Performance Systems Analyst

Full time, permanent position at an asset management firm in Boston.

Position Overview:

The Performance Systems Analyst will be a member of the Information Technology team but work closely with several teams throughout the organization including Performance and Attribution group, Marketing, Client Service, Portfolio Construction; main responsibilities include support and management of the performance and attribution systems. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in project management, international investment, and portfolio performance combined with excellent analytical, communication, and technology skills.

Responsibilities:

Ensure prompt, accurate calculation and reporting for all composites, as well as other performance related data for a variety of purposes. Specific responsibilities include:

• Maintain composites in multiple systems (performance and attribution related)
• Run and analyze attributions in multiple platforms (Factset, StatPro, BARRA, Proprietary Factor Attribution System)
• Participate in the planning, testing, and deployment of releases and upgrades of Operations and Performance applications.
• Lead components of major initiatives
• Gather user and system requirements, develop specifications for Operations and Performance systems (such as the integration of the portfolio system with other applications) Conduct business and systems requirements analysis, data mapping, and data conversion analysis
• Analyze workflows, processes and procedures
• Develop and test new group processes and technology solutions
• Work with Performance and Attribution group to further improve processes and streamline workflow

Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Economics, Mathematics or other financial/information systems related degree
• At least 3 years of experience in performance measurement and/or information technology
• Strong knowledge of SQL
• Ability to write/amend Microsoft Excel macros
• Prior knowledge of BARRA, StatPro, FactSet, GIPS, DSTi, Bloomberg, Reuters desired
• CFA or CIPM, or demonstrated progress towards one, is a plus
• Be well organized, flexible, and able to work independently as well as in a team environment
• Extremely strong analytical skills, attention to detail and quality
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to lead project meetings with users.
• Ability to effectively handle multiple priorities
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to adapt to a fast-paced, ever-changing environment
• Demonstrate high commitment to meeting deadlines and exceeding expectations

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

Investment Operations Engineer

Full time, permanent position at an asset management firm in Boston.

Position overview

This position has development and maintenance responsibility for the software programs and processes associated with our investment operations support team. This would include support for a broad range of applications, including those for accounting, reconciliation, trade settlement, cash management, corporate action processing, performance measurement, client reporting, and client billing. This role reports to a Development Team Leader and is a member of the Information Technology team. The position has exposure to many business units in a dynamic investment management firm. The position requires some direct interaction with end users and requires excellent analytical and communication skills.


Responsibilities

Take responsibility for the maintenance of software programs used by the operations group.
Develop loaders for new sources of investment data, using a combination of C#/VB programs, Microsoft Data Transformation Services, and SQL Server Integration Services
Assist with various application enhancement requests
Continue development of reporting solutions to meet internal and external business and client requirements.
Maintain, enhance and develop new stored procedures within SQL Server and Sybase environments.
Work collaboratively with Operations and IT staff and with business units across the firm
Research, resolve, and document production issues and work with appropriate teams to resolve the problem.

Qualifications

B.S. in computer science or equivalent a strong plus
Minimum 5 years software development experience
3 or more years experience with software development in a financial services environment a strong plus
Must be skilled in Visual Studio (C#, ASP.NET, Visual Basic)
Must be skilled in SQL
Experience with SQL Server Reporting Services or Crystal Reports desirable
Outstanding analytical and quantitative skills
Strong interpersonal/communication skills
Strong organization skills and detail-oriented
Good teamwork skills
Familiarity with investment operations and transaction processing a plus

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

SQL Server DBA

Two positions, one is a Full Time permanent position and the otehr is an open ended contract
Downtown Boston location


Overview:
Reporting to the Database Manager, the Senior DBA would be aligned with a development and business division and act as the liaison, providing superior database support, direction and solutions for new and ongoing initiatives. Areas of support/solutions include implementing best practices, performance tuning, problem resolution, environment buildout and database maintenance. The Senior DBA will also be an integral part of the DBA team responsible for project delivery, and contribute to the future vision of the department.

Primary Responsibilities
· Manage a production environment consisting of 300+ databases, and 50+ 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

· Manage HA and DR solutions including MS Cluster Server, Database Mirroring, Log Shipping and SQL Replication

· Assist in the development of a GDOC (Global Database Operations Center) where our systems will be 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.

