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Alternative Operations Analyst
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has circa 396,000 members, and over £60 billion in assets, we’re one of the largest private pension schemes in the UK and in the top 50 worldwide. Established in 1974, we’re entrusted by over 350 higher education sector employers to manage and administer the pension scheme and its investments through our two companies, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and USS Investment Management Limited.
Our purpose
Working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.
The role
The Operations Department is organised into three teams; Public Markets, Alternatives and Onboarding/ reporting, with this role sitting with the Alternatives team.
The role sits within the Alternative Operations team and is focused on the coordination and completion of all company secretarial duties for our investment special-purpose-vehicles (“SPVs”), as well as providing a unique opportunity to cross train on the operational related components which support the Alternative Investments USS has.
Key responsibilities
SPV Governance
Working under the supervision and guidance of the Assistant Company Secretary, the role will include the following in respect of SPVs:
• Assisting in the incorporation/registration of new entities; for overseas entities, liaise with the Legal Department and/or lawyers and/or company secretarial providers in the relevant jurisdiction
• Maintenance of statutory documentation/files and Blueprint database records.
• With respect to Blueprint, there will be an initial data cleanse project, where this role will play a central role in ensuring the data in Blueprint is complete and accurate, working with other internal stakeholders as required.
• Organising and arranging board meetings as required, ensuring appropriate timetabling per the yearly planner
• Preparing and drafting board minutes and shareholder resolutions for both ad hoc and routine matters
• Attending board/committee meetings as required and fulfilling all company secretarial responsibilities
• Preparing the statutory returns or overseeing compliance by company secretarial providers in the relevant jurisdiction
• Assisting in the preparation of statutory accounts as required ensuring proper process for approvals
• Implementing and maintaining delegation schedules for all SPV entities;
• Ensuring compliance with the Companies Act and regulatory requirements for relevant companies and directors;
• Implementing and coordinating the director training programme for SPV directors;
• Overseeing the appointment of new SPV or Investment related directors, in accordance with the director selection and appointment framework.
• Overseeing relationships with third party company secretarial providers and perform due diligence of those providers, as appropriate
• Responding to KYC requests, in connection with new deals or existing assets.
• Liaising with stakeholders post deal, to ensure all relevant company data is captured in Blueprint.
Delivery existing business
• Responsible for asset set up, settlement instruction maintenance. Confirmation of an initiation of cash flows.
• Management of the efficient funding of the mandates requesting FX transactions and generation of subscriptions / redemptions and distributions
• Liaison with the Public markets funding function
• Complete cash and stock reconciliations daily and escalate as appropriate
• Complete Rift process and escalate issues as appropriate
• Operate with minimal errors
• Report any events within 24 hours into accelerate
• Deliver data for Weekly operating Report
• Prepare slides for the Alternative operations oversight meeting
Development
• Look for training opportunities to enhance skills
• Improve personal skill matrix score each year
Stakeholder management
• Build a strong relationship across the internal supply chain from initiation to delivery with all areas. Drive solutions that are scalable and controlled.
• Develop close working relationships with third party service partners
Your experience
Skills & Experience:
• Qualified or part-qualified company secretary with financial services experience
• Experience of SPVs / managing a mixed portfolio of companies across multiple jurisdictions
• Proficient with Blueprint
• Deal implementation experience, providing governance support for new investments
• A depth of product knowledge across multiple products (Private Equity, debt, both direct and through funds)
• Awareness of different type of fund structuring (Ltd, LLC, LP etc)
• Strong organisational skills
USSIM is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
| Operations | 07/09/2020 |
| London |
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Cashier
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has circa 396,000 members, and over £60 billion in assets, we’re one of the largest private pension schemes in the UK and in the top 50 worldwide. Established in 1974, we’re entrusted by over 350 higher education sector employers to manage and administer the pension scheme and its investments through our two companies, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and USS Investment Management Limited.
Our purpose
Working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.
The role
*Insert paragraph written from the Main Purpose of the role from role profile*
Key responsibilities
*Insert 4-6 key bullets from the role profile & role brief with hiring manager*
Your experience
*Insert any essential/desirable skills from the role profile & role brief with the hiring manager*
USSL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
| Finance | 16/09/2020 |
| Liverpool |
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FP&A Planning and Performance Manager
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has circa 396,000 members, and over £60 billion in assets, we’re one of the largest private pension schemes in the UK and in the top 50 worldwide. Established in 1974, we’re entrusted by over 350 higher education sector employers to manage and administer the pension scheme and its investments through our two companies, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and USS Investment Management Limited.
Our purpose
Working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.
