Job Description

We’re looking for a Capital Markets Strategic Onboarding Associate with strong experience in investment operations and middle office environments to help us shape better retirements across the UK. In our Middle Office team, you’ll play a key role in delivering the effective onboarding of new instruments, counterparties and investment activity across public and private markets.

Job Type: Permanent

Location: This role will be based in either our London, Telford, Birmingham or Edinburgh office (3 days per week in the office), with some time working between the office and home. There will be some travel between our Standard Life offices. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about Standard Life Flex here.

Salary and benefits: From £41,800 (subject to experience) + bonus, excellent pension (pro-rated) scheme, private medical insurance, electric vehicle scheme, 38 days holiday incl. Bank Holidays (pro-rated), plus 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more!

Who are we?

We’re Standard Life, a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement savings and income. We champion the belief that everyone’s journey to and through retirement can be better, and for more than 200 years, we’ve been helping our customers plan and prepare for their financial futures.

Life today is increasingly complicated, uncertain and unpredictable. People move through different careers, face unexpected moments and navigate important choices. We offer our colleagues flexibility, trust and benefits that work for whatever life brings. In return we expect curiosity, connection, accountability and high standards. We make room for what matters - so you can bring your best, every day.

Middle Office Team

Middle Office is a key support function for the Retirement Solutions & Asset Management Front Office. It has wide ranging accountability ensuring operational control of investment activities, supporting the Group and AM governance framework, and delivery of investment reporting. The current Credit & Rates and Strategic Onboarding Middle Office teams create a multi-asset class Middle Office team. This offers new joiners the chance to learn front to back management of a wider asset set.

Standard Life is expanding into direct origination of funds starting with bonds, derivatives and private debt deals. In this new business, Middle Office will have an increased role pre-execution to support the business. As a result, Standard Life will need a number of new skills including knowledge of electronic trade affirmation platforms, Aladdin Enterprise, trade support, the setup of new instruments, KYC and CDD on new clients, and landing Bulk Purchase Annuities. The Middle Office roles and responsibilities are constantly evolving therefore we need colleagues who embrace and thrive with change.

We provide dedicated product support for the various Front Office functions, including Markets & Products, and the Private Markets team on trade execution, pre and post trade lifecycle activities. Additionally, supporting Portfolio Implementation and Manager Oversight on a day-to-day basis, providing key operational input and guidance.

The role

Reporting directly to the Middle Office Strategic Onboarding Manager, the role involves public and private debt/investment reporting pre and post trade lifecycle management across the Capital Markets currently managed under external and internal mandates, coordinating approval of new instruments ensuring internal capabilities and supporting successful Bulk Purchase Annuities transactions.

A key focus of this role will be to ensure accurate and timely capture and reporting of investments through internal systems requiring coordination of activities amongst internal functions and key outsourced service providers. In particular, the role will require overseeing trade capture, settlement, lifecycle management, counterparty onboarding, AML due diligence, investor and regulatory reporting.

Key Responsibilities

Support Middle Office & Trade Life Cycle activities across multiple assets classes
Help ensure tasks are completed within agreed timelines
Support trade capture into internal reporting systems (InVista and Blackrock Aladdin) and downstream feed to Third Party Administrators (TPA) and Risk systems
Review of post trade investment activities amongst internal functions
Review of post trade investment activities amongst external parties: External Portfolio Manager’s, HSBC Security Services (TPA), JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and BlackRock Solutions
Build strong, collaborative relationships with other Middle Office functions
Develop an understanding of key functional processes and controls in line with internal policies, good market practice, and regulatory guidelines
Support asset transfers related to BPA deals, including data validation and coordination of transfer instructions.
Assist with documentation for KYC/CDD processes during counterparty onboarding.
Support onboarding of new instruments and product approval workflow, including operational readiness assessments and data setup.
Contribute to documentation updates and continuous improvements of operational processes.

What are we looking for?

Demonstrated experience delivering accurate, high‑quality operational or investment support work, with clear ownership of outputs and attention to detail in a regulated or deadline‑driven environment.
Strong data and analytical capability, evidenced by hands‑on use of Excel at intermediate to advanced level (e.g. formulas, pivot tables, lookups); exposure to Power BI, SQL or VBA is advantageous.
Experience supporting or contributing to process improvement, including adapting to change, updating documentation, or embedding new ways of working within a team.
Proven ability to manage personal workload independently, meeting deadlines while working across multiple tasks or priorities, and escalating issues appropriately when required.
Clear, professional communication skills, with experience working collaboratively with a range of internal teams and/or external counterparties to support operational or investment processes.
Strong organisational and prioritisation skills, with evidence of coordinating tasks, tracking actions, or supporting projects in a structured and reliable way.
Analytical and problem‑solving skills, demonstrated through the ability to investigate issues, assess data or processes, and propose practical solutions within defined controls or frameworks.

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you.

If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.

We’re reviewing applications as they come in, so apply early to avoid missing out.

Find out more about working at Standard Life

Guide for Candidates: standardlifeplc.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates
Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.standardlifeplc.com/careers/talk-to-us

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Middle Office Strategic Onboarding Associate