Director, Prime Brokerage & Margin Risk

Director Prime Brokerage & Margin Risk

The Risk function is seeking a Director to oversee Prime Brokerage, Portfolio Margin, and counter party exposure risk across the firm's equities, options, and fixed income businesses. This role is responsible for daily monitoring of leveraged client portfolios, assessing margin adequacy, stress loss exposure, and potential liquidation risk, while also supporting the firm's clearinghouse margin and liquidity management.

This is a hands-on, markets-adjacent risk role focused on real-time exposure management rather than theoretical credit or model-driven market risk. The individual will work closely with the business, senior management, and external counter parties to ensure client risk remains within established limits and that potential issues are identified and escalated promptly.

The team is lean, and the role requires an independent, highly analytical professional who is comfortable making judgment calls in a fast-paced trading and clearing environment.

Role Description

The Prime Brokerage & Margin Risk function exists to mitigate client default, counter party, and liquidity risk arising from leveraged trading activity. The role focuses on Portfolio Margin and Prime Brokerage clients, as well as exposure related to repo, securities lending, correspondent clearing, and central counter parties.

Risk oversight is conducted on a daily and intraday basis, with emphasis on margin sufficiency, stress loss analysis, concentration risk, and liquidity impact under adverse market conditions.

Key Responsibilities

Prime Brokerage & Portfolio Margin Risk

• Assess margin requirements and stress loss exposure for Prime Brokerage and Portfolio Margin client portfolios.
• Perform daily monitoring of client leverage, concentration risk, and potential liquidation exposure across equity, options, and fixed income products.
• Recommend appropriate risk limits and ensure monitoring processes are in place to detect and escalate limit breaches.
• Conduct due diligence on new Prime Brokerage / Portfolio Margin client relationships, including portfolio composition, trading strategy, and liquidity considerations.
• Partner with front-office and operations teams to proactively manage and resolve margin or exposure exceedances.

Counter party & Clearing Risk

• Monitor credit and exposure risk across repo, securities lending, direct prime brokerage, and correspondent clearing activities.
• Track margin deposits and liquidity exposure at central clearing counter parties, including DTC, NSCC, OCC, and FICC.
• Quantify the potential impact of new transactions, increased trading activity, or new client relationships on CCP margin requirements.
• Support firm-wide liquidity awareness by identifying scenarios that may result in increased margin or collateral demands.

Market & Stress Oversight

• Monitor global macroeconomic and market conditions and assess the impact of significant market events on client portfolios and firm exposure.
• Perform stress scenario analysis to evaluate potential losses and liquidity strain under adverse market movements.
• Investigate and reconcile portfolio valuations, mark-to-market discrepancies, and yield curve movements to mitigate risk.

Governance & Escalation

• Ensure business activities operate within approved risk guidelines and escalate concerns or breaches to senior management.
• Contribute to the development and enhancement of risk frameworks, policies, and procedures related to margin, counter party, and liquidity risk.
• Maintain regular engagement with internal stakeholders and key external counter parties.

Qualifications

Required

• 8+ years of experience in Prime Brokerage risk, margin risk, counter party risk, or clearing-related risk functions within a broker-dealer or clearing firm.
• Direct experience managing or monitoring Portfolio Margin and/or Prime Brokerage client exposure.
• Strong understanding of leveraged trading risk, margin methodologies, and liquidation dynamics.
• Hands-on experience with repo and/or securities lending exposure is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with central clearing counter parties (NSCC, OCC, FICC, DTC) and margin / collateral mechanics.
• Ability to assess risk in real time and make sound judgment calls in fast-moving market environments.
• Strong communication skills with experience escalating risk issues to senior management.

Preferred / Nice to Have

• Experience supporting liquidity risk or funding considerations related to margin and collateral.
• Prior exposure to hedge fund clients, active traders, or institutional brokerage relationships.
• Understanding of equity derivatives, options, and fixed income instruments from a risk perspective.
• Experience working in a lean or high-responsibility risk function.