The role
Responsible for facilitating the translation of USS purpose and business strategy into a series of medium term and in year objectives, demonstrating the alignment of the supporting financial plans and budgets with these objectives and the underpinning strategy. Produce the 3 Year Plan, Defined Contribution (DC) Business Plan, Annual Business Plan and Budget documents for Executive and Board committees and the USSL and USSIM Boards.
Key responsibilities
• Play a leading role in the strategic planning process, including the creation of the 3 Year Plan, the DC business plan, the annual Business Plan and Budget
• Facilitate the translation of agreed strategy into medium term and in year objectives, supporting and guiding business leaders across the 3 business segments in the creation of their objectives aligned with the USS purpose and strategy
• Produce all required business plan documents for Executive and Board audiences. Create a compelling narrative that demonstrates the alignment of purpose, strategy, objectives and the supporting financial plan and budget
• Work with colleagues across FP&A in Liverpool and London and the business to ensure that business plan papers provide insight and are supported by the required depth of analysis
• Co-ordinate the creation of a suite of KPIs to demonstrate appropriate business control and the stakeholder impact of the delivery of strategic objectives
• Leverage insight developed in the Pension and Investment segment to develop the Group’s VfM framework. Draw insight from CEM, CTI, bi-lateral cost benchmarking and other initiatives to demonstrate that USS provides stakeholders with a VfM proposition. Demonstrate the linkages with the 3YP and in year objectives to evidence how VfM will continue to be improved
• Produce the annual Review of the Year document, synthesising input from business leaders across the Group into a compelling and balanced narrative
• Undertake an analytical review of regular business performance reporting outputs both for the Investment and Pension segments and the consolidated USS Group picture. Ensure a holistic approach is taken to performance reporting and that the commentary provided by the segment finance teams is accurate and insightful
• As appropriate provide support in strategic or ad hoc projects or requests. Co-ordinate inputs and analysis from colleagues across Finance to provide high quality, insightful outputs
• Support the Head of FP&A and Business Partnering in developing a continuous improvement culture in the FP&A team
Your experience
• Qualified Accountant - CIMA/ACCA/ACA
• Previous experience within a similar organisation would be desirable
• Proficient in the creation of business plan documents for Executive and non-Executive audiences. Able to translate complex financial data and analysis into a compelling business plan, blending narrative and graphical approaches to tell the story
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Proficient in the use of MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills; with a demonstrated ability to build a network outside of Finance
• Communicating & influencing
• Commercial knowledge & focus
• Change & innovation
• Analysing & problem solving
USSL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
| Finance | 14/09/2020 |
| Liverpool |
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Network & Security Engineer
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has circa 396,000 members, and over £60 billion in assets, we’re one of the largest private pension schemes in the UK and in the top 50 worldwide. Established in 1974, we’re entrusted by over 350 higher education sector employers to manage and administer the pension scheme and its investments through our two companies, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and USS Investment Management Limited.
Our purpose
Working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.
The role
The Network & Security Engineer role will be part of the Network & Security Team, the primary function of which will be to support and maintain new and existing technology within the USS network and security platform.
Key responsibilities
The secondary function will be to assist with technical project work as required, as well as working closely with the other Technology Services functions to deploy new infrastructure tools. To be the technical escalation point for other teams within I.T. This role will include elements support, helping to manage the team’s queue and ensure a timely resolution to problems. To be point of escalation for critical incidents both in and out of hours.
Your experience
• Strong experience and knowledge of core USS Network technologies including Cisco Routing & Switching, WIFI technologies and supporting highly available networks.
• In-depth understanding of Firewalls such as Palo Alto and Cisco ASA.
• Experience of managing a multi-site network.
• WAN Support and troubleshooting.
• Technical project task delivery.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Able to effectively manage a technical workload.
• Advanced problem-solving skills.
USSL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
| IT | 20/08/2020 |
| Liverpool |
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OMS Market Systems Support Analyst
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has circa 396,000 members, and over £60 billion in assets, we’re one of the largest private pension schemes in the UK and in the top 50 worldwide. Established in 1974, we’re entrusted by over 350 higher education sector employers to manage and administer the pension scheme and its investments through our two companies, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and USS Investment Management Limited.
Our purpose
Working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.
The role
Working as part of the wider Investment and Market Systems Support area, with responsibility for supporting Bloomberg AIM and other trading/analytics/market data services provided by Bloomberg or other Third Parties. As a support function, the role will also provide L0/L1 assistance for the wide range of systems developed and or/implemented by the Investment and Market Systems team.
Key responsibilities
Delivering Results
• Monitor production processes and respond to issues/failures.
