Fund & Investment Operations - Trade Management, Specialist

Oversees and executes the daily operational tasks of the Trade Management team, monitoring various controls and procedures to ensure adherence to all policies and procedures. Serves as an escalation point to resolve technical issues.

Trade Management (TM) in Vanguard is a global function that supports all the trade activity that Vanguard’s Investment Management Group conducts on behalf of all VG funds. The TM function is a sub-domain of the Global Middle Office Operations group and are responsible for getting all trades executed to settlement finality, in an accurate and timely fashion via multiple operating models across all asset classes. This includes elements of overseeing outsourced providers as well as full ownership of settlement activity in-house.

The Trade Management Specialist oversees and executes the daily operational tasks of the Trade Management team, monitoring various controls and procedures to ensure adherence to all policies and procedures. Serves as an escalation point to resolve technical issues.

In this role you will:

• Assist in overseeing the daily operations of the Trade Management team, and act as a subject matter expert to the wider group.
• Provide informal leadership in the function and serve as the primary escalation contact for all issues, especially related to complex trade related issues.
• Serve as a thought leader globally to continuously improve the effectiveness of the operation.
• Coach and mentor other analysts.
• Maintain daily ownership of trade confirmation and settlements by monitoring & executing daily functional responsibilities. Ensures team deliverables and controls are completed timely and accurately.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with both internal and external clients including various teams within Middle Office Operations, Global Fund Accounting, Shared Services, external advisors, brokers, and custodian banks. Proactively fosters effective communication. Anticipate needs and ensures satisfaction related to the services being provided.
• Proactively monitor the settlement environment to minimise trade failures. Respond to failed trades in a timely and accurate manner to minimise the cost to the funds. Facilitate the delivery of settlement instructions to custodians. Works under tight deadlines and manage competing priorities to meet the global service levels defined by the team and all downstream consumers.
• Complete comprehensive impact analysis of issues and recommends solutions. Communicate issues to functional units to resolve root cause. Independently resolve problems and exercise judgment in elevating material issues. Recognise opportunities and recommend process improvements to gain efficiencies and ensure quality.
• Oversee the management of all claims related to the unsuccessful settlement of trades, including calculating fee amounts, ensuring delivery and receipt of claims from counterparties, and conduct analysis on counterparty responsiveness.
• Understand teams' Audit, Regulatory/Compliance and risk guidelines and testing requirements, and ensure appropriate documentation is maintained to support these efforts.
• Gather metrics to identify trends, make process improvement recommendations, and implement proper solutions to gain efficiencies and ensure quality. Participate in divisional and departmental process improvement efforts.
• Remain current on industry and regulatory trends to incorporate into recommendations to management. Develop a strong conceptual understanding of fixed income and equity investment products, settlement processes, and upstream and downstream impacts.
• Participate in projects and perform other duties as assigned.

What it takes:

• Undergraduate degree or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Minimum 3 years trade management experience.
• High level analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities under strict deadlines.
• Excellent time management and organisation skills.
• Ability to understand complex technical issues.
• Proficiency with Word, Excel and other Microsoft applications preferred.
• Excellent leadership, interpersonal and motivational skills.
• Customer service orientation with excellent interpersonal and communication (verbal and written) skills; team player with positive attitude.

Special Factors:

• Available to work beyond core business hours and on some holidays based on business need. Limited Hybrid.
• Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position

About Vanguard

Vanguard is an investment company unlike any other. It was founded by Jack Bogle in the US in 1975 on a simple but revolutionary idea: that an investment company should manage its funds solely in the interests of its clients.  Jack helped bring investing to the masses with the index fund. Index funds do not pick individual shares or bonds to beat the market. They track the performance of the entire market.  Or as Jack put it, "Don't look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!”.  We have stood for low-cost, uncomplicated investing ever since. Over the last 45 years people have come round to our way of thinking and more than 30 million investors worldwide now trust us with their money

Inclusion Statement

Vanguard’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion is firmly rooted in our culture. Every decision we make to best serve our clients, crew (internally employees are referred to as crew), and communities is guided by one simple statement: “Do the right thing.”

We believe that a critical aspect of doing the right thing requires building diverse, inclusive, and highly effective teams of individuals who are as unique as the clients they serve. We empower our crew to contribute their distinct strengths to achieving Vanguard’s core purpose through our values.

When all crew members feel valued and included, our ability to collaborate and innovate is amplified, and we are united in delivering on Vanguard's core purpose: to take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.