Trade Settlement Manager

Trade Settlement Manager – Global Multi-Asset Trading Firm

Location: Chicago, IL (on-site with some flexibility)

Compensation: $130,000-160,000 base Bonuses

This Settlement Manager (AVP level) will sit in the middle of the action, owning post-trade settlement across multiple global venues and products. It’s an opportunity to step into a visible, high-impact role where you’ll work directly with traders, technologists, and senior operations leadership to keep the firm’s trading engine running smoothly.

Why This Role

• Direct exposure to multi-asset, high-volume trading and complex global markets.
• Hands-on ownership of settlements, cash & collateral, and operational risk across the trade lifecycle.
• Ability to shape process & tooling, partnering closely with technology on automation and efficiency initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end settlement process for listed and OTC products (e.g., futures, options, equities, FX, fixed income), ensuring accurate and timely clearing of all trades.
• Oversee daily position, cash, and collateral reconciliations across prime brokers, FCMs, clearinghouses, and custodians; investigate and resolve breaks and fails.
• Monitor daily margin calls, wire transfers, and liquidity movements, coordinating with Treasury and Finance as needed.
• Maintain a strong control environment around trade capture, confirmations, settlements, and cash movements; ensure alignment with firm policies, regulatory requirements, and exchange rules.
• Proactively identify operational risk in the post-trade workflow and drive remediation initiatives (e.g., process redesign, automation, additional checks).
• Develop and track KPIs around settlement timeliness, fail rates, breaks, and operational incidents; provide regular reporting and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Serve as the primary contact for settlement matters across internal trading desks, risk, finance, technology, compliance, and external counterparties (brokers, FCMs, clearinghouses, banks).
• Lead and develop a small, high-performing settlements team (or be the senior individual contributor stepping into a people-leadership path), setting standards, mentoring junior staff, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Partner with developers and systems teams to optimize post-trade workflows, including matching, confirmation, reconciliation, and exception management tools.
• Leverage data and automation (dashboards, scripting, reconciliation tools) to reduce manual touch points, enhance STP, and improve monitoring of positions, cash, and collateral in real time.

Requirements:

• 5–10 years of experience in trade settlements, middle office, or trade operations at a trading firm, hedge fund, bank, or asset manager; at least 2 years at a senior/lead level.
• Strong understanding of the full trade lifecycle (from trade capture through matching, confirmation, settlement, and reconciliation).
• Solid knowledge of listed derivatives and/or equities/options, with exposure to additional asset classes (FX, fixed income, swaps) a plus.
• Advanced Excel skills; experience with SQL or scripting (Python, VBA, etc.) is highly preferred for data analysis and process automation.
• Proven track record of streamlining workflows, implementing controls, and improving STP rates.
• Expectation of predominantly on-site work, especially during onboarding and peak trading periods, with some flexibility once fully ramped.