Operations Associate, Clearance & Settlement

RQD is a modern correspondent clearing firm offering clearing, custody, and execution solutions designed to meet the needs of today's dynamic market participants. Built entirely on cloud-native, real-time technology, RQD can quickly and seamlessly enhance its platform, adapt to regulatory changes, and scale as clients grow. The firm supports U.S. equities, options, ETFs, and other securities, catering to broker-dealers, FinTechs, RIAs, retail and institutional clients, active traders, foreign financial institutions, and proprietary trading firms.

About the role

We are seeking an Operations Associate to join our Operations team, responsible for daily clearance and settlement, reconciliations, and asset servicing across our correspondent clearing platform. This role is an opportunity to work for a fintech start-up and be an integral part of growing a broker-dealer from the ground up. As part of a small, hardworking team, you will contribute to an entrepreneurial culture with strong cross-team collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily clearance and settlement activity at DTC and NSCC (CNS and non-CNS), including trade-for-trade, deliver orders, night cycle/day cycle processing, and exception resolution
• Monitor and resolve fails to deliver and fails to receive, including Reg SHO Rule 204 close-out obligations and buy-in processing
• Identify, track, and resolve possession and control, segregation, and margin deficits in coordination with Compliance and Risk
• Perform daily cash and position reconciliations between internal books and records, DTC, NSCC, and bank accounts; investigate and clear breaks in a timely manner
• Process the full lifecycle of corporate actions (mandatory and voluntary), including announcements, entitlements, elections, allocations to correspondents and customers, and post-event reconciliation
• Support correspondent broker-dealers with settlement, reconciliation, and asset servicing inquiries, delivering timely and accurate responses
• Support regulatory reporting, audits, and examinations as they relate to operations functions

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business, or a related field
• 3–5 years of experience in clearing and settlement operations at a broker-dealer, clearing firm, or custodian
• Strong working knowledge of DTC and NSCC systems and processes (CNS, settlement, position management), and familiarity with corporate actions processing
• Experience with reconciliations, fails management, buy-ins, and deficit resolution
• Understanding of relevant regulatory requirements (e.g., Reg SHO, SEC Rules 15c3-3)
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to process high volumes with accuracy under daily deadlines
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
• Proficiency in Excel; SQL experience a plus
• Series 99 or 7 a plus

Benefits

• UnitedHealthcare medical coverage (multiple plan tiers, including HDHP options) — company covers 90% of premium costs, effective your first day of employment
• Dental and Vision coverage included
• Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options
• Paid Time Off — 20 accrued vacation days/yr, 6 sick days/yr (with carryover), 2 personal days/yr, and 1 volunteering day/yr
• 401(k) with a strong employer match — 100% match on the first 4% of employee contributions, immediately vested

Pay

The salary range for this position is $75,000 – $90,000. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors.