RESPONSIBILITIES
• Provide application support to the desk (Trading and Sales) as well as to Operations and Controllers
• Build global solutions to cater to the dynamic nature of the business. Aside from specific business –driven initiatives (such as implementing a scheduling system for natural gas, expanding our footprint in the European Power market, providing on-shore trading capability in Australia and Brazil), our current main objective is to design and develop a common and scalable infrastructure for physical commodities.
• Actively participate in the on-going improvement of our platform in order to meet changing business requirements, provide scalability and control, and remediate risk.
• Functional Mix - The ratio of desk support to development is roughly 40/60. Desk support includes application support as well as targeted enhancements to facilitate desk and market driven requirements. We would expect this ratio to change over time to be even more focused on strategic development as we execute on our plan to reduce maintenance vis-à-vis infrastructure improvements to the platform.
• The person will interface with Trading, Sales, Strategists, Operations, Controllers, Physical and Logistical Operations, Firm-wide and Enterprise technology teams. Depending on the project alignment, one possible deliverable would be to provide a significant milestone during the build of a scalable infrastructure for trading physical commodities.
• We primarily use the SecDB/Slang platform, but we also make use a variety of other technologies: C#/Ocean, Java, C++, JFREE, and SUIT. SecDb, a Goldman Sachs proprietary trading platform, is unique among our direct competitors and allows Goldman Sachs to have rapid time-to-market implementation and deployment for our desk.
• A potential candidate would be expected to, on a day to day basis, work closely and directly with the front office trading desk, have a genuine interest in understanding the business and provide scalable and complete technical solution. These expectations are potentially a challenge that could be rather different in style for similar role in other firms.
SKILLS / EXPERIENCE
MANDATORY
• Strong programming skills in one or more procedural/object oriented languages (C/C++/C#, Java) required.
• Solid analytical skills are a must.
• Knowledge of scripting languages like Perl or JavaScript is a plus.
• Experience working on Windows and Linux.
• Genuine interest in the relationship with the trading desk and for the desk support role, which is an important part of the role.
• Outgoing personality, with excellent communication skills and strong motivation.
• Strong delivery potential, self-starter, open to both support and development work.
PREFERRED
• Financial, Physical, and/or Derivative product knowledge a plus though not required.
• Commodities product knowledge a major plus, OTC and/or exchange related functional knowledge a plus though not required.
• Basic accounting would also be useful, however not a mandatory requirement
COMPETENCIES
• Functional Expertise - Keeps up-to-date with emerging business, economic, and market trends
• Technical Skills - Demonstrates strong technical skills required for the role, pays attention to detail, takes initiative to broaden his/her knowledge and demonstrates appropriate financial/analytical skills
• Drive and Motivation - Successfully handles multiple tasks, takes initiative to improve his/her own performance, works intensely towards extremely challenging goals and persists in the face of obstacles or setbacks
• Client and Business Focus - Effectively handles difficult requests, builds trusting, long-term relationships with clients, helps the client to identify/define needs and manages client/business expectations
• Teamwork – Gives evidence of being a strong team player, collaborates with others within and across teams, encourages other team members to participate and contribute and acknowledges others' contributions
• Communication Skills - Communicates what is relevant and important in a clear and concise manner and shares information/new ideas with others
• Judgement and Problem Solving - Thinks ahead, anticipates questions, plans for contingencies, finds alternative solutions and identifies clear objectives. Sees the big picture and effectively analyses complex issues
• Creativity/Innovation - Looks for new ways to improve current processes and develop creative solutions that are grounded in reality and have practical value
• Influencing Outcomes - Presents sound, persuasive rationale for ideas or opinions. Takes a position on issues and influences others' opinions and presents persuasive recommendations.
WHO WE ARE
The Goldman Sachs Group is a bank holding company and a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Goldman Sachs provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.
We are committed to growing our distinctive Culture and upholding our core values which always place our client's interests first. These values are reflected in our Business Principles, which emphasise integrity, commitment to excellence, innovation and teamwork.
BUSINESS UNIT OVERVIEW
The Commodities desk’s core activity is focused on helping Goldman Sachs clients to manage their Commodity risk through a wide range of products (from Energy and Metals through Agriculture and Emissions) and instruments (we trade both physical and financials, listed and OTC).
Technology has a vital part in enabling the firm's success by providing technical solution for automation, control and on-boarding new business. The Commodities Technology group is responsible for developing technical solutions and providing application support to Trading, Sales, Operations and Controllers in Commodities. Candidate suitable for this role would be expected to understand the business's need and work closely with the stakeholders from these areas. The candidate would also be expected to work closely with technology teams from other business areas to develop new or reuse common solution for the business.
We are specifically interested in candidates who have experience with physical products and/or who have developed technical solution for trading and managing the logistical side of trading physical trading in, but not limited to, the following product areas: Energy, Metals, Agriculture and Emissions.
Goldman Sachs is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of age, race, colour, gender, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other basis that is prohibited by applicable law.
Goldman Sachs conducts background checks on individuals offered employment with the firm and employment with Goldman Sachs is conditional upon individuals successfully completing those checks. As part of the background check process, Goldman Sachs may need to obtain a record of disclosable criminal convictions from a government agency such as the Criminal Records Bureau.
The firm has adopted policies on the recruitment of ex-offenders and on the retention, storage and disposal of criminal record information which are available on request.
