Financial Programmer

$105 billion asset management firm in Boston
Full time position - no sponsorship

We are looking for a skilled programmer to help in the development and evolution of our research, portfolio management, and trading platforms. We are looking for someone who is more interested in tackling tough problems than in developing software. An interest in finance is a definite plus, but more importantly we are looking for people with a quantitative orientation and an ability to be self-sufficient. While you would be working as part of a larger team and will initially be assigned very specific tasks, you will eventually only be given general direction and be expected to follow up on your own ideas and take ownership of the process.

Specifically, we are looking for demonstrated experience using a variety of technologies to design and code solutions to difficult problems. Knowledge of specific languages (Java and SQL in particular) and platforms (Linux and Windows) is a plus, but more important is an understanding of the basic frameworks (object-oriented programming, relational databases, networking, file systems, etc.). In addition, experience dealing with challenges involving any or all of the following would be helpful: real-time data processing, multi-threaded programming, socket programming, string parsing. An ideal candidate will also have a strong mathematics background and in particular be familiar with the basic concepts from linear algebra. Finally, it is essential to be able to work productively and independently with a variety of technologies and platforms, using the best tool for each job.

Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Senior Network & Voice Engineer

Full time position.
Financial services experience a big plus.
No sponsorship. Candidates must be local and available for an in person interview.

The Senior Network Engineer will be reporting to the manager of the Network & Security team which is responsible for the day to day operations and architecture of the global network. Responsibilities include troubleshooting issues with routing, protocols, all LAN / WAN based activities, vendors, Cisco & IPC voice systems, market data connectivity, remote access systems, RSA authentication, Anti-Virus, DHCP, DNS, 3rd party VPNs, Firewalls.

Client this year has doubled the size of its metro network, with two new data centers now in production and a fully-converged voice network.

Overview:
We are looking for a skilled senior network & voice professional with experience of network design and deployment, working on a highly available network. You must enjoy working as part of a team and be prepared to work outside of usual business hours. The candidate must have strong troubleshooting skills, be able to balance creative solutions with the ability to work within a change-management maintenance environment. The ideal candidate will have experience in deploying and maintaining a Cisco VoIP converged network and will be energetic, flexible and committed to excellence. Financial services experience a plus.


Primary Responsibilities:
- Responsible for maintaining the enterprise network including wide area and local area networks as well as IP convergence.
- Install and maintain routers and switches in various network configurations supporting VLANs, Qos, VoIP, and advanced access-lists.
- Manage the global voice system - Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.0 & 3rd party applications / systems. Including IPC trader voice systems, Unified Presence, Mobility.
- Plan, monitor, evaluate, and manage performance of network systems and makes recommendations for improvement/upgrades.
- Ensure that network issues arising on a day-to-day operation are identified, reported, and technically resolved.
- Provide support for remote access systems
- Provide support for all dual-factor authentication systems & security measures
- Create firewall rules & modifications as needed – troubleshoot anything that may arise.
- Monitor infrastructure security systems, IPS, Log correlation, Anti-Virus.

Job Requirements:
- 5-7 years experience with switching and routing in wide and local area networks
- 10+ years supporting enterprise networks
- Cisco Unified Communications Deployment & Support experience Vital.
- Experience in Configuration & Change Management processes
- Excellence in testing and documentation of procedures
- Strong grasp of networking concepts and design
- Knowledge of trusted credentials (e.g., tokens, 802.1x)
- Experience in implementing and monitoring audit and event logging and analysis
- Knowledge at the expert level of TCP/IP networks, connections, wiring and cabling, and network management
- Solid knowledge of Spanning Tree Protocol
- Solid knowledge of EIGRP / RIP2 / OSPF / BGP
- Solid knowledge of Stacking Protocols. VSS experience very advantageous
- Solid experience of Checkpoint on a Nokia IPSO Platform
- Experience with Extreme would be helpful but not required
- Experience with IPC Trader Turrets advantageous
- Exposure to VOIP, primarily Cisco Unified Communications Manager
- Advanced level networking certifications such as CCVP/CCNP (Cisco) & CCSA/CCSE (Checkpoint) an advantage
- Experience with EIGRP/OSPF/RIP2, STP/RSTP, Etherchannel, VLAN tagging/trunking, VRRP/HSRP, ACL and policy enforcement, SNMP1/2/3 and monitoring platforms, packet capture and interpretation.
- Experience with: BGP, QoS implementations, multicast protocols, VoIP, SONET/WAN transport, WAN switching and routing, Juniper SSL VPN, Cisco MDS SAN storage
- Experience with NAM, WAAS, GSS, ACE, WLC, MARS, 6500’s (all Cisco) – very advantageous



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Defined Contributions Business Analyst

6 month contract, five roles currently open

Senior Business Analyst Job Description

Reporting into a senior Project manager, the business analyst will be responsible for writing business requirements for changes to legacy systems. The analyst will work with the business groups and the IT groups to define the changes needed to support new functionality for the systems. The requirements documents will contain business reasons, objectives, and define all user scenarios.

Experience/Qualifications:

· Defined Contributions Retirement Services experience a must
· Requirements Definition
· User Acceptance Testing (defined as business testing)
· Process and Workflow development
· Detailed processing procedures development
· Previous lead BA experience, must be able to work independently and lead business users through decision making process
· Sungard Omni experience a plus

Project responsibilities:

· Review requirements previously documented to identify potential gaps/issues; supplement requirements documentation and/or developed new documentation from newly identified requirements
· Lead business user through issue resolution and future state process definition
· Document future state process flows
· Partner with IT BA during Systems Testing to approve strategy and conditions, identify and prioritize defects, understand potential workaround, accept/reject defects
· Conduct and/or oversee Business Users in User Acceptance Test phase (UAT).
· Work with technical writer to develop detailed processing procedures
· May be asked to contribute to business communication and training plans

Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Project Manager

Client is one of the nation's top private managers of both fixed income and credit instruments.

Candidates needs to be able to manage Agile processes and Scrum processes – needs financial services - and good PM experience

DESCRIPTION:

This position will be working directly with one of the business units. The person will participate as the project manager across all technology related initiatives from inception to implementation. This position will monitor and document progress, report on milestone deliverables, risks and costs across ongoing technology initiatives.


RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Monitor and document project task list and progress for assigned projects
• Attend project status meetings and works closely with the development team lead and business analyst to document project status
• Develop reports/dashboard for project on milestones, deliverables, risks and budget
• Maintains burn rate by project, provides budgeted vs. actual cost analysis
• Maintains overall project task list that includes tasks/issues/risks across all technology initiatives
• Maintains overall project calendar that includes mid level plans across all technology initiatives
• Responsible for overall status reporting to Technology Steering Committee
• Facilitates inter project communication and is the Contact point for the Steering committee; Responsible for coordinating / maintaining task list and initiatives for Steering committee
• Works closely with business analysts/development managers to document inter-project risks
• Responsible for project coordination toolset and project reporting standards
• Responsible for implementation PLC process across all technology initiatives


TECHNOLOGY AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE:
• Experience with a large, functionally diverse, and informed user base that demands high quality applications.
• Experience with reporting status, milestones, deliverables across multiple technology initiatives
• Experience with project management reporting tools
• Exposure to investment concepts / terminology and systems related to fixed income investments
• Exposure to financial application implementation related to fixed income investments
• Familiarity with multiple architectures: n-tier, .NET, client-server, etc. and multi-system application integration
• Fundamental understanding of software development lifecycle



QUALIFICATIONS:

• PMP certification required
• 2-3 years experience in the project management and reporting
• 5-6 years experience in software development and technology implementation
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Chief Architect

Client is a world leading Private Equity firm headquartered in Boston.

This is a full time, permanent role.

DESCRIPTION:

This position will be spearheading the formation of an Enterprise Architecture team. The person will report to a Sr. VP in the Information Technology team and will drive enterprise-wide architecture decisions related to software development and application standards across all lines of business.