· Leverage 3rd party tools (e.g. Red-Gate, Idera) 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

· Resolve blocking and deadlocking issues, high CPU / memory, analyze job timeouts, ETL loader performance problems.

· Manage database maintenance jobs to ensure optimal performance and data availability.

· Define and enforce database standards, best practices, methodologies, processes and procedures

· Assist in the build out of our SQL Server Analysis Services 2005/2008 (SSAS) OLAP databases

· Provide development and production support for complex SSIS packages

· Architect and implement reports within SSRS 2005/2008

· Research new technologies to enhance performance, heighten security, ensure uptime, automate common/redundant administrative duties


Mandatory Requirements
· An average of 5-6+ years Database Administration

· Knowledge of the financial industry is preferred

· Experience with managing and implementing High Availability (HA) solutions for SQL Server 2005/2008

· Experience with managing and implementing DR solutions for SQL Server 2005/2008 (e.g. DB Mirroring, SAN replication, etc)

· Database monitoring software (e.g. Idera, HP Openview, SiteScope, etc) and advanced monitoring techniques

· Experience with VLDB’s - 100+ GB databases, hundreds of DB’s in a highly transactional environment

· Well versed in query performance analysis, improvements and troubleshooting performance degradation

· Experience with resolving complex blocking and deadlocking issues and automated ways of doing so

· Strong knowledge of SQL Server internals and performance tuning methodologies

· Experience with security as it pertains to databases (permissions, users, roles, policies, etc)

· Experience writing comprehensive and descriptive documentation

· Understanding of the database development lifecycle, including database creation, table design, etc.

· Familiar with ETL tools and processes, primarily with SSIS 2005/2008, Informatica, DTS

· Experience supporting the development and deployment of complex SSIS packages

· Experience with architecting and implementing reports within SQL Server Reporting Services 2005/2008

· Experience in the management of OLAP databases, most specifically with SSAS 2005/2008

· Solid grasp of primarily T-SQL


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

Derivatives Developer

Contract position in Boston at a financial firm
Working on a large derivatives project
Derivatives knowledge is a must

Java is preferred development language but will consider candidates with C++

Derivative Products: Swaps (IRS, CCS, CDS, TRS, Equity), Futures, FX
Industry Experience: Middle Office, Back Office, Front Office, Pricing, Insurance industry hedging, other Derivatives accounting Apps (Calypso, Murex, etc.)

Technical Skills: Findur//Endur/AVS, C, SQL, Java, Reuters/Tibco Messaging or similar, UNIX/KSH, DBs: Sybase, SQL Server, Oracle

Soft Skills: Independent, good communication

Pluses: Informatica, ClearCase. Control-M, ESP, .NET, Swapswire, RediPlus, Swiskey, working with offshore.

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

Support Engineer - Financial Applications

Full time position in Boston
Hours are from 6 am – 3pm on all US trading days

Client is a Boston based, 40+ person firm that specializes in managing alternative and index-oriented investments for institutional clients. They are currently seeking a Support Engineer to serve as a technical liaison between the business users and the Development team and Systems team. The person filling this role will work directly with traders, fund managers and research personnel to resolve technology problems. Additionally, the role will involve change management functions including release testing and software configuration and deployment.

Principal Role and Responsibilities:

This is a multi-function job role that requires time to be split between production support and systems maintenance.

Production Support

• Provide support for our various trading, fund management, and investment decision applications
• Monitor applications for production issues. Help troubleshoot any production issues that arise
• Participate in setup and configuration of new and existing applications
• Serves as initial point of escalation for all technology related issues
• On-call responsibilities
• Document issues and solutions
• Support hours are from 6 am – 3pm on all US trading days

Systems Maintenance

• Involved in all aspects of change management, including emergency production testing and change deployment as well as regularly scheduled software and data changes
• Assist with end-user testing
• Manage code deployment cycles
• Manage production accounts on Linux, Windows and SQL Server accounts
• Assist with production contingency planning and testing

Requirements

• 3+ years of IT work experience
• Prior experience in front office equity buy side environment, with experience in fund management and trading applications; any experience with Order Management Systems such as Charles River, Macgregor, etc would be a plus
• Demonstrable Unix scripting experience
• Solid technical understanding of databases and with demonstrable SQL experience; SQL Server preferred
• Some programming skills; Java and R preferred
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience finding and resolving technical problems
• Strong troubleshooting and general problem-solving abilities
• Bachelors degree required; technical major preferred


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