Trading Operations Associate Jobs in Laurel, MD (NOW HIRING)

About the Team

ETF Trading Solutions manages primary market activity, monitors secondary market trading, and provides implementation support for T. Rowe Price's ETFs. The team coordinates across a broad set of business partners to ensure that our ETFs operate efficiently and that our platform is structured appropriately to scale.

Role Summary

The ETF Analyst supports the pre-and-post-trade analyses of PM activity within the ETF to leverage the ETF vehicle's capabilities to their fullest extent. This requires expertise in ETF mechanics (Create/Redeem activity, basketing, spreads, premium/discounts, INAVs), a thorough understanding of tax lots and tax lot harvesting, and a basic grasp of tax nuances related to securities (PFICs, tax straddles, 1256 contracts, etc.). Achieving efficient, scalable support for our ETFs requires good quantitative and data engineering skills and experience with programming (R and ideally another language, with focus on functional programming paradigm), CI/CD (Docker and Gitlab), and statistics and linear optimization.

A significant component of successful ETF implementation, and thus of this role, is building and overseeing the data foundations required to support T. Rowe's ETFs. The ETF Analyst provides a point of coordination as well as technical and analytical support across the investment organization, working with multiple stakeholder teams within both Technology and the Business (Portfolio Management, Trading, Investment & Trading Solutions, Operations, Compliance) to scope and prioritize projects supporting the delivery of the ETF data strategy. Focus is on driving scale, reducing implementation risk and expanding ETF capabilities while working cross functionally and leveraging T. Rowe's collaborative culture.

Responsibilities

Data Analysis and Insight Communication:

• Efficiently analyze PM trade ideas for optimal implementation method leveraging the unique capabilities of ETFs.
• Synthesize security data (volatility, liquidity), transaction cost data, tax lot data, and feedback from Traders, ETF Capital Markets Specialists, Portfolio Investment Analysts, Portfolio Managers, and Trading Analytics Associates to refine implementation strategies.
• Use a combined knowledge of computer science and applications, modelling, statistics, analytics and math to solve problems.
• Clearly communicate insights to Investment Staff and additional stakeholders when requested.

Subject Matter Expertise:

• Opine on ETF data governance improvements and represent ETF Trading Solutions' roadmap. Assist with project and workstream prioritization.
• Participate in industry events, bringing knowledge and information back to team.
• Maintain subject matter expertise by participating in relevant professional and industry bodies.

Communication and Spokesperson:

• Communicate strategic ETF data plan and roadmap to all stakeholders.
• Create clear, concise, high-quality communications and presentations for internal and external clients.
• Actively share knowledge and best practices across the platform.
• Demonstrating a respect for ideas and suggestions made by others.

Growth in Role: ETF Data Strategy and Governance:

• As the associate grows in the role, there is an opportunity to apply subject matter expertise and data mastery to more strategic oversight and ultimately ownership of ETF Data governance, a critical component of the ETF platform's long-term success.
• Act as business domain owner for ETF data projects.
• Generate and champion ideas to improve, simplify and automate ETF data processes, workflows, best practices and service delivery.
• Partner closely on data initiatives and functions with Technology.
• Jointly drive the development of a data strategy and data model with Technology to support ETF platform growth and scalability.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor's degree or the equivalent combination of education and relevant experience AND
• 5+ years of total relevant work experience
• Experience extracting, transforming, and manipulating data, with a strong understanding of APIs (REST, SOAP), relational databases, JSON, XML.
• Programming experience with functional programming paradigm, in R and another language.
• Ability to communicate ideas effectively and solve problems creatively.
• Comprehensive understanding of ETFs and tax lot optimization.

Preferred:

• Prior ETF and/or Accounting experience
• Degree in quantitative discipline with Math and Computer Science experience
• Outstanding candidates without prior ETF or accounting experience, or with a non-technical/Finance degree, may be considered.

FINRA Requirements

FINRA licenses are not required and will not be supported for this role.

Work Flexibility

This role is eligible for hybrid work, with up to one day per week from home.