• Act as the first point of contact for any issues or queries raised against Bloomberg or other IMS-managed applications. Record and take ownership of issues using JIRA and follow this through to successful resolution.
• Manage and resolve all issues and queries within Service Level Agreements set in the Application Support Team, in so far as third party SLAs allow.
• Be flexible in working patterns to ensure support coverage during the business day.
Managing Relationships
• Provide regular, timely updates to stakeholders during issue investigation and resolution.
• Manage expectations of users and IMS management if SLA cannot be achieved, including proposed mitigation and/or workaround.
• Escalate issues as required to IMS and Business management.
Managing Processes & Future Focus
• Take a proactive view to the work that is performed within Bloomberg Support, identifying and implementing improvements that increase efficiency within the team.
• Work with IMS and third-party delivery teams to implement long term solutions for support issues.
• Produce and maintain support documentation and procedures in Atlassian Confluence or similar.
• Contribute to the design phases of new initiatives to ensure an effective support model will be in place from the outset.
Your experience
• Electronic trading workflow on EMSX and TSOX. The candidate must have prior experience in troubleshooting trade booking issues and assisting with the onboarding process for new traders.
• Compliance rule coding on CMGR. The candidate will liaise with key stakeholders to review mandate guidelines, coding the investment restrictions, testing to ensure the desired output is achieved and investigating active trade violations raised by the business teams.
• Position management tools such as MAV, BDS and PORT. The candidate should also be familiar with the benchmark and models functionality within the AIM OMS system.
• Onboarding of new portfolios and users on FIRM.
• Configuration of data feeds in TSIP as well as experience creating ad-hoc Data License requests.
• Administration of commissions rules in CUTS.
• Familiarity with general functionality within Bloomberg for market and pricing data is essential.
Desirable experience and qualifications beyond Bloomberg include:
• A financial qualification such as IMC or CFA or a finance-related bachelors’ degree.
• Experience supporting other front-office and compliance tools such as equity & fixed income TCA products and/or shareholding disclosure applications.
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft SQL.
• Basic knowledge of a job scheduling tool such as JAMS, Autosys or similar.
• Basic knowledge of Confluence and JIRA.
• Basic knowledge of XML editors such as Notepad++, Visual Studio or similar.
USSIM is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
| Operations | 07/08/2020 |
| London |
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Senior Alternative Operations Analyst
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has circa 396,000 members, and over £60 billion in assets, we’re one of the largest private pension schemes in the UK and in the top 50 worldwide. Established in 1974, we’re entrusted by over 350 higher education sector employers to manage and administer the pension scheme and its investments through our two companies, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and USS Investment Management Limited.
Our purpose
Working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.
The role
The Operations Department is organised into three teams; Public Markets, Alternatives and Onboarding/ reporting, with this role sitting with the Alternatives team. The role will provide exposure to our end-to-end process which support both existing and new alternative assets, working closely with the front office team and support areas.
Key responsibilities
Private markets
Delivery New business
• Work closely with the Private Market deal teams, understanding the operational implications of a deal (accounting considerations, cash flows, valuations, and structuring considerations where applicable) – assisting in the implementation of new or existing operating models where required, ensuring understanding is documented.
• Work with external third-party providers, whilst co-ordinating with stakeholders internally, to ensure any new service provisions with a third party meet the associated deal requirements.
• Liaise with Performance, Risk, Legal, Compliance and Finance as required
Delivery existing business
• Responsible for asset set up, settlement instruction maintenance. Confirmation of an initiation of cash flows.
• Management of the efficient funding of the mandates requesting FX transactions and generation of subscriptions / redemptions and distributions
• Liaison with the Public markets funding function
• Complete cash and stock reconciliations daily and escalate as appropriate
• Complete Rift process and escalate issues as appropriate
• Operate with minimal errors
Reporting
• Liaise with Aztec to ensure mandate guidelines are monitored and provide a regular summary report
• Report any events within 24 hours into accelerate
• Deliver data for Weekly operating Report
• Prepare slides for the Alternative operations oversight meeting
Third party Relationships
• Grow and develop the relationship with Aztec for Find administration
• A growing interaction with additional third party providers, whilst assisting with the implementation of a new third party framework.
• Relationship with JPM for any listed portfolios and for the unitisation of Private market mandates
• Attendance at third party service reviews as required
Development
• Look for training opportunities to enhance skills
• Improve personal skill matrix score each year
Stakeholder management
• Build a strong relationship across the internal supply chain from initiation to delivery with all areas. Drive solutions that are scalable and controlled.
