Director, Quantitative Risk

Nearwater Capital•New York, NY

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Nearwater Capital is seeking a Director, Quantitative Risk to serve as the primary risk authority for our Equity Total Return Swap (TRS) business, with additional oversight across the Structured Credit and Fixed Income TRS businesses. This is a key leadership role with responsibility for the risk framework, controls, and risk management across the organization. It demands deep, hands-on expertise in SIMM modeling and backtesting, IM/VM margin operations, and collateral management, along with fluency in the conduct, supervision, and compliance standards applicable to SBSD-registered entities.

Requirements

10+ years in derivatives risk management with substantial exposure to Equity TRS business, margin operations, and collateral management.
Deep, hands-on SIMM expertise: model mechanics, sensitivity inputs, IM aggregation, backtesting, and version migration.
Expert knowledge of margin rules and regulations (UMR, SIMM model, IM/VM processes), with a deep understanding of CSA/ISDA documentation and eligible collateral provisions.
Strong knowledge of industry best practices and SEC regulatory processes and requirements for regulated entities.
Proficiency in Python, SQL, and/or R for derivatives risk analytics, with demonstrated ability to build automated risk monitoring tools, dashboards, and reporting frameworks.
Strong executive communication skills, with the ability to present complex topics to senior management, the Board, and regulators.

Nice To Haves

Master's or advanced degree in Finance, Mathematics, or Financial Engineering, and professional certifications (CFA, FRM, or equivalent).
Prior experience in hedge funds, investment banks, SBSDs, prime brokers, and/or TRS business risk management.
A track record navigating regulatory examinations successfully.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary risk owner for the Equity TRS portfolio, covering counterparty credit risk, market risk, concentration risk, and operational risk.
Partner closely with equity trading desks to set, monitor, and enforce risk limits and controls appropriate to TRS structures.
Conduct deep-dive portfolio reviews to proactively identify risk concentrations, emerging exposures, and business unit-specific vulnerabilities.
Coordinate collateral amendments and substitution requests with legal, operations, and counterparties.
Ensure collateral practices align with SBSD capital and collateral requirements.
Manage daily trade reconciliation processes, resolve breaks and valuation discrepancies, and implement enhanced controls.
Verify and maintain eligible collateral schedules for derivative transactions per CSA/ISDA documentation, confirming collateral meets contractual and regulatory standards.
Review haircuts, concentration limits, and MTA provisions across all CSAs.
Oversee initial margin (IM) and variation margin (VM) calculations, disputes, and compliance with UMR regulations in coordination with Operations.
Lead resolution of counterparty margin disputes, investigating root causes across model differences, sensitivity inputs, netting set composition, and CSA terms.
Ensure compliance with UMR and SEC Rule 18a-3.
Own the end-to-end SIMM process for equity TRS: sensitivity inputs, IM outputs, and model documentation.
Design and lead the backtesting program, evaluating exceedances against regulatory thresholds and driving model remediation.
Manage ISDA SIMM version migrations, recalibration cycles, and portfolio impact assessments.
Maintain current knowledge of evolving regulations including SEC/SBSD rules, UMR, EMIR, and Basel standards.
Serve as a senior point of contact during SEC examinations and regulatory inquiries, preparing submissions, coordinating document production, and presenting risk frameworks credibly to examiners.
Maintain Risk Management program policies and procedures.
Oversee, monitor, and continuously improve risk management processes to ensure effectiveness and implementation of best practices in the SBSD.
Drive automation of manual processes and establish robust risk and control frameworks.
Present regularly to the Risk Committee on material risk topics and emerging trends, and quarterly to the SBSD Board of Directors.