Investment Business Change Analyst Aladdin

About Columbia Threadneedle Investments

You'll find the promise we make to our clients is the same one we make to our employees: Your success is our priority.

Here, you'll find growth and career opportunities across all our businesses. We're intentionally built to help you succeed. Our reach is expansive with a global team of 2,000 people working together. Our expertise is diverse with more than 450 investment professionals sharing global perspectives across all major asset classes and markets. Our clients have access to a broad array of investment strategies and we have the capability to build tailored solutions matched to clients' specific requirements.

Columbia Threadneedle is a people business and we recognise that our success is due to our talented and dedicated people, who bring diversity of thought, complementary skills and capabilities. We are committed to providing an inclusive work environment that supports the diversity of our employees and reflects our broader communities and client-base. We encourage applications from returners to the industry.

We appreciate that work-life balance is an important factor for many when considering their next move so please discuss any flexible working requirements directly with your recruiter.

Job Purpose Statement

In this role you will support the Front Office Investment Business in their use of Aladdin, our Order Management System. You will report to the Aladdin Business Manager for Investments, and support the business by acting as a Relationship Manager between BlackRock Solutions and the Investments business. This includes supporting a weekly meeting with BRS, involvement in the Quarterly Review Meeting for BRS and day to day escalations from within the business. Strategically the aim is to deepen Investment's use of Aladdin, create efficiencies through the use of technology, provide oversight of accurate permission across the userbase, and facilitate project work with stakeholder departments across the business.

Role Responsibilities

• Co-manage a weekly meeting with BRS where the topics of discussion include enhancements to Aladdin, escalations from within the Investments, updating changes to Aladdin and discussion of any risk events.
• Work with the investments business to gather and document requirements for new projects and enhancements on Aladdin and then have oversight of them through to timely completion.
• Work closely with the heads of stakeholder business areas to understand priorities, take into consideration the holistic business area and be able to realign focus accordingly where deemed necessary.
• Act as an escalation point and source of information for the Aladdin SuperUser group globally to ensure they are aware and trained on new functionality and changes within Aladdin. The SuperUsers then disseminate this information respectively to each of their Investment desks.
• Undertake requirements gathering, analysis and operating model design associated with process changes and procedure documentation; coordinate business sign off, develop training and documentation, and determine implications for Aladdin user access permissions.
• Liaise with internal and external auditors on design and operating effectiveness of user access controls; conduct quarterly user reviews focussing specifically on any risk associated with different access permissions combinations
• Support Global Responsible Investing by being a champion for the reporting tools within Aladdin used by the Investment teams.
• Be part of a global team, working with counterparts in the US to establish global alignment, consistent documentation and leverage each other's areas of expertise.
• Gather feedback from the Investments Professionals and other key use groups of Aladdin to be used in the Quarterly Review meetings with BRS.

Key Capabilities

Knowledge of investment management systems
Strong data, analytical and technical skills with a keen interest in using technology to improve business processes
Outstanding communication skills with confidence to interact with business stakeholders at all levels within CTI and at 3rd party vendors

Desired Capabilities

BRS Aladdin knowledge
Risk and controls experience
Experience of systems user access protocols