Job Application for Associate, Back Office Operations 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 for 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.

Explore more information about Bridgewater on our website here.

Our Culture

Our culture is anchored in excellence, meaning constant improvement, and it is deeply tied to our mission. Because markets are objective, competitive, and getting smarter everyday, we need to keep rapidly improving to have any chance of beating them. Truth is our most essential tool for engaging with the markets and constantly improving because once you know what's true about your problems and opportunities, you can determine how to get better. Valuing truth means being transparent about your decision-making and mistakes, giving and receiving feedback with humility, and fighting for the best answers over hierarchy, ego, or self-interest. Operating this way is hard – it's only possible because we build meaning in our work and relationships. This meaning comes from the audacity of the mission, and the joy of working alongside people who make you a better version of yourself. The culture, like Bridgewater itself, is always evolving. In 1997 our founder Ray Dalio wrote down his lessons, starting with a Philosophy Statement which remains our foundation. This later evolved into a set of 300+ Principles. In 2022, when Ray transitioned the company, we re-underwrote several of those principles and evolved others, with a specific focus on Meritocracy. Today the culture sits, alongside our people, as our most important edge. When we get it right, it’s the engine that powers everything else.

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

Operations Department Overview

The goal of the Operations Department is to enable Bridgewater's ongoing investment engine and client requirements by proactively driving solutions through effective management of people, process, and partners in a principled way. 

Overall Responsibilities

On and off-boarding support and maintenance of investor accounts, fund launches, trading and settlement counterparties, as well as new markets & instruments
Trade life cycle and portfolio control support (e.g. trade confirmation, collateral, reconciliation, etc.)
Investor and Fund services (e.g. capital flows, various investor reporting, etc.)
Accounting books and records and associated reporting (e.g. NAV)
Tax, Audit & regulatory/compliance support for BW, its funds and clients
Driving industry leading back-office solutions and engaging in thought leadership and strategic partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to shape key outcomes (e.g., BW Front Office, vendors)

Bridgewater has grown rapidly in recent years, transforming from an investment boutique to a leading global institutional asset manager. To manage this excellently, Bridgewater has placed explicit focus on evolving our world-class investment and support infrastructure including the use of external partners for key processes. Since Back Office processes are mission-critical, the department has evolved the way in which it meets its goals and responsibilities. Bridgewater now operates a unique and innovative “tri-party model” that enables us to remain responsible for investment management and oversight of our back office, while also taking advantage of the independent processes and technology of two strategic partners who are industry leaders in this space. Key aspects of Bridgewater’s internal back office include quality control and relationship management with the service providers as well as enablement of firm-wide change initiatives.

About Your Role

The Middle & Back Office Associate position in Operations is comprised of (1) monitoring and managing the deliverables and performance of outsourced providers, (2) operating internal processes and procedures and (3) improving and evolving both (e.g. participating in initiatives enabling support of new products, markets, and unique investor requirements, enhancing processes and controls, etc.).

Our Associates are developed more as "generalists" who can understand the end-to-end processes of all aspects of Operations, as opposed to being specialists in just one particular product or process.

We are seeking motivated, agile, and results-oriented people to be part of the team critical to enabling Bridgewater.

Responsibilities

Reviewing outsourced partner deliverables for quality, accuracy and timeliness to ensure mission-critical Operations responsibilities are met including excellent escalating and troubleshooting of problems
Produce various internal and external reporting, including but not limited to client, regulatory, risk & control and management metrics
Act as a liaison between outsourced partner(s) and internal BW departments (e.g. Trading/Front Office, Client Service) for queries and providing subject matter expertise on various projects and initiatives
Identify problems and inefficiencies with various processes and develop and implement solutions (e.g. streamline redundant processes, automate controls & reports, etc)
Contribute towards training, testing, and certification of other Associates over time to ensure a high level of cross-training and fungibility

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree with a strong academic record from a competitive school
2-7 years’ experience in financial services Operations and/or Investor Services e.g. investment banking, hedge fund administration, or an Operations-specific consulting firm
Proficient in relevant software applications, particularly Excel, SharePoint, and PowerPoint. Data manipulation and coding skills are also valuable (e.g. pivot tables, macros, Power Query, VBA, SQL, "R", etc.)
A drive to incorporate AI into both day-to-day and long-term strategic workflows
Strong sense of personal responsibility, ownership mentality, reliability, results-orientation
Excellent ability to detect and troubleshoot problems, logical reasoning, and common sense
Process orientation (ability to both follow and streamline machines)
Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to hold others accountable
Learning agility and flexibility to keep up with what can be an uncertain and/or changing environment

Wage Range

The wage range for this role is $115,000-$175,000 inclusive of base salary and discretionary target bonus. The expected base salary for this role is between 80% - 90% of this wage range.

Physical Requirements

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

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 opportunities that will challenge you and unlock your potential.

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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Associate, Back Office Operations

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