QUALIFICATIONS:

• The ability to syndicate, influence and achieve results in a matrixed environment.
• Expert communication skills (verbal and written) with the ability to communicate complex issues to technical and non-technical audiences that include peers, partners, and IT and Business management
• Experience in financial services or collaboration platforms as used in management consulting, legal, investment banking, and private equity firms.
• Expertise in designing and building Data Warehouse, Business Intelligence and Collaboration applications
• Advanced degree / certification (e.g., MB.A. or Advanced Technology Degree) preferred
• 8-10 years experience in software development and technology implementation
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills


RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Serves as the overall design and engineering lead for the enterprise, responsible for leading architecture strategy, vision, systems integration and technology selection processes
- Owns Enterprise Framework
- Drive software governance
• Has business and technical expertise as the incumbent will work with users and application development teams to understand and jointly craft technology strategy, application architectures and engineering solutions as required
• Works with all application development managers and project teams to create solutions architectures and system designs that align business needs with target state architectures
• Sets the overall guidelines, standards and architectural principles for architecting solutions across the application portfolio
- Manages the governance of these standards at the program and project level
- Drives analysis regarding emerging technologies and translate implications of the new technology into an effective IT vision and assesses design decisions impacts lines of business, and is an integral part of the decision making process along with senior management.
• Owns and operates the Architecture/Design Review process, evaluating all significant application, data and infrastructure projects and production systems
- Design recommendations are made to project and application development teams.
- Design issues are resolved via coordinated interaction with the AD teams.
• Drives technology selection process and manages the software and tech stack
• Works in conjunction with the Production Services team to ensure hardware/software compatibility
• Provides oversight and direction of technology & vendor solution BUY/HOLD/SELL list
• Drives concepts/architectures over long time horizons. (18-24 month planning horizons)
• Identifies risks associated with the enterprise architecture and various technologies
• Provides guidance in industry trends and vendor practice
• Establishes and maintains a profile as a technology leader both inside and outside of the firm



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Java Websphere developer

Mutual fund firm in Boston

This is a full time, permanent position.

BASIC PURPOSE:

The Web Engineer II is a technical resource in the Web support team and is responsible for the implementation and effective and efficient maintenance of related technologies. In addition, this individual has broader knowledge of Information Technology at large, with an understanding of related disciplines and how they interoperate. The Web Engineer II will be an active participant and contributor for leading implementation and troubleshooting efforts and aiding in design efforts.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

Serves as senior subject matter expert in the field of Web technologies, maintaining a strong understanding of the field and its related technologies.
Provides technical support to ensure the ongoing efficient and reliable operations of related information systems.
Proactively develops and maintains strong knowledge of information systems and their related components, and makes recommendations to improve the reliability, scalability, performance, or security of these systems as appropriate. This includes proactive performance tuning and capacity analysis to ensure company is maximizing its technology investment.
Leverages technology to automate manual tasks, and seeks to improve efficiency wherever practicable and appropriate.
Enforces and maintains company Information Security controls, procedures, and standards. Aids in the development of controls, procedures and standards as required.
Receives broad goals and overall objectives from Management and assists in establishing and implementing the methods to attain them.
Accountable for meeting assigned project objectives including timelines and budgeting.
Serve as technical mentor other members of the team.
Implements/administers Web technologies using web application servers (IBM Websphere and Portal, Apache, IIS, ColdFusion).
Good knowledge of operating systems (UNIX, Linux, NT) and application hardening experience.
A solid understanding of Java classes, foundations and framework strongly preferred.


JOB REQUIREMENTS:

Strong subject matter expertise in the field, with familiarity with other related Information Technologies.
Solid understanding of Systems Development Life Cycle models
Demonstrated ability to interact and communicate well with members of senior management.
Strong analytical and problem solving skills.
Strong interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills.
Strong organizational and financial skills.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in a related technical field.
Four or more (4+) years of related Information Technology experience.


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Performance Measurement Business Systems Analyst

Client is a leading investment management firm located in the financial district of Boston

The IT Client Systems Team is responsible for the development and support of Corporate Business applications. This team consists of approximately 35 technology professionals whose key functions include application development, system integration, application support, and production support. The supported business areas are Client Services, Performance Analytics, Business Development, Renewable Resources, Finance, and Human Resources.

Overview:
Reporting to the BA Group Manager, the Business Analyst will work within our Client Systems Development Group on projects related to performance measurement and reporting. client utilizes a proprietary shareholder services and performance measurement system (GPRS) that is continually being enhanced. This system is in the process of being upgraded to a new development platform. The individual will collaborate with the business community to document the existing GPRS system and create comprehensive business requirements documents for ongoing enhancements and the upgrade of the product. The person in this role will work with the software development group to convey, clarify, and improve the stated requirements and solutions. This individual will translate business needs into functional specifications to ensure that the business partners’ functional requirements are fulfilled, and that the enhancements as well as the newly upgraded GPRS system conform to the specifications. In addition, the Business Analyst will work with business users and/or Quality Assurance to ensure that test plans are executed and that the final deliverables are accepted in a timely fashion. This individual will work very closely with the GPRS project manager and will keep her apprised of the status of assigned tasks. In this role, the Business Analyst will interact with the Performance Analytics group as well as other business areas of the organization. This position is based in Boston, MA.

Primary Responsibilities:
• Document current functionality in the system at increasing levels of detail, including all mathematical formulas and business rules
• Elicit the business community’s requirements for enhancing the existing GPRS system and shaping the architecture for the upgraded performance measurement application
• Work with the project manager to document the product’s vision and the project’s scope, analyzing systems and processes to identify gaps and opportunities
• Create detailed requirements documentation, including text, examples, workflows, and other diagrams where appropriate to facilitate understanding of the requirements
• Write requirements specifications according to standard templates, using natural language simply, clearly, unambiguously, and concisely
• Manage the requirements specifications, working as part of a team of in-house staff and outside consultants to confirm and implement the required changes
• Ensure that Quality Assurance test plans are executed before releasing product enhancements for User Acceptance Testing
• Contribute knowledge and support to QA and UAT teams throughout the process of testing the application’s workflow and functionality
• Facilitate the production release of new functionality and provide assistance in support of production issues
• Acquire and impart business knowledge to the development team regarding the functionality of the application and workflow processes
• Create end-user, operational and ‘as-built’ documentation to accompany each release of the product
• Provide managers with timely updates on the progress of assigned tasks
• Participate in high-level aspects of project budgeting
• Perform miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned

Mandatory Requirements:
• Undergraduate degree in technology discipline or equivalent experience
• 5+ years experience in an IT organization
• 3-5 years experience in a business analyst role, including experience writing business requirements documents and QA test plans
• 3+ years experience in the financial services industry, preferably in the asset management sector
• 2-3 years experience developing or supporting performance measurement or attribution systems
• 2-3 years experience with database applications, software development, and implementation projects
• Strong technical and analytical skills particularly related to financial analysis and investments

Skills and Competencies:
• Extremely strong interpersonal, interviewing, and listening skills
• Proven ability to work directly with the business community, handle demanding user groups, and communicate with internal clients at all enterprise levels
• Analytical skills, including the ability to critically evaluate the information gathered from multiple sources, reconcile conflicts, decompose high-level information into details, abstract up from low-level information to a more general understanding, and distinguish requests and solution ideas from requirements
• Writing skills, capability to communicate information effectively and provide quality documentation of processes
• Organizational skills, strong attention to detail, ability to prioritize multiple tasks, handle diverse situations, set goals, and meet deadlines
• Motivation to work efficiently with minimal supervision, willingness to take initiative and employ good follow-through skills
• Ability to learn new concepts, systems, and software independently and quickly
• Attention to process and procedures to comply with internal/external audits

Characteristics:
• Integrity, flexibility, strong work ethic, reliability
• Enthusiasm, motivation, professionalism, maturity

Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Senior Technical Project Manager - CRM and Reporting Systems

Full time position at top performing asset management firm in Boston.

