Job Application for Program Manager at Bridgewater Associates

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About Bridgewater 

Bridgewater Associates is a premier asset management firm, focused on delivering unique insight and partnership for the most sophisticated global institutional investors. 

Our investment process is driven by a tireless pursuit to understand how the world’s markets and economies work — using cutting-edge technology to validate and execute on timeless and universal investment principles. 

Founded in 1975, we are a community of independent thinkers who share a commitment to excellence. By fostering a culture of openness, transparency, and inclusion, we strive to unlock the most complex questions in investment strategy, management, and corporate culture. 

Our Culture 

Our culture is tied to our mission, which is to understand how the world’s markets and economies work, and to translate that into world-class investment performance. This requires an extraordinary team, defined by the best individuals and the best portfolio of people, operating in an idea meritocracy. In this, we are uncompromising on our shared values of excellence, truth, integrity, humility, and courage. Our aspiration of a vibrant idea meritocracy requires diversity of thought – this comes from diversity of background, identity, experience, and so much more. We pursue inclusion because it’s how we unlock the power of that diversity and make sure the best ideas get heard. To sustain this way of being through lots of years and lots of circumstances, we invest in meaningful work and meaningful relationships – the purpose and joy that comes from tackling something challenging and worthy, alongside people who make us better versions of ourselves.

Explore more information about Bridgewater’s culture on our website here. 

About the Implementation Department

The Investment Implementation department is a community of diverse investment professionals whose mission is to implement our investment strategies and client portfolios excellently. Our Department is responsible for ensuring the excellent implementation of our systematic investment approach, from raw data to executed trades, with processes and logic that reflect the full richness of our investment insight, executed with a near-zero error rate, and engineered and orchestrated in a way that facilitates oversight and compounding. This is an investment department, owning the investment outcomes, and the mandate includes both the ‘run’ responsibility and the ‘transform’ responsibility, meaning daily operations as well as over time renovation of our systems.

We fulfill our mission by applying four operating principles:

Understand and deliver internal client needs. Partner with our internal clients to understand, offer implementation designs, and deliver solutions, while proactively educating and communicating outcomes to ACLs (Asset Class Leads) and CIOs.
Own our investment intent. Own our investment intent in full, in letter and spirit.
Continuously improve. Have and evolve an investment pipeline to meet current and future internal client needs.
Systematically and relentlessly deliver quality outcomes. Apply our best logic systematically, discipline, expertise, and controls to every signal, position, and trade in every market.

About the Role

The Program Manager will join the team to provide direct program management while contributing to the shared goals of both that ecosystem and the broader investment efforts across BW. This role is critical to identification, driving alignment and execution across our department's initiatives, which are closely tied to the firm’s investment capabilities and long-term vision.

This role offers high visibility with senior leadership and is expected to influence departmental direction and companywide priorities. The Program Manager will partner with the Department Head and Director of Investment System Programs to shape and operationalize multi-year initiatives, identify and engage key stakeholders, and build clear paths of influence. The person in this role will collaborate with subject matter experts who require development in strategy and execution, as well as play a key role in translating the strategy into action. This includes guiding department level priorities, delivering critical programs, metrics, engaging with senior internal and external stakeholders, and directly managing one or more strategic initiatives or projects.

The ideal candidate will thrive in a dynamic, results-oriented environment, demonstrate proactive ownership, and possess the courage to challenge the status quo in service of the best outcome. Performance in this role will be evaluated based on strategic impact, execution quality, and ability to elevate the thinking and performance of the broader team.

You will drive the following responsibilities:

Partner with the Department Head and Director of Investment System Programs to design the structure, cadence, and operating model for multi-year strategic plans and roadmaps. The scope of this work will begin with a focus on Data Strategy and evolve over time and extend beyond any single functional area.
Lead the annual planning synthesis, working across stakeholders to translate strategy into clear priorities, timelines, and accountability.
Facilitate regular engagement with department leadership and stakeholders, ensuring alignment, transparency, and timely updates across project portfolios.
Develop and refine processes, tools and metrics to drive effective program and project management across the department.
Establish and enforce accountability frameworks, including clear metrics, ownership, and mechanisms for diagnosing and resolving challenges.
Proactively manage execution risks, identifying and addressing roadblocks, and adjusting direction based on new data and evolving priorities.
Drive cross-functional execution, providing structure, coordination, and project leadership in close partnership with the Department Head and senior team.
Operate with independence and sound judgment, resolving problems quickly and effectively while escalating when needed.
Collaborate with adjacent teams across the firm to support cross-functional initiatives and continuous improvement efforts.

Minimum Qualifications

3 - 5 years of experience in Project/Program Management, preferably with financial services or strategy consulting.
Bachelor's degree from an accredited undergraduate institution.
Proven track record of delivering measurable outcomes and long-term impact across complex programs – experience should span both strategic thinking and proven delivery / implementation of ideas.
Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to synthesize and convey complex ideas clearly and effectively both in writing and in high-stakes meetings with senior leadership.
Experience leading large, multi-phased initiatives, with strong planning, prioritization, and executions skills in dynamic environments.
Ability to operate autonomously, make decisions under pressure, and pivot quickly when priorities shift or new data emerges.
Strong critical thinking and analytical capabilities, with the confidence to challenge assumptions and the discipline to drive toward clarity and resolution.
Collaborative leadership skills, with the ability to drive execution across multiple initiatives while managing organizational impact and a wide array of stakeholders
Fluency with Microsoft Office tools, particularly Excel and PowerPoint; familiarity with project management tools or data visualization platforms is a plus.
While not required, experience in investment operations or familiarity with Bridgewater’s investment principles (e.g., alpha, beta, portfolio construction) is advantageous.

Why Choose Bridgewater? 

It takes all types to make Bridgewater great. We seek a diverse group of innovative thinkers and push them to engage in rigorous and thoughtful inquiry. We develop people through an honest examination of their abilities and performance, enabling personal growth and professional development. We strive to provide you with opportunities that will challenge you and unlock your potential. 

In this role, you will grow with us by:

Acting as a primary partner to our department leaders.
Sharpening your ability to solve tough problems and becoming more effective as you learn about your own strengths and weaknesses.
Taking on larger and more complex projects as you learn and master the day-to-day responsibilities of your job, having more impact through time.
Gaining insight into the full scope of Implementation and the critical role the department plays in the Investment Pipeline
Receiving exposure to the investment strategy and relationships that are at the heart of what we do.

Physical Requirements 

The anticipated onsite requirement for this role is four days per week at our Westport, CT campus.

Compensation Band

The expected annual base salary for this position is $150,000-$200,000. The total compensation package includes variable compensation in the form of a discretionary target bonus.

One of our core priorities at Bridgewater is to enable our employees to build a great life and career, and we believe our benefits are an important extension of that philosophy. As such, currently Bridgewater offers a competitive suite of benefits. Explore more information about Bridgewater’s benefits on our website here.

Bridgewater reserves the right to change its current benefits program at any time, in a manner that is consistent with applicable federal and state regulations. 

This job description is not a contract and confers no contractual rights, privileges, or benefits on any applicant or potential applicant. Bridgewater has the right to change any and all terms of this job description, including, but not limited to, job responsibilities, qualifications and benefits. Nothing in this job description constitutes an offer or guarantee of employment. Please note that we do not provide immigration sponsorship for this position. 

Bridgewater Associates, LP is an Equal Opportunity Employer 

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Program Manager

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