• Develop close working relationships with third party service partners
Your experience
• Accounting qualification required (ACA/ACCA)
• CFA/CAIA qualification advantageous
• Deal implementation background, considering operational and finance related components
• Business/ Operational experience of working within an alternative’s manager
• A depth of product knowledge across multiple products (Private Equity, debt, both direct and through funds)
• Knowledge of fund structuring is advantageous
• Problem solving with independent though
• Experience of Bloomberg AIM
• Attention to detail
• Track record of initiative/project delivery
• Flexible approach to re-prioritise as needed
• Can do attitude
• Good Excel skills
USSIM is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
| Operations | 10/09/2020 |
| London |
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Senior Analyst Developer - End User Computing
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has circa 396,000 members, and over £60 billion in assets, we’re one of the largest private pension schemes in the UK and in the top 50 worldwide. Established in 1974, we’re entrusted by over 350 higher education sector employers to manage and administer the pension scheme and its investments through our two companies, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and USS Investment Management Limited.
Our purpose
Working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.
The role
Across USSIM, End User Computing (EUC) models are implemented by multiple business teams in a variety of systems and languages, including; MS Excel, VBA, R, Python and MATLAB.
As part of the Investment and Market Systems team, the key focus of this role is to work with Front Office quants and analysts to; create well engineered, robust and performant components for data access/storage and model development/execution; ensuring excellent knowledge transfer, testing, support, version control and resilience/BCP.
This will enable USSIM to benefit from a scalable, strategic foundation for key analytics models, supported by a robust development, testing and runtime environment.
Key responsibilities
Delivering Results
• Create standardised technical components for data access and storage along with model development / execution
• Analyse technical or business problems and document requirements
• Develop quality software to meet the evolving technical or business needs of USSIM, documenting as required
Managing Relationships
• Build strong working and advisory relationships with USSIM quants and analysts
• Manage delivery expectations and priorities with the Technical Architect and business teams
• Knowledge share across the team, mentoring junior developers
Managing Processes & Future Focus
• Work within agreed architectural policies and objectives, suggesting improvements as appropriate
• Ensure a clear delineation of delivery responsibility between IMS (technical frameworks) and business teams (models)
• Spread good development practises across USSIM business teams
• Enable use of “elastic” cloud computing for improved model performance, resilience and control
Your experience
• Extensive experience expected in the following technologies:
o C# / MVC / Python / ASP.NET / PowerShell / HTML5 / APIs
• Good working knowledge of VBA, R, MATLAB desirable
• Expected to produce clear, concise, maintainable code
• Some experience with using cloud computing / Azure infrastructure
• Ability to share knowledge / experience
• High level of exposure to financial modelling, preferably gained through experience in a buy side institution or asset owner and willingness to undertake professional finance qualifications (e.g. IMC) in the short to medium term
USSIM is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
| Operations | 05/08/2020 |
| London |
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Senior Application Developer
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has circa 396,000 members, and over £60 billion in assets, we’re one of the largest private pension schemes in the UK and in the top 50 worldwide. Established in 1974, we’re entrusted by over 350 higher education sector employers to manage and administer the pension scheme and its investments through our two companies, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and USS Investment Management Limited.
Our purpose
Working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.
The role
As a 6-month, fixed term position, the main purpose of the role is to;
• Develop technical solutions in the form of bespoke software and third-party products with a particular focus on Fixed Income trading and SFTR Reporting.
• Deliver core systems and development processes/tools as identified in the IMS roadmap to enable a robust, supportable production environment.
Key responsibilities
With particular focus on Fixed Income trading and SFTR reporting;
• Analyse technical/business problems and document requirements
• Develop quality software to meet the evolving technical/business needs of USSIM, documenting as required
• Knowledge share across the team with some mentoring from more senior members
• Participate in team workshops
Your experience
• Extensive experience expected in the following technologies:
o C# / MVC / ASP.NET / PowerShell / HTML5 / JavaScript / Python
• Expected to produce clear, concise, maintainable code.
• Ability to share knowledge / experience.
• Financial exposure, preferably gained through experience in a buy side institution or asset owner.
• Experience of Fixed Income / Repo products and regulatory reporting desirable.
• Experience with using cloud computing / Azure infrastructure desirable.
USSL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
| Operations | 25/08/2020 |
| London |
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Senior Training Officer
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has circa 396,000 members, and over £60 billion in assets, we’re one of the largest private pension schemes in the UK and in the top 50 worldwide. Established in 1974, we’re entrusted by over 350 higher education sector employers to manage and administer the pension scheme and its investments through our two companies, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and USS Investment Management Limited.
Our purpose
Working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.
The role
n/a
Key responsibilities
n/a
Your experience
n/a
USSL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
| HR | 01/09/2020 |
| Liverpool |