Senior Technical Project Manager to lead cross-functional project teams through all phases of the project lifecycle. The person filling this role must be well versed in iterative development practices and have a proven track record of delivering projects within planned limits of schedule, scope and resources, all the while meeting business expectations. This position’s primary responsibilities are to manage the mid to large scale internet projects and to provide leadership and mentoring to junior staff. Leadership, Mentoring, Team building, Scope, Risk and Schedule Management are all vitally important skills in this position.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

No direct reports

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Manage and coordinate project activities through all phases of the project lifecycle
• Develop detailed project plans to effectively communicate deliverables, schedules and responsibilities
• Work with functional managers to acquire needed resources
• Prepare, manage and report on overall project schedule and budget
• Coordinate day-to-day activities required to meet project milestones and to deliver a quality product on time
• Evaluate, track and actively manage project risks to keep projects on track
• Facilitate effective communication between project team members
• Develop productive working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders including, but not limited to Marketing and Client Services, HR/Finance, IT and third party service providers/vendors that are integral to the project delivery
• Provide post-release analysis to contribute to continuous improvement
• Conducts project reviews at each phase gate of the SDLC
• Serve as mentor and coach to junior project managers


QUALIFICATIONS:

• 5+ years of Project Management experience in a high performing IT environment, within Financial Services preferred
• Must be well versed in iterative development practices and familiar with .NET technologies
• Proven track record of delivering projects on time and within budget
• Well versed in Microsoft Project: task creation, resource allocation and management, baselining schedule, tracking dependencies, impact analysis, identifying critical path, etc
• Strong leadership, interpersonal, team building and motivational skills
• Effective time management, self starter, proactive and responsive to changes in priorities
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a strong ability to communicate across all levels in the organization ( technical, business, executive)
• PMI Certification a plus
• Knowledge of systems and processes relating the Financial Services industry also a plus
• Bachelor's Degree in a related discipline is required.



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

.NET developer - Build/Tools Engineer

One of the top Financial firms in Boston.

There will be a financial, criminal, employment and education check.

This is a role in Development, not Release Engineering, therefore the candidate filling this role must have a programming background, plus a self starter.

Looking to standardize this across the department and automate as much of the build & deployment process as possible. Some groups building out Team Foundation Server to be a collaborative environment but need someone on this fulltime to standardize and bring the department to the next level. This person being the liaison between development and release engineering and will help coordinate project releases through the change control board.

Requirements:
• Minimum 2 years hands-on experience with building .NET applications using a standard source control tools such as TFS, CVS or Clearcase.
• Solid understanding of Software Configuration Management, experience with different branching strategies.
• Programming experience, C# preferred
• Well versed in MSBuild, VB Script, NAnt, Perl, or other Windows scripting and build workflow tools.
• The ability to automate the build and deployment process through the use of scripts/tools. Previous experience with continuous integration a plus.
• Knowledge of 3rd party products including: Team Foundation Server, MS Build, Install Shield, IIS, CMS, SharePoint, WebTrends, etc.
• Ability to work in a fast paced environment, handling multiple projects simultaneously.
• Ability to work independently with little supervision, a self starter.
• Good communication skills.

Primary Responsibilities:
• Perform development builds for multiple .NET projects, investigate build issues and work with developers to resolve conflicts.
• Deploy builds to multiple environments, and streamline processes to improve efficiency.
• Manage and perform all branching, versioning, merging, and other source control strategies within the development department.
• Manage the transition between development and other environment including turnover document detailing application builds, configuration changes, database changes, infrastructure changes, etc.
• Work on establishing automated tools and testing to improve product quality.
• Define/create development environment and environment standards; perform infrastructure upgrades, system patches, service packs, and configuration changes.
• Work closely with Release Management, Quality Assurance, and Engineering departments to contribute to the overall success of the product delivery.



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Infrastructure DBA Engineer - SQL Server

World leading investment firm located in the Back Bay area of Boston.

This is a full time, permanent position.

The Database Administrator will be part of the IT department. Under the guidance of the Infrastructure Manager you will operate and maintain back office technologies.

Based in Boston, this position will require some domestic and international travel. This is a full time position. Occasional night and weekend hours are required for scheduled system maintenance and upgrades.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Provide consistent SQL Server installations for Dev/QA/UAT/Prod including related components and version upgrades. Adhere to company security policies and standards to provide db access to groups of users and to administrators
• Work with Production and Development Teams on all designs, build and architectures for newly formed environments
• Set up of standard backup, re-indexing, consistency checking jobs. Administer security for users and applications. Set up Database Mail, log shipping, Replication, Linked Servers, monitoring and adjusting available drive space, SQL jobs
• Work with Production and Development to troubleshoot all Database related issues
• Work with Production and Development to report against and optimize all Database activity to provide reliable and efficient environments
• Work with Infrastructure group and other DBA’s to help design, implement and test Disaster Recovery for all production Tier One Database Servers
• Work with Infrastructure Team to design, implement and build scalable, reliable and efficient hardware (Including Clustering) into production environments
• Work with Worldwide Teams to help monitor, troubleshoot and optimize international Databases.
• Adhere to company change control polity and processes by providing release of changes to production databases. Ensure that changes to database security adhere to company security policy
• Work with all teams on production rollouts of applications and system builds
• Maintaining patch levels and applying service packs
• Provide after hours support on roll outs, upgrades and Tier One Incidents
• Monitor production hardware utilization and make recommendations as needed to ensure systems are working optimally. Make hardware recommendations for new database servers
• Provide Production Backup and restore of files for UAT/QA/Dev


TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE:
• 5+ years experience with SQL Server. Knowledge of versions 2000/2005/2008
• SQL server installation, database upgrades, performance tuning, profiler, named instances, backup/restore
• Experience with Data Warehouse Technology including ETL Process (Configure and Troubleshooting)
• Understanding of Storage requirements as they relate to Database Servers (SAN,Raid Types and Configurations)


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Infrastructure Manager / Lead

Full time position at a world leading Private Equity firm in Boston.

This is a hands on management role, technology and direction manager as opposed to people management.

JOB SUMMARY
The Infrastructure Manager is responsible for all aspects of the IT Infrastructure reporting to the V.P. of Production Services. The Infrastructure Manager will be a lead resource for the Infrastructure Team, IT Department and the organization as a whole. You will implement and maintain back office technologies, maintain service levels and work with the IT Management team in developing a strategic direction. Based in Boston, this position will require some domestic and international travel. This is a full time position. Night and weekend hours are required for scheduled system maintenance and upgrades as well as ad hoc emergency response.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Technical team-lead for System Administrator, DBA and Storage engineers.
• Collaborate with Telecom manager on design, implementation, management and maintenance for optimized redundant global network.
• Plan and implement systems security initiatives including anti-virus, and user authentication.
• Manages the infrastructure including the servers, storage, and associated equipment.
• Manages and coordinates identification and resolution of failure and sub-standard performance issues related to infrastructure devices.
• Develops, tests, and maintains standardized infrastructure troubleshooting and root cause analysis procedures specific to the company environment.
• Manage vendor relationships including selection, contract negotiations and delivery.
• Advise management on strategic direction of the company IT infrastructure.
• Contribute to development and maintenance of standardized procedures for change management and systems administration of operating system maintenance tasks, access control, log monitoring, patch application, performance tuning and overall change management.
• Manages maintenance of architecture diagrams and other documentation that detail the location and interaction between servers, data circuits, infrastructure devices, and global locations.
• Participates in rotation for after hours support escalation coverage.


TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003
• Microsoft Active Directory
• Microsoft Exchange 2003
• Microsoft SQL 2000 / 2005
• Microsoft IIS
• Microsoft Live Communications Server
• VMWARE
• Citrix
• Dell Server Hardware with Open Manage
• Dell / EMC SAN Technologies
• Riverbed
• Extreme Networks

QUALIFICATIONS:
• Bachelor Degree in computer technology or related field preferred. Equivalent work experience may be considered.
• Minimum 10 years Microsoft Server and Networking technology.
• Strong Management skills directing technical resources and ability to work with all level of management and vendors
• Experience in, data recovery solutions, network security, enterprise storage solutions (EMC), virtualization (VMWare), remote access (Citrix), enterprise electronic messaging (MS Exchange), Enterprise DBMS (MS SQL) and network management systems.
• Experience with IT Infrastructure hardware including servers , SAN and backup
• Proven vendor and contract management skills
• Experience with industry and best practices for processes and methodology.
• Able to develop and implement operational policies and procedures
• Effective verbal and written communications.
• Record of continual advancement and increasing responsibility
• Strong experience in planning and managing and executing a DR strategy


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Senior .NET developer - financial

Investment management firm located in the financial district of Boston.

This is a contract position.

The Senior Windows Applications Developer will participate in a development capacity on an existing rewrite project of a line of business application dealing with client order processing. The project team currently consists of three developers out of Boston, and four developers offshore. The candidate will need to hit the ground running with minimal technical training, and should be familiar with the Microsoft technology stack in general, and .NET in particular (see requirements below).


