Senior Manager-Trading and Operations

About Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX)

ESX is Ethiopia’s first, and only organized securities exchange. ESX is established as a public private partnership in line with Article 31 of the Capital Market Proclamation (No.1248/2021).

ESX operates the business of a securities exchange, functions as a Self-Regulatory Organization (“SRO”) and serves as the central market organizer providing an integrated product suite covering the equities, fixed income, and money market segments of the capital markets.

As the pioneer securities exchange, ESX aims to play a critical role in the development and growth of the Ethiopian capital markets. ESX’s core objective is to facilitate access to capital and support effective capital allocation in a manner that supports Ethiopia’s economic growth. By developing a well-regulated and efficient capital market ecosystem, ESX will enable mobilization of financial resources for both public and private sector institutions while providing investors a reliable platform to invest in a reliable and efficient environment.

Job Summary

As the Trading Operations Manager, you will be responsible for overseeing and optimizing the daily trading processes across the ESX markets. Your role involves ensuring smooth trade execution, supervision of the ESX electronic trading platform, risk management, and adherence to regulatory requirements.  

Responsibilities:

• Manage the day-to-day operations of ESX markets, including trading activities, order processing, trade settlement, and clearing processes.
• Develop, maintain, implement comprehensive operational frameworks and policies governing trading operations of ESX.
• Facilitate fair, orderly, and transparent markets across ESX trading environments, enforcing operating rules/procedures, and supporting market participants.
• Monitor market volatility, liquidity, and other risk factors to safeguard the stability of the exchange.
• Monitor and update operational procedures and risk controls and meet internal and external audit requirements.
• Continuously improve trading workflows, settlement processes, and operational efficiency, identify bottlenecks and streamline procedures, implement best practices for trade operations.
• Become very familiar with and collaborate with the Central Securities Depository (CSD) system to ensure seamless integration of the end-to-end transaction cycle.
• Stay informed about relevant regulations and ensure compliance with exchange rules.
• Coordinate with legal and compliance teams to address any regulatory changes.
• Prepare reports for regulatory authorities as required.
• Collaborate with trading members, and other stakeholders to resolve any trade-related issues.
• Collaborate with the technology team to enhance and optimize trading systems and infrastructure, identify opportunities for innovation and efficiency improvements in market operations.
• Collaborate with risk, compliance, and surveillance officers by signaling and alerting on performance issues and anomalies or irregularities in trading behavior and market trends, as well as issues with trading members behavior and conduct.
• Engage and service a diverse range of stakeholders inclusive of brokers, dealers, CSD, custodians, system vendors etc.
• Manage the generation, synthesis and dissemination of market information and data to relevant market participants and the general public.
• Help lead in developing data products and related policies, assisting in the management of key data clients and upselling data products to 3^rd party vendors. 

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, Statistics, Data Science, Business Administration, Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in related field – with operational and system related tasks/mandates.

Competency requirements: 

• Exposure to relational database systems (e.g., Oracle SQL, PostgreSQL) and structures is a plus.
• Knowledge of capital markets regulatory framework
• Experience in operating in a high intensity working environment.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex data, trends, and market dynamics.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact effectively with diverse stakeholders, including senior management, licensed trading members, and regulatory authorities.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational and project management skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Sound judgment and integrity with a commitment to upholding ethical standards and market integrity.