.