Primary Responsibilities:

• Propose and design technical solutions
• Create new system components
• Enhance existing components
• Provide remediation for existing system issues
• Participate in peer reviews (both code and design reviews)
• Produce effective technical documentation where needed


Mandatory requirements:

• Several years of .NET experience, including 1-2 years of working with .NET 2.0
• Experience with .NET Rich Client technologies such as Windows Forms or WPF (WPF = Windows Presentation Foundation)
• Strong object-oriented design and patterns in .NET
• Familiarity with distributed enterprise applications (systems that span several physical machines)
• Strong preference for experience with .NET 3.0 technologies: WPF, WCF, WF (WCF = Windows Communication Foundation, WF = Windows Workflow Foundation)
• Familiarity with .NET 3.5 + C# 3.0 nice to have but not required
• Experience with automated unit testing
• Database proficiency in Microsoft SQL Server (2000 or preferably 2005)
• Undergraduate degree in technology discipline
• Web experience (ASP.NET or otherwise) is not needed for this project


Skills & Characteristics:

• Excellent communication skills – both written and oral
• Excellent interpersonal skills, organizational expertise , and attention to detail
• Ability to learn new concepts, systems, and software independently and quickly
• Experience in the financial services sector preferred
• Self-starter, able to work as part of a small team as well as independently, with minimal supervision
• High energy, positive attitude, professional and mature
• Detail-oriented, able to prioritize work and effectively manage multiple tasks
• Ability to accurately estimate and meet development deadlines



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Project Coordinator

Financial firm located in the back bay area of Boston.

Contract to hire.


This position will be working directly with two of the business units; Private Equity and Corporate Services including, HR, Finance, Legal, Compliance and Information Technology. The person will participate as the project manager across all technology related initiatives from inception to implementation. This position will monitor and document progress, report on milestone deliverables, risks and costs across all ongoing technology initiatives.


RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Responsible for overall project reporting to Technology Steering Committees
• Monitor and document project progress, report on milestone deliverables, risks and costs across all ongoing initiatives
• Maintains burn rate by project, provides budgeted vs. actual cost analysis
• Works closely with the project lead, development team lead and business analyst to gather project status
• Maintains and follows-up on project task list across all technology initiatives
• Facilitates inter project communication and is the Contact point for the Steering committee; Responsible for coordinating / maintaining task list and initiatives for Steering committee
• Works closely with business/development program managers to document inter-project risks
• Reports directly to Business Systems Manager
• Responsible for project coordination toolset and project reporting standards


TECHNOLOGY AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE:
• Experience with a large, functionally diverse, and informed user base that demands high quality applications.
• Experience with reporting status for multiple technology initiatives
• Experience with project management and reporting toolsets and reporting
• Exposure to investment concepts / terminology
• Exposure to financial application implementations
• Exposure to Human Resource Systems implementations
• Familiarity with multiple architectures: n-tier, .NET, client-server, etc. and multi-system application integration
• Fundamental understanding of software development lifecycle.


QUALIFICATIONS:

• PMP certification required
• 2-3 years experience in the project management and reporting
• 5-6 years experience in software development and technology implementation
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills




Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Senior Help Desk Engineer

Worlds leading private equity firm located in Boston

One permanent position and one contract to hire.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Performs Tier II/III problem management, isolation, and resolution.
• Functions as a Subject Matter Expert for Windows Operating Systems and Microsoft Office in a client-based environment.
• Train, and coach the Helpdesk staff to ensure they answer calls and interact with customers in knowledge, accurate and friendly manner.
• In certain situations, may be required to function as a technical lead or supervise Helpdesk staff.
• Areas of support include: desktop productivity tools, client side business line applications, remote access, mobile computing, and conference room resources including Video Conferencing.
• Facilitate repair and maintenance of equipment including PCs, Printers, and conference room resources both directly and through contracted vendors
• Maintain system and support documentation.
• Cover helpdesk responsibilities as required during busy periods.


TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE:

• RIM Blackberry Desktop.
• Supporting remote users on Terminal Server or Citrix Metaframe.
• Specialist with desktop imaging, patch management and deployment. Working knowledge of SMS, WSUS, and Altiris.
• Strong knowledge of TCP/IP and general networking concepts including DNS, DHCP, FTP & VPN
• Comprehensive understanding of Active Directory User Environment.
• Candidates must be proficient in Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003 with an added emphasis in security.
• Manage file/exchange permissions
• Working knowledge of application packaging.
• Administrator Level Exchange experience.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor degree in Computer Science or a related discipline, or equivalent work experience. At least four, typically six years experience in IT or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• The individual should also have strong analytical and communication skills and the ability to work efficiently and effectively with co-workers and other infrastructure team members.
• Dedicated to exceeding quality standards and providing products and services of the highest caliber.
• Exceptional work ethic, uses time productively, maximizes efficiency, and meets challenging work goals.
• Manages time effectively. Uses work plans to prioritize completing and interdependent tasks and meet deadlines.
• 24 x 7 uptime requirements.



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Infrastructure Engineer - Storage

World Leading Private Equity firm located in Boston


The Infrastructure Engineer - Storage will be part of the Information Technology department. Under the guidance of the Infrastructure Manager you will operate and maintain back office technologies.

Based in Boston, this position will require some domestic and international travel. This is a full time position. Occasional night and weekend hours are required for scheduled system maintenance and upgrades.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Install, build, configure and maintain the EMC storage infrastructure in a global production data center environment.
• Promote system reliability and efficiency by creating and implementing system standards and operational best-practices; provide technical leadership in design and administration decisions for SAN/backup systems.
• Play Lead Role in Disaster Recovery Initiatives including the replication of data between worldwide sites as well as participate in isolated testing scenarios.
• Facilitate the planning of component and feature upgrades, and plan & participate in scheduled off-hours service outage upgrades
• Capacity Management Reporting, Metric Collection and Performance Monitoring
• Responsible for Production and Development Backup Environments utilizing Commvault and Live Vault
• Responsible for Boston as well as Europe and Asia Storage Environments
• Communicate issues clearly to business and technical groups within the company.
• Enforce operational SAN security guidelines and procedures

TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE:
• Over 5 Years Experience with EMC Storage Technologies (CLARiiON, Centera) in a mission-critical production Microsoft Windows centric datacenter environments
• Experience with SCSI and fibre channel devices (Cisco 9500 preferred).
• Experience with EMC’s Recover Point and Replication Methodologies
• Team Player is Mandatory. Production Services Group operates under a pure team model and therefore looks to utilize all skill sets as needed regardless of skill set, level or team association.
• Deep experience in Backup Technologies (Commvault,Data Domain, Live Vault) including production and development environments.
• Experience in troubleshooting network infrastructure, network communication protocols (TCP/IP, etc.) as it relates to storage and backups.
• Experience with Remote Office Storage Solutions (EMC,Netapp)
• Fundamental understanding of Fibre Channel, and iSCSI network configuration
• Experience with Emulex HBAs
• Connectrix, Powerpath, Navisphere, and Enterprise Control Center (ECC)


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Senior IT Enterprise Data Architect

$110 billion investment firm located near South Station in Boston.

This is a full time, permanent position.


The candidate will be responsible for design, implementation and support of large OLTP and OLAP application, performance optimization and reporting. Design and implementation of applications includes the following activities:

• Perform data source analysis
• Data modeling & ETL design
• Closely work with QA for testing and UAT activities
• Lead production support and post implementation support effort along-with DBA and operations team
• Establishing robust build / release process
• Expected to lead other members technically in the area of his/her responsibilities
• Common vocabulary and entity set for all problem and solution spaces
• Strategy for the use of, and interactions between, data, systems and users
• Minimal set of data stores to satisfy data requirements
• Reusable set of DB objects and interfaces
• Process to keep examining all of the above to manage change and keep finding more ways to integrate and consolidate
• Database lifecycle process
• Data archiving policy for different types of data (investment strategy data vs. core infrastructural data)
• Formula to estimate the cost of data management per server, database and table (based on operational costs, server, licenses, etc)
• Documentation of the system to system interaction and data flows at varying levels (business / technical / infrastructure)
• Common set of management tools and methodologies for ETL
• Establish a market data centralization/decentralization/normalization/de normalization mechanisms
• Assist in the development of a GDOC (Global Database Operations Center) where our systems will be continuously monitored via 3rd party products, in-house scripts and a operational dashboard
• Define and maintain critical documentation including: Processes, Rules and Regulations, Best Practices, etc.

