Middle Office Support Specialist

Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago is a government-sponsored bank focused on providing competitively priced funding and support for community investment activities. The Middle Office Support Specialist is responsible for timely and accurate trade entry, overseeing the entire trade lifecycle, and ensuring a strong control environment throughout the process.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate the processing of all the Bank’s capital market related transactions which have a direct impact on downstream financial reporting
• Enhancing efficiency through collaboration with multiple stakeholders by continually seeking ways to streamline processes and improving workflows
• Contribute to operational excellence by maintaining a strong control environment throughout the trade lifecycle, reducing errors, and supporting compliance with internal policies
• Work with other Middle Office team members to ensure the timely, accurate entry and verification of all trades entered into the Summit system
• Perform necessary Middle Office tasks to ensure stability of work and have direct contribution to operational control framework
• Amend positions in systems (including input, cancellations, edits of trades, etc.) according to the defined procedure and event
• Perform and review necessary reconciliations and investigate any outstanding reconciling items
• Daily interaction and communication with trading desks on executed trades
• Work closely with accounting to resolve any accounting related breaks
• Understand system flow and front to back operations of trade processing, including settlements and confirms
• Investigate transaction issues and ensure all issues are dealt with effectively and resolved accordingly in a timely manner
• Ongoing enhancement of existing processes and procedures
• Assist with ad hoc inquiries

Skills

• Bachelor's Degree, preferably in Accounting, Finance, or Information Systems or 1-3 years of equivalent experience
• Intermediate MS Office skills in Excel, Word, Outlook. Pivot table analysis and building macros with VBA a plus
• Experience in SQL coding, data analysis, strong understanding of relational database design a plus
• Knowledge of Summit system experience, understanding of Summit trade configuration and setup a plus
• Knowledge of financial transactions including fixed income and derivatives
• Strong communication skills and comfortable cultivating relationships with peers and all levels of management
• Detailed-oriented with the ability to independently prioritize and manage competing priorities, identify and resolve issues with limited supervision
• Analytical and quantitative aptitude
• Adaptability to learn new tasks & demonstrate willingness to understand the details of a process
• Ability to examine a process and explain it to others
• A trusted, reliable and creative team member

Benefits

• Retirement program (401k and Pension)
• Medical, dental and vision insurance
• Lifestyle Spending Account
• Competitive PTO plan
• 11 paid holidays per year

Company Overview