Senior Derivatives Specialist

Job Title: Senior Derivatives Specialist

Location: UAE (Remote)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Level: Senior

Work Arrangement: Fully Remote

About Us

We are seeking an experienced and analytical Senior Derivatives Specialist to manage and support derivatives transactions, valuation activities, risk monitoring, and financial market operations. The successful candidate will bring strong expertise in derivatives products, trading operations, financial modeling, and risk management, helping ensure accurate transaction processing, effective exposure monitoring, and compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.

This role requires a thorough understanding of financial markets, derivatives valuation, trade lifecycle management, and risk controls. The ideal candidate will collaborate with trading, treasury, investment, finance, operations, and compliance teams to support efficient derivatives activities and sound financial decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and oversee derivatives transactions involving interest rate swaps, foreign exchange derivatives, futures, options, credit derivatives, and other relevant instruments.
• Review trade confirmations, transaction terms, settlement instructions, and supporting documentation to ensure accuracy and completeness.
• Monitor the full derivatives trade lifecycle, including trade capture, confirmation, clearing, settlement, valuation, collateral management, and reconciliation.
• Analyze derivatives positions, market exposures, counterparty risks, and potential financial impacts arising from market movements.
• Perform or review derivatives valuations, mark-to-market calculations, pricing inputs, and valuation adjustments in accordance with approved methodologies.
• Monitor market risk measures, including sensitivity analysis, value at risk (VaR), stress testing, and scenario analysis, where applicable.
• Reconcile trade records, valuations, cash flows, collateral balances, and settlement information across trading, risk, and accounting systems.
• Investigate discrepancies involving trade economics, confirmations, valuations, settlements, margin calls, and counterparty records.
• Coordinate with counterparties, brokers, clearing houses, custodians, and internal stakeholders to resolve transaction-related issues.
• Support collateral and margin management activities, including margin calculations, collateral eligibility checks, dispute resolution, and exposure monitoring.
• Ensure derivatives transactions are processed within approved limits, delegated authorities, and established risk management frameworks.
• Review transaction documentation and support compliance with relevant agreements, including ISDA Master Agreements and associated collateral documentation, where applicable.
• Monitor regulatory reporting requirements and support accurate reporting of derivatives transactions under applicable UAE and international frameworks.
• Assess operational risks, process weaknesses, and control gaps within derivatives trading and post-trade activities.
• Support month-end and year-end financial close processes, derivatives accounting, valuation reviews, and financial reporting.
• Collaborate with treasury, front-office, middle-office, back-office, finance, risk, and compliance teams to improve transaction efficiency and control effectiveness.
• Contribute to system enhancements, workflow automation, and improvements to derivatives processing and reporting.
• Prepare management reports covering derivatives positions, valuations, settlements, collateral exposure, exceptions, and operational performance.
• Maintain accurate transaction records, audit trails, valuation support, and regulatory documentation.
• Provide technical guidance to junior specialists and support consistent application of derivatives policies and procedures.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Mathematics, Statistics, Financial Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Typically 5–8 years of relevant experience in derivatives operations, derivatives trading support, treasury, investment operations, quantitative analysis, or financial risk management.
• Strong knowledge of derivatives instruments, including swaps, futures, options, forwards, and other relevant products.
• Understanding of derivatives valuation, pricing models, market conventions, trade economics, and transaction lifecycle processes.
• Experience with trade confirmation, settlement, cash-flow reconciliation, collateral management, and counterparty coordination.
• Familiarity with market risk concepts, including interest rate risk, foreign exchange risk, sensitivity analysis, stress testing, and exposure measurement.
• Knowledge of derivatives documentation, collateral agreements, clearing arrangements, and relevant regulatory reporting requirements.
• Understanding of IFRS 9 and IFRS 13 principles relevant to derivatives accounting and fair-value measurement is an advantage.
• Experience with trading platforms, derivatives processing systems, market data tools, risk management systems, and financial reporting applications.
• Strong analytical, numerical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex financial data.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and financial data analysis; experience with SQL, Python, or quantitative tools is an advantage.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong attention to detail, professional integrity, and the ability to manage sensitive financial information.
• Ability to work independently in a remote environment while coordinating with geographically distributed teams.
• Relevant professional qualifications, such as CFA, FRM, or equivalent finance and risk management credentials, are desirable.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Performance will be evaluated using measurable indicators, including:

• Trade Processing Accuracy: Maintain accurate trade capture, confirmation, settlement, and transaction records.
• Settlement Timeliness: Complete settlements and cash-flow processing within agreed deadlines.
• Valuation Accuracy: Ensure derivatives valuations and related adjustments follow approved methodologies and controls.
• Reconciliation Effectiveness: Resolve trade, cash-flow, valuation, and collateral discrepancies promptly.
• Risk Monitoring: Identify and escalate material market, counterparty, liquidity, and operational risks.
• Collateral Management: Support timely margin processing, collateral reconciliation, and dispute resolution.
• Regulatory Compliance: Maintain compliance with applicable reporting requirements, internal policies, and control standards.
• Operational Efficiency: Reduce processing delays, manual errors, and recurring transaction exceptions.
• Documentation Quality: Maintain complete, accurate, and auditable trade and valuation records.
• Issue Resolution: Address trade lifecycle and counterparty issues within established service-level agreements.
• Reporting Quality: Deliver reliable derivatives exposure, valuation, and operational reports within agreed timelines.
• Continuous Improvement: Recommend enhancements to derivatives processes, controls, reporting, and system functionality.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation aligned with experience, technical knowledge, and professional qualifications.
• A fully remote working arrangement within the UAE employment framework.
• Opportunities to work with complex financial instruments and derivatives operations.
• A professional environment focused on financial accuracy, risk management, and operational excellence.
• Access to relevant technical training and professional development.
• Collaboration with experienced professionals across treasury, trading, investment operations, finance, and risk management.
• Opportunities to contribute to process automation, derivatives system enhancements, and financial control improvements.

How to Apply

Interested candidates are invited to submit their CV, highlighting relevant experience in derivatives products, transaction processing, valuation, risk analysis, collateral management, and financial reporting.

Please include details of the derivatives instruments handled, trading or processing systems used, relevant professional qualifications, and measurable achievements in improving transaction accuracy, operational efficiency, or risk controls.

Email Subject Line: Application – Senior Derivatives Specialist (UAE Remote)

• We welcome applications from qualified professionals who demonstrate strong financial analytical skills, technical expertise, and a commitment to accurate, controlled, and compliant derivatives operations.