ENTERPRISE DATA ARCHITECT EXPERIENCE
-8+ years of IT/software experience in data modeling/data architecture.
¬Able to work with key business partners to gain consensus on their organizations’ business policies and requirements
-Must have demonstrated ability to design, implement, and tune data mart/reporting system in a large data environment.
¬Ability to present complex technical information to a non-technical audience.
-Solid, quantifiable experience in the following: Metadata standards, Data modeling, Use of modeling tools, Data flow diagrams, ERWin, Databases, SQL Server, and PLSQL Programming.
-Understand team requirements and need from architecture


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

SQL Server Database Administrator

Top tier investment firm in the financial district of Boston.

This is a full time, permanent position.

Department Profile:

The Database Administration and architecture team is responsible for supporting and architecture of a global SQL environment. Responsibilities would encompass day-to-day administration, daily maintenance and optimization tasks and assisting developers in the creation of new databases. The team also provides support to all vendor and packaged applications which use SQL server as a backend.

Overview:

Reporting to the Manager of Database and Architect, this senior level DBA would assist in providing world class support and leadership to our developers, application support and business teams.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Manage a production environment consisting of 300+ databases, and 30 production SQL Server’s, most of which are read-intensive databases with a large data load cycle while some are OLTP-based mission critical trading systems
- Spearhead the restructuring and management of the production level backup and restore processes
- Manage HA solutions such as MS Cluster Server, XOSoft, PolyServe, SQL Replication, etc
- Manage DR solutions such as Database Mirroring, Log Shipping, Double-Take GeoCluster, SQL Replication
- Assist in the development of a GDOC (Global Database Operations Center) where our systems will be continuously monitored via 3rd party products, in-house scripts and a operational dashboard
- Manage the database security models, both in-house developed as well as Windows Auth (AD) based security. Also develop policies to restrict over-privileging and enforce it
- Provide 24x7 support to all mission critical production level systems
- Develop custom scripts to automate various database management processes (e.g. programmatically searching for non-indexed tables)
- Leverage 3rd party tools (e.g. Red-Gate) or in-house developed tools to troubleshoot
- Safeguard our production systems by implementing the right security policies as well as managing the MS service pack/hotfix deployment process
- Assist in the migration of SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005 and/or 2008
- Assist in the database release management process, be the “gate-keeper” and ensure only QUALITY code is released into production
- Help troubleshoot performance problems using a variety of methods (tracing, query optimization review, error logs, etc)
- Assist in the build out of our SQL Server Analysis Services 2005 (SSAS) OLAP databases
- Provide development and production support for complex SSIS packages
- Architect and implement reports within SQL Server Reporting Services 2000/2005
- Define and maintain critical documentation including: Database Standards, Naming Conventions, Administrative Techniques, Troubleshooting Techniques, Processes, Rules and Regulations, Change Management, Best Practices, etc.

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS
- An average of 5-6+ years total IT experience
- An average of 4-5+ years Database Administration (Includes Development, QA experience)
- An average of 1-2+ years Systems / Network / Application Administration
- Knowledge of the financial industry is preferred



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Hedge Fund Desktop / Trade Support Engineer

Client: One of the world's 15 biggest hedge funds

Permanent, full time role at Boston location.

This role encompasses all technical and trading systems support.

Roles & Responsibilities:

The primary task for this individual will be to provide day-to-day support of the technology Infrastructure in our Boston office, consisting of HP desktop PCs and Servers using the Windows Operating System; Cisco routers, switches and fire walls and voice systems from British Telecom (turrets) and Northern Telecom (PABX). In order to support the current day-to-day service needs and expanding user base we are looking for a technician who has Trade Support and general financial system support knowledge. S/he will be tasked with supporting this infrastructure at company in compliance with the established company technology standards to keep pace with the challenging demands of company. Some additional responsibilities of this position include:



· Level 1, 2 & 3 desktop support for Trader, Analysts and non-Front Office staff in Boston

· Level 1 & 2 Market Data service support including working with Front Office Teams to ensure use of market data is efficient and document requests for trading tool enhancements

· Establish and maintain service level relationship with local Technology service providers

· Home site visits for user community as required

· Perform daily AM and PM system checks as per documented procedures and distribution of status reports

· 24x7 on-call support duty



This hire will have an extremely solid foundation in hardware troubleshooting/replacement and market data service support. The goal of this position is to support an optimally running environment in support of a 24x7 hedge fund. The following skills are not all essential requirements, but encompass an actual range of responsibilities relevant to our environment:



Desired

-Three years Technology Support experience in Trading environment
-Knowledge of market data applications, specifically Bloomberg
-Solid understanding of trading and the financial markets
-Excellent PC troubleshooting and break / fix skills


Optional

-Windows Domain support
-Data and voice network & system support
-Scripting/programming experience with VBA
-Work with Technology Team to implement and develop DMA products
-Work with Technology Team to assist with the development of trading and risk databases for trading analysis


Personal Requirements:

-Financial industry experience an absolute must.
-Excellent attention to detail and ability to remember, record, and relay both routine and mission critical information on a consistent basis.
-Ability to interact with users across all business units.
-Proven track record of being reliable and punctual
-Experience in writing business documents, such as functional specs and result summaries, as well as communicating project/issue status – both written and verbal
-Demonstrate ability to operate in a stressful environment
-Education: B.S. degree required in computer science, engineering, information systems or related discipline.

Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Linux Grid Engineer

Client: $160 billion asset management firm in financial district of Boston.

Currently looking for a candidate to come in on a contract to hire basis to work on the implementation of Linux in a Grid Computing environment.

This senior level technical expert will be focused on the design and
operational maturation of an enterprise LINUX environment. This
individual will be the focal point for facilitating LINUX based
application requests and integration with existing infrastructure
services including Solaris (NIS / NFS) and Windows (AD) in accordance
with corporate standards.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

-LINUX/UNIX subject matter expert developing LINUX based solutions and
standards for our client?s UNIX environment.
-Documenting technical standards and operational best practices.
Guidance of team members and customers in adoption of best practices.
-Provide technical leadership for troubleshooting, problem resolution,
and root cause analysis of integration and performance problems.
-Engineering solutions to establish reference infrastructure and
documentation for the implementation of new applications and services
on LINUX.
-Install, configure and customize LINUX/UNIX operating system to
optimize performance and manageability.
-Develop necessary project plans, including installation & testing,
for hardware and software upgrades.
-Vendor relationship management
-Develops highly complex scripts for operation and production
processes. -Install and makes changes to these tools to enhance the
environment when required.


Experience:

-Must have 4-5+ years of LINUX (preferably Red Hat) & Solaris
administration/engineering experience in an enterprise environment.
-Must have experience with the configuration and support of management
tools such as Kickstart, Yum, Satellite Server, and Jumpstart
-Must have volume management experience (VxVM, VxFS, LVM or ODS) as
well as knowledge of SAN and NAS technologies.
-Experience with clustering and design/build of HA solutions.
-Experience scripting with Shell/Perl including development of
management tools/scripts
-Extensive knowledge of standard tools/protocols including NIS, NFS,
SSH, LDAP, DNS etc.
-Strong verbal and written communication skills.
-Team player with a commitment to success, and able to thrive in a
fast-paced, rapidly-changing systems environment.
-Experience within the financial services industry is preferred, but
not required.
-Experience with OpenSource applications such as MySQL and Apache a
plus
-Bachelors or equivalent experience is required

Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Senior Project Manager

Full time position at one of the world's leading private equity firms headquartered in Boston.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsible for building and managing the project management office function for IT. Define and develop enterprise-wide IT project management practices, governance standards, processes and metrics. Ensure projects are defined, tracked and communicated in a consistent and effective manner. Incorporate effective change and project risk management controls. Assists IT Business System Managers and other key IT stakeholders to define opportunities to identify and prioritize projects based on business prioritization. Provide guidance to LOB aligned project managers with business case development, and project lifecycle management. Partners with other IT leaders in ensuring all projects within IT portfolios are delivered on time, within budget and to an agreed quality level. The candidate must possess extensive knowledge and expertise in project management methodologies and tools. PMI certification desirable.

• Drive standardized, but scalable, project management process to increase project success, improve project status transparency, and make resource allocation processes more efficient.
• Responsible for defining, implementing and overall governance of processes aimed to support a structured PMO framework; and providing project management guidance to large IT projects.
• Develop and implement effective standard project performance metrics.
• Develop and maintain policies, procedures and templates that support the IT Project Management methodology and ensure that the IT staff are appropriately trained.
• Develop and maintain standards for Project Management .
• Work with project leaders to identify potential project risks, implement appropriate courses of action to address project slippage and develop strategies to mitigate future risk.
• Monitor project quality controls.
• Own and evolve the project management methodology and tools, maintenance and usage of project prioritization models and other project decision-making tools.
• Select and implement software tools to automate IT project management processes.

Experience, Competencies, Skills, and Attributes:

The ideal candidate will be a collaborative, result-oriented and proven leader in the IT arena with solid IT management experience and breadth of experience across IT functions, specifically as it relates to applications development. Successful candidates will display exceptional communication skills and embrace significant challenges and opportunities with enthusiasm and confidence.

• Significant expertise in creating simple to complex project plans, timelines and work breakdown structures using MS Project.
• Technical understanding of the processes related to delivering IT Solutions (ie Change Management, Production Support, Data Center operations, Help Desk, Desktop Support, and Disaster Recovery etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to create effective written materials including: presentations, analytical diagrams, system specifications, test plans, project schedules, resource utilization models, and task list.
• Experienced working within cross functional project teams.
• Must be highly intelligent with an analytical approach in dealing with projects and issues.
• A responsible, detail-oriented, results-driven work ethic.
• Good communicator, good verbal and strong interpersonal skills.
• Proven ability to work as a team player.
• Highly collaborative work style that compromise with others in achieving win-win results.
• Ability to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.

QUALIFICATIONS:
• PMI Certification required
• MBA with concentration in finance or technology preferred
• 3-5 years experience in the project management and reporting
• 5-6 years experience in software development and technology implementation
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Financial Project Manager

Investment management firm in Boston

Contract or contract to hire position.


· Looking for a strong PM. Must be able to manage multiple projects.

· Strong financial/investment exp (trading not necessary).

· Must be able to wear many hats, make sure projects get on track and stay on budget.

· Need stable environment at good firms.

· Must have 3-5+ years of project managing enterprise application at an investment firm.

· Having worked on .NET apps is a big plus.


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Deployment Engineer

Investment management firm in Boston

Contract or contract to hire position.


· Experience with Team Foundation Server (TFS) or Cruise Control

· Work with PM and TL for new release dates.

· Make sure all code is reviewed before it goes into production.

· Standardize all developers desktop

· Work with all developers so they are using some type of version control software Installshield or Cruise Control

· Perform initial testing to verify proper installation and configuration

· Implementation of projects into the ready-to-install modules for existing core program

· Support requests, i.e. assistance, queries, enhancements and data procedures

· Perform program analysis, debugging and solution testing

· Documentation


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

.NET Tech Lead

Investment management firm in Boston

Contract or contract to hire position.

Tech Leads (2 spots) - ASAP Start next week!!



· Hands on .NET Developer that can take ownership projects.

· Work with project Manager on Design, Delivery, Code Reviews, Scalability, Volume, Performance

· Solid financial or investment exp. Does not need trading.

· Must have exp as a Tech Lead on an Enterprise .NET application. (Going from a thin client to an enterprise app)


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Senior Citrix Engineer - start ASAP

Investment management firm near Boston. Start date as early as MONDAY.

Contract position for a senior Citrix Engineer. Candidate must be local and available to start immediately. Contract role - potential for hire down the road if qualified but not a necessity.

Senior Citrix

-5 years of Citrix server architecture, design, and implementation

-Ability to architect highly available Citrix environment (Citrix Presentation Server, Nfuse/Web Interface, and secure gateway)

-Experience troubleshooting complex network, server, and application problems as they relate to Citrix

-Experience with Citrix on VMware


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Senior Windows Engineer Contract - start ASAP

Investment management firm near Boston. Start date as early as MONDAY.

Contract position for a senior Windows Systems Engineer. Candidate must be local and available to start immediately. Contract role - potential for hire down the road if qualified but not a necessity.

-5 years installing, configuring, and patch administration on windows systems

-Experience with windows 2000 and 2003 Standard/Enterprise x86 and x64 Intel based systems

-Strong experience supporting windows servers in a production environment

-Prior experience with HP blade servers and chassis' - including ILO and chassis switching

-MSCS 2003 experience

-Experience with imaging tools such as Acronis

-Strong ability to isolate problems in a production environment considering networking, authentication, and other infrastructure systems.


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Enterprise Architect

Client is a $150 billion investment management firm in Boston.

Reporting to the Infrastructure Leader, the Enterprise Architecture ensures the viability, interoperability and reliability of technology by translating business requirements and business strategy into effective Enterprise solutions. This individual is also responsible for articulating the architectural vision, conceptualizing and experimenting with alternative architectural approaches, validating the architecture against business requirements, guide and support IT solutions, design and mentor development teams on methodologies, processes and guidelines.


Primary Responsibilities:

• Demonstrated application of architecture strategies, standards, processes, and tools in their solution designs
• Design of high quality application architectures that meet their customers requirements and are consistent with enterprise architectural standards
• Increased re-use and reduced redundancy in applications and technology designs
• Supports the development of strategy, frameworks, best practices and patterns for the application architects.
• Ensures compliance with all architecture directions and standards through cross organization consulting in development efforts.
• Works with constituents and the architectures to gain consensus and establish application architecture standards, policies and directions.
• Support the definition and selection of enterprise tools, technologies and processes
• Ensure representation from the all stakeholders in the design of application solutions
• Act as an expert in application design and development
• Monitor adherence to company standards in application design, development, and testing
• Assist in aligning business strategy to IT strategy. Actively seek opportunities to leverage current IT solutions for new business offerings and services. Align IT solutions with business functions to improve flexibility, facilitate large scale reuse, and improve comprehensibility and visibility of IT’s value to the business.
• Assess, formulate, and communicate go forward information architecture and technology direction for company, collaborating with IT development teams and business sponsors.
• Review and approve project deliverables to ensure that they are architecturally sound and achieve as great a degree of fit with the desired architectures as possible.
• Aggressively identify enterprise IT solution/technology initiatives that are of value. Collaborate with other architects and teams in execution of the initiatives
• Facilitate the availability of relevant technologies and tools to development teams in a timely manner, subject to technology availability
• Facilitate cross team collaboration.

Must have the ability to contribute to future vision and strategy by conducting research and proof of concepts, maintaining a broad knowledge of new technical tools and trends, and envisioning how those tools could be used in improving the business processes

Mandatory requirements:
• 10+ years in an IT Solutions Architecture role with heavy emphasis in .Net / Java (ideally in Financial sector)
• 10+ years in IT, application design, development and maintenance (ideally in the Financial sector)
• 10+ years experience managing technical organizations
• 3+ years experience with offshore vendors

Skills:
• Translate business strategy into technical vision and strategy
• Excellent communication skills, written and verbal
• Understand what the teams want and need from architecture
• Help teams see the value of the architecture and understand how to use it successfully
• Strong understanding of architecture principles and frameworks
• Experience with application and Integration design methodologies, standards and best practices
• Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and business integration
• TIBCO, NetApps, or IBM MQ integration environments
• Experience with BI, EDWs, and DB environment
• Experience with security architecture
• Application Design, Development, and Testing – Software Life Cycle
• Management techniques and Tools for managing requirements, processes, and object versioning




Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Project Management / Business Analysis Manager – Investment Systems

Client is a $150 billion investment management firm in Boston.

This is a full time, permanent position.

Reporting to the Head of Investment Systems, the Project Management and Business Analysis Manager will oversee the business analysis and project management activities associated with several Investment Systems applications. The primary focus of this position will be with activities supporting the development of the Eagle PACE data warehouse. In addition, this position will oversee projects associated with the development and enhancement of several other investment control applications that support the asset management process. Functionally, this organization will perform detailed analysis and the generation of business requirements to support any Investment Systems changes required by the business. This position will also serve as the primary point of contact with key business users in the Investment and Investment Control areas.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Supports the development of business solutions for Investment Systems applications, primarily Eagle PACE to support the enterprise warehouse.
• Ensures, coordinates and expedites successful generation of business requirements to support application changes
• Oversees the project management and prioritization of initiatives in the Investment Systems area
• Participates in the resolution of application problems pertinent to Investment Systems Applications in
collaboration, if required, with the support teams or third-party vendors.
• Acquires and maintains knowledge base for Investment System Applications
• Coordinates application acceptance testing with the users and support teams
• Document or define Investment System Application operational workflows.

Mandatory requirements:

• Strong background in Financial Services operations relative to asset management
• Strong project management skills and ability to oversee simultaneous initiatives
• Background with Eagle PACE or other data warehouse solutions preferred
• Undergraduate degree in technology discipline or equivalent experience
• 3-5 years experience in an IT organization with application development experience
• 3-5 years experience in a managerial capacity within IT
• 5+ years experience in the financial services industry

Skills:

• Ability to analyze user requests and guide appropriate solutions
• Ability to develop business solutions consistent with application standards
• Ability to develop and communicate application solutions and corresponding project plans
• Broad experience with Microsoft Products required (MS Project / MS Office, etc.)
• Experience with Corporate Products listed below. CRD, XIP, Eagle PACE and FMC Pacer highly desired
• Ability to supervise and guide a team of application business analysts
• Ability to work with Investment and Operations personnel to understand business requirements and to formulate acceptable solutions
• Ability to work with IT Development, Support and Operations teams to prioritize, schedule and implement application solutions

Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Business Systems Analyst - Financial Applications

Client is a Private Equity firm in the back bay area of Boston.

This is a full time, permanent position.

The candidate will participate at various levels in all technology related initiatives from inception to implementation and support. Through in-depth knowledge of the business, this position will document business processes, develop needs analysis, functional / technical specifications and perform system / user acceptance testing around hardware and software implementations.

Key skills:
- Must have experience with either accounting system implementations (i.e. Geneva) OR must have trading desk experience

- Must have a significant background in finance (corporate actions and compliance don't count) OR must have an MBA


RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Form strong working relationships with internal users - both business and technical - to facilitate reporting.
• Fulfill responsibilities related to production support as well as application development projects simultaneously.
• Create documentation in support of technology requests
• Gather, validate, document, and facilitate implementation of business requirements for technology initiatives (includes business/data requirements, data flows, data modeling, workflow context and design, and user interface designs)
• Responsible for system planning and testing
• Participate in user acceptance testing and support system training / documentation.

QUALIFICATIONS:
• MBA with concentration in finance or technology preferred
• 2 - 3 years experience with financial applications
• Strong project management experience in all stages of the project lifecycle required
• Background in application development or infrastructure preferred
• Knowledge of securities, currencies and derivatives required
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills

TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE:
• Experience with a large, functionally diverse, and informed user base that demands high quality applications.
• Strong understanding of relational databases, reporting schemas
• Experience with Reporting systems for investment management required
• Strong MS Excel skills including experience with building macros required
• Experience with data warehouse and reporting data marts preferred
• Exposure to Total Return, Eze Castle Traders Console, and Electronic Communication Networks preferred
• Intermediate skill level in data modeling, normalization, and SQL queries.
• Experience in User Interface design in web and client-server environments.
• Familiarity with multiple architectures: n-tier, .NET, client-server, etc. and multi-system application integration
• Fundamental understanding of software development lifecycle.


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

VMware expert contract - Start ASAP

Local candidates only. This is a financial client therefore there will be a background check.

3 month contract to start with the possibility of an extension.

The right candidate can phone interview tomorrow and start as early as three days from now.

o Vmware Server and ESX
o Vmware certification is a big plus but not a must
o Disk Architecture and management from local attached to NAS and SAN
o Microsoft Operating systems from XP and 2000 to Vista and 2003
o Active Directory
o Standard Intel/AMD architecture from Dell and HP
o Microsoft enterprise applications ranging from IIS to Exchange and SQL


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Telecommunications Engineer

Client is a Private Equity firm in the back bay area of Boston.

This is a full time, permanent position.

QUALIFICATIONS:
• Seeking candidates with a minimum of 3 to 5 years experience in the telecommunications career field.
• Candidates MUSThave a minimum of 3 to 5 years with Avaya PBXs, Avaya Modular Messaging, Avaya CMS, and Avaya Vectoring.
o Prefer Avaya 8700 Series PBXs
• Candidates MUSThave a minimum of 3 years with APC UPS product line and InfraStruXure Manager.
• Willing to be available 24X7X365 via cell phone.
• Must be available for on call duties and scheduled duties outside of normal working hours – Nights, Weekends, and Holidays.
• Must be willing to travel nationally and internationally.
• Must posses the ability to assist with the design, coordination, and project management of new construction and remodeling as it pertains to all cabling and environmental factors for IT spaces – data centers, MDFs, IDFs and disaster recovery locations.
• Strong customer service skills are essential. (The culture is high demand, high expectation where every request is an immediate need.)
• Must be able to work in an environment of open communications and teamwork.
• Dedicated to exceeding quality standards and providing products and services of the highest caliber.
• Exceptional work ethic, uses time productively, maximizes efficiency, and meets challenging work goals.
• Manages time effectively. Uses work plans to prioritize completing and interdependent tasks and meet deadlines.
• Meet the challenging requirement of 24X7X365 uptime for all services.
• Ability to work extended hours, including evenings and weekend hours to meet project deadlines or resolve issues.
• Be open to assume additional responsibilities as requested, and perform ad-hoc duties as required.
• Ability to identify, troubleshoot, and resolve problems without direct supervision.
• Must possess the ability to work in a high-volume, fast paced, dynamic environment with a positive "can do" attitude.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Ability to identify gaps and propose solutions in an unstructured environment.
• The individual should also have strong analytical and communication skills and the ability to work efficiently and effectively with co-workers and other IT Team members.
• Willingness to learn new products, services, and interfaces relative to the position.


KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Assist with day-to-day design, installation, management and trouble shooting of the cabling plant at all locations globally. (Fiber & copper for voice, data, cable television, voice and video conferencing.)
• Assist with day-to-day design, installation, and management of the power (UPS & generators) and other environmental factors (HVAC) pertinent to IT spaces globally. (All data centers, MDFs, IDFs, and disaster recovery locations.)
• Responsible for/assists with all telecommunications endeavors, including programming and administering all telecommunications servers – PBXs, Voice Messaging Systems, Fax Systems, and Trading Turret Systems globally. (MACs, design, installation, administration & management, and trouble shooting.)
• The Telecommunications Engineer will work closely with departmental staff and internal business partners to ensure that their day to day telecommunications requirements are met.
• Assists with the design, installation, management, and trouble shooting of all circuits for voice, data, video, cable television and the WAN globally.
• Ability to assist with the management of all vendors providing telecommunications services to all locations globally.
• Assist with and ensure delivery of consistently superior customer experience by working closely with the IT Technical Service Group (TSG) and all members of the IT Team.
• Recommend products and services that will improve telecommunications services to the organization globally.
• Comfortable with and required to interface daily with all levels of the organization globally.
• Resolves customer inquiries and complaints that have escalated beyond the IT Technical Service Group (TSG)
• Management of all projects as assigned by manager.
• Assist with all telecommunications contracts, billing, and budgeting for services provided to all locations globally.
• Prioritizes work load to ensure that escalated IT Technical Service Group tickets are first and foremost and are resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible.


Communications Skills

• Ability to effectively communicate with co-workers, peers and management through written and verbal communication.
• Ability to communicate with customers, inter-department and other third parties in a professional manner.
• Ability to deal with varied and often difficult personalities while maintaining an even temperament.
• Ability to resolve recurring problems in a tactful manner.
• Excellent listening skills.



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Financial Windows Application Developer (.NET)

Client is a mid sized investment firm in Boston.

Multiple positions open for both a permanent employee and a contractor.

Any quantitative/research/analytical experience or Matlab is a big plus.


The Windows Applications Developer would work closely with business users, developers and third parties to identify areas where technology could be leveraged to enhance the investment process. The candidate would design and implement software solutions to provide financial analysis, streamline workflow process, and automate trading.


Primary Responsibilities:

• Propose and design technical solutions.
• Architect, build or expand existing applications for research, trading, reporting and analysis across the firm.
• Implement applications based on the solutions proposed and work closely with users to test and integrate the applications into the current production environment.
• Support the applications developed as well as legacy systems.


