Strata
Manager, Aladdin Transformation & Optimization - Middle Office Operations SME
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Strata is at an exciting stage of growth and we are hiring hands-on Aladdin SMEs with middle office and operations experience to join our business. Strata consultants work day to day with operations teams, portfolio managers, traders, and technology partners, serving as the Aladdin Middle Office Operations SME in the client environment.
Strata Aladdin SMEs work to solution in implementation as well as in optimization environments, providing hands-on user support so that Aladdin continues to reflect how operations and investment teams work in practice. This is a role for someone who enjoys being close to the process: solving problems in real time, shaping practical solutions, and helping users get the most from the platform.
As our Middle Office Operations SME, you will focus on the post-trade workflows of global buy-side asset managers, from trade capture and allocation through confirmation, settlement, cash, reconciliation, and the hand-off to accounting. You will bring a practitioner's view of how operations teams control risk and drive straight-through processing, and use it to shape how Aladdin is configured and used.
This role is ideal for someone who understands post-trade operations end-to-end, can configure and validate Aladdin operational workflows, and can translate complex operating processes into practical system solutions.
Workplace Values
You will be expected to operate in line with our workplace values:
- Growth mindset
- Resilience
- Humility
- Positivity
- Creativity
- Openness
Key Responsibilities
Subject matter expertise
- Provide SME guidance across the post-trade lifecycle, including trade capture, allocation, confirmation and affirmation, settlement instruction, settlement and fails management, cash management, and reconciliation across multiple asset classes
- Advise on the interface between front office and middle office, ensuring clean hand-offs and clear ownership of exceptions
- Facilitate workshops and working sessions with operations, front office, accounting, and technology partners to define requirements and drive alignment
- Collaborate with data and technology teams to support operational data flows, platform integrations, and downstream connectivity to custodians, prime brokers, fund administrators, and other counterparties
Configuration and enhancement
- Partner with operations teams and portfolio managers to design, refine, and validate post-trade workflows that reflect real operating practices
- Configure and optimize Aladdin operational workflows, including trade matching and confirmation, standing settlement instructions, cash and position reconciliation, break management, and corporate action processing
- Configure and tune exception queues, rules, and alerts to maximize straight-through processing and reduce manual intervention
- Perform gap analysis between current-state operational processes and Aladdin capabilities, identifying configuration changes or process adjustments needed to close gaps
- Gather and document business requirements across trade operations, settlements, cash, reconciliation, and accounting hand-off
- Configure workflows and validate the end-to-end post-trade lifecycle in implementation programmes, including data migration and parallel running
- Assess and validate the impact of Aladdin releases and configuration changes on operational workflows, supporting regression and user acceptance testing
- Support go-live and post-implementation stabilization, then transition into ongoing optimization
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Problem solving and user support
- Act as the first point of expertise for operations users, triaging, diagnosing, and resolving issues across the post-trade lifecycle, including unmatched trades, failed settlements, reconciliation breaks, and cash discrepancies
- Investigate root causes of recurring breaks and deliver durable fixes rather than workarounds
- Provide hands-on support and end-user enablement, including training, guidance, and documentation
- Escalate and coordinate with technology, data, custodian, broker, and vendor teams where issues require deeper intervention
Governance and knowledge sharing
- Improve governance, controls, and documentation for critical middle office processes and Aladdin configuration standards
- Define and track operational metrics such as match rates, settlement fail rates, break ageing, and STP rates to demonstrate improvement
- Contribute to Strata best practices, delivery standards, and a shared knowledge base
- Mentor junior team members and promote knowledge sharing across Strata
Key Behaviours
- Strategic alignment: Understand the strategic drivers for your work area and align activities to wider organisational priorities
- Ownership and decision-making: Understand your level of responsibility, display confidence when making difficult decisions even if they prove unpopular, and present strong recommendations in a timely manner
- Communication: Communicate in a straightforward, honest, and engaging manner, choosing styles that maximise understanding. Ensure communication has a clear purpose, takes individual needs into account, and checks understanding. Show positivity and enthusiasm, and deliver important messages respectfully with consideration for the diversity of stakeholder interests
- Collaboration: Encourage joined-up teamwork within your team and across other groups. Build professional relationships with a range of stakeholders, share information, resources, and support, and invest time in developing and respecting one another
- Delivery: Deliver high-quality outcomes that meet client needs, identifying risks and resolving issues efficiently
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Required Qualifications
- 7+ years' experience within Asset Management or Financial Services, with a strong focus on middle office or investment operations
- Hands-on experience with Aladdin configuration and operational workflows in a middle office or operations environment
- Experience contributing to Aladdin implementations and/or optimization programmes across the project lifecycle
- Deep knowledge of the post-trade lifecycle, including trade capture, allocation, confirmation, settlement, fails management, cash management, and reconciliation
- Solid knowledge of operational processes across multiple asset classes, including equities, fixed income, and derivatives
- Working knowledge of settlement infrastructure, custodian and prime broker relationships, and corporate actions processing
- Strong understanding of operational risk and controls, including exception management, break resolution, and escalation
- Proven ability to work directly with operations teams, portfolio managers, and traders to translate operating requirements into Aladdin system solutions
- Demonstrated experience providing operations user support, including issue triage, root cause analysis, and resolution
- Experience supporting UAT and end-user enablement in an operations or trading technology context
- Ability to communicate effectively with both operations professionals and technology teams, bridging the gap between business need and technical delivery
- Strong problem-solving and stakeholder management skills
- Experience working within platform constraints to deliver practical solutions
- Comfortable operating independently within structured delivery environments
- Bachelor's degree in finance, economics, mathematics, information systems, or a related field
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with OTC derivatives and collateral and margin workflows
- Knowledge of SWIFT messaging, trade matching and affirmation utilities, and custodian and fund administrator connectivity
- Familiarity with IBOR and ABOR concepts, NAV support, and the hand-off between operations and fund accounting
- Knowledge of data governance and reconciliation frameworks within an asset management context
- Familiarity with investment risk frameworks, performance attribution, and related Aladdin data domains
- Experience with data analysis tools such as SQL or Python applied to operational or investment datasets
- Experience with process automation, workflow tooling, or operational transformation programmes
- Experience with incident, problem, and change management practices (e.g., ITIL)
- MBA, CFA, CAIA, or other relevant professional certification
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