2026 Reference Data Operations Summer Intern

The Role 

We are excited to offer an opportunity for a diverse group of talented students to join the internship program at Schonfeld. Over the course of ten weeks you’ll be fully immersed in our culture, partnering with professionals across the firm on high-profile initiatives that sit at the heart of our trading infrastructure. 

The Reference Data Operations team is the central hub for all static and reference data that powers Schonfeld’s trade lifecycle. We own end-to-end account onboarding, establishing the reference data that drives trade bookings in our golden-source database and maintaining the documentation for our Good-To-Trade (GTT) platform. We collaborate daily with teams like Risk, Portfolio Financing, Middle Office, Reference Data Tech, Operations Tech, Corporate Strategy, and Fund Accounting to ensure data accuracy and timeliness. We pride ourselves on capturing every referential detail that impacts trading, from portfolio manager and strategy setups, to execution & clearing counterparties, to the universe of tradeable products. 

What You’ll Do 

In this role, you will partner closely with Operations senior management and collaborate with peer groups across the firm. It is a prime opportunity to see how every department, Risk, Portfolio Financing, Middle Office, Technology, Fund Accounting, and more, intersects with the trade cycle, and how clean, accurate data accelerates time-to-market and unlocks new trading opportunities. In working on these operational projects, you will interact and liaise to helping us achieve a scalable infrastructure that is efficient and its data integrity in high regard for completeness and accuracy. 

Reference Data Management 

• Assist in a firm-wide clean-up of referential data, including strategy classifications, performance-attribution hierarchies, broker accounts, Good-To-Trade (GTT) records, and counterparty information. 

• Help design and execute systematic reconciliations that compare internal datasets with those received from external vendors, driving faster exception resolution and higher data integrity. 

• Support an overhaul and large-scale capture of Good-To-Trade activity across all strategies and products, ensuring new instruments, venues, and counterparties are correctly represented from day one. 

Documentation 

• Continuing to help build our master relationship contact sheet – covers all PB / EB / ISDA relationships and solving for a systematic way to have this be brought into our goldensource database. 

• Help reconcile information across all systems to ensure high static data integrity for the firm  

What You’ll Bring

• Foundational coding skills — ideally in Python, but also Excel skills, VBA, and some SQL querying logic 

• You can read and enhance existing scripts (e.g., our file-to-file comparison that reconciles strategy and account data against vendor feeds) and are comfortable debugging, documenting, and proposing small automation upgrades. 

• Data curiosity and precision. 

• You enjoy sifting through large datasets, spotting anomalies, and asking “why” until the numbers make sense. 

• High social EQ. 

• You’re approachable, collaborative, and maintain good spirits even when the work is detail-heavy. 

• You can adapt your communication style to portfolio managers one moment and operations the next. 

• Problem-solver’s mindset. 

• You look for systematic approaches, whether that’s designing reconciliation checks, cleaning referential fields, or streamlining Good-To-Trade intake. 

• Intellectual versatility. 

• Exposure to (or eagerness to learn about) multiple asset classes, trade flows, and the front-to-back operations landscape. 

• Ownership & accountability. 

• You take pride in delivering accurate, timely results and aren’t afraid to raise your hand when something looks off. 

• Progress toward a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a quantitative, computer-science, finance, or related discipline 

 Our Internship 

Kick-start your career in finance with the Schonfeld Summer Internship! Over the course of 10 action-packed weeks, you will have the opportunity to build solutions that tackle real-world challenges and leave a lasting impact on the firm. As an intern, you’ll join a close-knit team that is ready to support your growth and accelerate your career. We will pair you with a dedicated manager and a mentor who’ll guide your development over the course of the internship and beyond. Throughout the program, you will have the chance to connect with senior leaders through a series of learning sessions, attend hands-on skills workshops, network at social events and get a behind-the-scenes look at how various functions power the firm. We’ll empower you to bring your ideas to life and make an impact.  

Who We Are   

Schonfeld is a global multi-manager hedge fund that strives to deliver industry-leading risk-adjusted returns for our investors. We leverage both internal and external portfolio manager teams around the world, seeking to capitalize on inefficiencies and opportunities within the markets. We draw from decades of experience and a significant investment in proprietary technology, infrastructure and risk analytics to invest across four main strategies: Quant, Tactical, Fundamental Equity and Discretionary Macro & Fixed Income. 

Our Culture  

At Schonfeld, we’ll invest in you. Attracting and retaining top talent is at the heart of what we do, because we believe that exceptional outcomes begin with exceptional people. We foster a culture where talent is empowered to continually learn, innovate and pursue ambitious goals. We are teamwork-oriented, collaborative and encourage ideas—at all levels—to be shared. As an organization committed to investing in our people, we provide learning and educational offerings and opportunities to make an impact. We encourage community through internal networks, external partnerships and service initiatives that promote inclusion and purpose beyond the firm’s walls.  

The annual base pay for this role is expected to be between $50,000 and $60,000 which will be prorated based on internship start and end date. The expected base pay range is based on information at the time this post was generated. Actual compensation for the successful candidate will be determined based on a variety of factors such as skills, qualifications and experience and level of education.