Associate – Back Office Operations

About the Operations Department 

The goal of the Operations Department is to enable Bridgewater's ongoing investment engine and client requirements by proactively driving solutions through effective management of people, process, and partners in a principled way.   

About Your Role 

The Middle & Back Office Specialist in Operations is comprised of (1) monitoring and managing the deliverables and performance of outsource providers, (2) operating internal processes and procedures and (3) improving and evolving both (e.g. participating in initiatives enabling support of new products, markets and unique investor requirements, enhancing processes and controls, etc.).

One of the key advantages of this role as compared to a traditional Operations role is that our Specialists are developed more as "generalists" who can understand the end-to-end processes of all aspects of Operations, as opposed to being specialists in just one particular product or process.

We are seeking motivated, agile and results-oriented people to be part of the team critical to enabling Bridgewater

You will drive the following responsibilities:    

• On & off-boarding support and maintenance of investor accounts, fund launches, trading and settlement counterparties, as well as new markets & instruments
• Trade life cycle and portfolio control support (e.g. trade confirmation, collateral, reconciliation, etc.)
• Investor and Fund services (e.g. capital flows, various investor reporting, etc.)
• Accounting books and records and associated reporting (e.g. NAV);
• Tax, Audit & regulatory/compliance support for BW, its funds and clients
• Driving industry leading back-office solutions and engaging in thought leadership and strategic partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to shape key outcomes (e.g., BW Front Office, vendors)
• Reviewing outsource partner deliverables for quality, accuracy and timeliness to ensure mission-critical Operations responsibilities are met including excellent escalating and troubleshooting of problems
• Produce various internal and external reporting, including but not limited to client, regulatory, risk & control and management metrics
• Act as liaison between outsource partner(s) and internal BW departments (e.g. Trading/Front Office, Client Service) for queries and providing subject matter expertise on various projects and initiatives. 
• Identify problems and inefficiencies with various process and develop and implement solutions (e.g. streamline redundant processes, automate controls & reports, etc)
• Contribute towards training, testing, and certification of other Associates over time to ensure a high level of cross-training and fungibility

The anticipated onsite requirement for this role is 4 days per week at our Westport, CT campus. 

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, demonstrating a strong academic record from a competitive school
• 2-7 years’ experience in financial services Operations and/or Investor Services (e.g. investment banking, hedge fund administration, hedge fund, or consulting firm (Operations specific consulting) 
• Proficient in relevant software applications, particularly Excel, SharePoint, PowerPoint. Data manipulation and coding skills are also valuable (e.g. pivot tables, macros, Power Query, VBA, SQL, "R", etc)
• A drive to incorporate AI into both day-to-day and long-term strategic workflows
• Strong sense of personal responsibility, ownership mentality, reliability, results-orientation
• Excellent ability to detect and trouble-shoot problems, logical reasoning, and common sense
• Process orientation (ability to both follow and streamline machines)
• Strong Communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to hold others accountable
• Learning agility and flexibility to keep up with what can be an uncertain and/or changing environment

About Bridgewater

Bridgewater Associates is a global macro investment firm, founded in 1975, whose mission is to develop a fundamental, cause-and-effect understanding of how markets and economies work—and translate that understanding into insights, returns, and solutions that help the world’s leading institutional investors solve their most important investment challenges. 

Over five decades, we have codified our fundamental understanding into a systematic investment process—integrating human judgment with machine intelligence with the goal of applying our thinking consistently, testing it against reality, and continuously improving decision-making over time. We believe this has created a unique platform for applying AI within our process, positioning us at the frontier of integrating technology with investment decision-making. 

In financial markets—where reality is constantly evolving and outcomes are uncertain—sustained excellence requires continuous learning and improvement. Our culture—anchored in radical truth and transparency—helps us learn faster. 

Find more information about Bridgewater on our website.

Our Culture

Bridgewater’s culture is anchored in the pursuit of excellence—tied directly to our mission. In financial markets, where the base case is failure and reality is constantly evolving, winning requires continuous learning and improvement. Truth is our most essential tool for improvement, and transparency helps us get closer to truth because it places many eyes on our decisions, problems, and mistakes. By understanding reality clearly, we can identify the gap between where we are and where we want to be—and use that knowledge to learn and get better. Our system that supports this way of being is an idea meritocracy, where we commit to finding and rewarding the best ideas regardless of hierarchy. 

Operating in these ways is hard. Finding truth and learning through it is inherently a high-friction cycle. It’s possible because we share a few core values: a commitment to honesty, high ownership, deeply meaningful work and relationships, and building Bridgewater as a big tent where vast differences are welcomed. These values create the common denominator that binds us together in good times and bad. 

Benefits

One of our core priorities at Bridgewater is to enable our employees to build a great life and career, and we believe our benefits are an important extension of that philosophy. As such, currently Bridgewater offers a competitive suite of benefits, including health insurance, retirement benefits, paid leave, and other fringe benefits. Find more information about Bridgewater’s benefits on our website. 

Bridgewater reserves the right to change its current benefits program at any time, in a manner that is consistent with applicable federal and state regulations. 

Sponsorship

Please note that we do not provide immigration sponsorship for this position.  

Compensation

The wage range for this role is $115,000-$175,000 inclusive of base salary and discretionary target bonus. The expected base salary for this role is between 80% - 90% of this wage range.  

This job description is not a contract and confers no contractual rights, privileges, or benefits on any applicant or potential applicant. Bridgewater has the right to change any and all terms of this job description, including, but not limited to, job responsibilities, qualifications and benefits. Nothing in this job description constitutes an offer or guarantee of employment.

Bridgewater Associates, LP is an Equal Opportunity Employer