Mandatory requirements:

• Undergraduate degree in technology discipline.
• 3 years experience developing Windows applications with .NET.
• Experience designing complex applications with .NET (VB or C#), C++ or Java.
• Experience using relational databases.


Skills:

• Excellent communication skills – both written and oral.
• Mathematics or other analytical background would be a plus.
• Knowledge of Matlab would be a plus.


Character:

• Self-starter, able to work as part of a small team as well as independently, with minimal supervision.
• High energy, positive attitude, professional and mature.
• Detail-oriented, able to prioritize work and effectively manage multiple tasks.
• Interest in Finance and Economics.

Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

SQL Server Developer - Financial

Client is a mid sized investment firm in Boston.

Multiple positions open for both a permanent employee and a contractor.

Any quantitative/research/analytical experience or Matlab is a big plus.


The Database Developer would work closely with business users, developers and third parties to identify areas where technology could be leveraged to enhance the investment process. The candidate would design and implement database systems and software solutions used for research, analysis, and trading.


Primary Responsibilities:

• Propose and design financial data solutions and interfaces.
• Architect, build or expand existing database systems for research, trading and operations functions across the firm.
• Implement applications based on the solutions proposed and work closely with users to test and integrate the applications into the current production environment.
• Support the applications developed as well as legacy systems.


Mandatory requirements:

• Undergraduate degree in technology discipline.
• 2 years experience developing database applications.
• Experience designing and building database systems.
• Experience developing applications with Microsoft SQL Server as a backend.
• Experience with .NET (VB or C#).
• Knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, Reporting Services or Analysis Services.


Skills:

• Proven ability to deliver quality applications based on given time estimates.
• Ability to provide creative solutions and desire to keep up with advances in technology.
• Excellent communication skills – both written and oral.
• Mathematics or other analytical background would be a plus.
• Knowledge of Matlab preferred.


Character:

• Self-starter, able to work as part of a small team as well as independently, with minimal supervision.
• High energy, positive attitude, professional and mature.
• Detail-oriented, able to prioritize work and effectively manage multiple tasks.



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Senior Release Engineer

Client is a $200 billion mutual fund firm in the Back Bay area of Boston.

This is a permanent position.

Job Description:
-The Release Engineering Architect is a subject matter expert in release engineering and is responsible for the design, implementation, and effective and efficient maintenance of related technologies. In addition, this individual has expert knowledge of Information Technology at large, with a firm understanding of related disciplines and how they interoperate.
-Serves as key subject matter expert in the field of release engineering, maintaining a deep understanding of the field and its related technologies.
-Using a full understanding of approved application life cycle phases, participates in strategic planning, project management, process reengineering, and code release management.
-Promotes application objects (i.e. code, reports, text files) from a development or staging environment to a production environment using tools appropriate for application deployment.
-Provides technical support to ensure the ongoing efficient and reliable operations of related information systems.
-Proactively develops and maintains strong knowledge of information systems and their related components.
-Leverages technology to automate manual tasks, and seeks to improve efficiency wherever practicable and appropriate.
-Develops, enforces and maintains Information Security controls, procedures, and standards.
-Receives broad goals and overall objectives from Management and proactively establishes and implements the methods to attain them.
-Leads projects and is directly accountable for meeting project objectives including timelines and budgeting.
-Serves as mentor to other technical team members, and presents technology briefings to IT and business line management as required.
-Researches and implements industry best practices.
-Correlates technology advancements and implementation plans with business benefits.

Requirements:
-Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in a related technical field. Master's degree or equivalent preferred.
-Ten or more years of related Information Technology experience.
-Considered subject matter expert in the area.
-Strong knowledge of multiple technologies, platforms, and programming languages.
-Solid understanding of Systems Development Life Cycle models.
-Strong analytical, problem solving and organizational skills.
-Demonstrated financial skills.
-Demonstrated ability to work effectively with employees at all organizational levels through well-honed interpersonal, communication, negotiation, presentation and relationship-building skills.
-Proven ability to manage complex projects and related resources efficiently and to meet all project objectives.


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Desktop Support Technician

Client: One of the top investment firms in Boston

This is a full time, permanent position.

SUMMARY:
The Desktop Support Technician will work as part of the Information Technology Desktop Support group of a global investment management firm. The group is responsible for the support of workstations, user accounts, local applications, telephony and general technical troubleshooting, working in an ITIL service model. Excellent communication skills and friendly demeanor are required. Company works primarily with Microsoft products, but the candidate should be flexible and willing to learn new technologies.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Support internal customers with technology related questions and incidents
• Monitor the Desktop Support problem tracking queue
• Triage and resolve incidents
• When necessary, escalate problems to the appropriate IT resources
• Create and update documentation
• Communicate incident status to customers
• Deploy desktop systems and troubleshoot problems
• Install patches and updates to desktop systems
• Maintain desktop images
• Deploy software to desktop systems using Altiris Deployment Server
• Track inventory of desktop hardware
• Manage laptop and handheld loaner equipment
• Manage the initial phases of the Purchasing process (specifying hardware, creating quotes, obtaining approvals)
• Support the employee new hire, transfer, and termination processes
• Manage approval process and implementation of application access

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED:
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing
• Knowledge of business practices and procedures
• Ability to advance a cooperative work environment
• Ability to perform systematic analysis and convey in documentation
• Detail oriented with the ability to deliver solutions on deadline
• Ability to prioritize workload and handle multiple tasks
• Strong aptitude toward systems and applications

SYSTEMS/APPLICATIONS SUPPORTED OR USED:
• Microsoft Operating Systems, XP, 2000, Vista and 2003
• Active Directory
• Standard Intel/AMD architecture from Dell
• Altiris Notification Server and Deployment Server
• Symantec Endpoint Protection
• Microsoft Office Suite
• Blackberry and Windows Mobile Handheld devices


Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.

Tidal Process Engineer

Boston cased investment management firm.

This is a full time, permanent position.


POSITION PROFILE
The Tidal Process Engineer works under the guidance of the Release Manager. The Tidal Engineer is responsible for the Tidal Enterprise Scheduler and a suite of supporting products. Tidal Process Engineer builds is responsible for the release management aspects of job lifecycle through company environments. Position works closely with Quality Assurance and other Release Team members to ensure Tidal job processing conforms to established organizational standards. This position may also require some Operational job documentation of job structures or working with Development on coming up with a set of job notes.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Responsible for design, development, implementation, and analysis of technical products and systems related to enterprise scheduling
• Performs engineering design evaluations of enterprise scheduling servers and processes
• Develop release standards for job process migration through company environments
• Create, maintain, and evaluate job streams in our enterprise scheduling software
• Provide expertise to the job design and development stages to improve quality of enterprise scheduling processes and procedures
• Acts as a resource within IT for all to ensure full understanding of scheduling best practices and standards

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience
• 2-5 years experience in the financial services industry
• 2-5 years experience working with Windows 2003 Server in an enterprise environment
• Familiarity with Citrix, VMWare ESX Server, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005

PREFERRED REQUIREMENTS
• Knowledge of commonly-used concepts, practices, and procedures related to enterprise scheduling
• Basic understanding of the T-SQL database language
• Experience with batch and command line processing and scripting in a Windows environment
• Experience with VBScript, WMI, and SysInternals tools
• Experience with Job Scheduling applications such Tidal Enterprise Scheduler, CONTROL-M, AppWorx, Argent, Redwood, etc.
• Ability to research and evaluate new systems and technology to solve business, operations, and technology problems
• Experience with FTP servers and the following protocols FTP, SFTP, and FTPS
• Ability to troubleshoot complex problems from start to finish
• Experience troubleshooting Active Directory user authentication problems
• Knowledge of Windows file and share security
• Experience with remote software installation using Altiris
• Ability to efficiently analyze log files to troubleshoot problems
• Experience with Ipswitch Move-IT product

CANDIDATE CHARACTERISTICS
• Ability to provide a professional interface to internal and external customers and vendors
• Ability to work effectively as individual contributor and as part of a larger IT team
• Ability to perform self and team project management (prior technical leadership roles)
• Ability to be an effective leader and take imitative when required
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills,
• Excellent attention to detail, strong organizational skills
• Excellent analytical and problem solving skills
• Ability to scope projects, create project plans, and manage deliverables & deadlines



Please contact Albert Barsoumian with qualified resumes via email at albert@collabstaff.com or via phone at 508-872-7402.