Derivatives Analyst & Trader

Symetra has an exciting opportunity to join our team as a Derivatives Analyst & Trader!

About the Role

The Derivatives Analyst and Trader will have various trading, analytical, and quantitative analysis responsibilities within the derivatives front office of the investment management department. This is a technology-focused hands-on trading role, and the ideal candidate would be a self-starter who is comfortable building scalable trading processes and tools in an idea-driven environment.

Company Overview

Symetra Investment Management (“SIM”) is a SEC-registered investment advisory firm with approximately $78 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2025. Symetra Financial Corporation (“SFC”), a diversified financial services company with $68.4 billion in assets as of December 31, 2024, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington is the sole shareholder of SIM. SFC is also the holding company of Symetra Life Insurance Company (“Symetra Life”), which was founded in 1957, and has insurer financial strength ratings of ‘A’ by A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s and ‘A1’ by Moody’s.

Symetra Life is among the top 40 largest life insurance companies in the United States (based on statutory admitted assets as of December 31, 2024) and has approximately 2.3 million customers and over 2,600 employees nationwide. SFC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Life Insurance Company, a mutual life insurance company with head offices in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan.

Founded in 1907, Sumitomo is one of the largest life insurance companies in Japan with $327 billion of assets as of March 31, 2025. SIM currently has recently begun marketing its investment management services to third-party institutional investors.

What you will do

• Execution of derivative trades in accordance with the Company''s approved derivatives programs. Execution in both cleared and bilateral derivatives markets using both exchange-listed and over-the-counter instruments. Positions will be taken in equity, rates, credit, commodity, and FX derivatives. Review and execution of trade confirmations and interfacing with Operations team on all aspects of the trade lifecycle including collateral management, trade booking, reconciliation and settlements.

• Analytical work on derivative assets and insurance liabilities in support of the management of the derivatives portfolio. Expertise coding in Python, VBA Macros, SQL and financial and statistical software packages in support of trading/risk/P&L analysis. Trading tools/utility development and process automation. Self-starter who enjoys building and maintaining processes in an idea-driven setting.

• Reporting:
  Responsible for regular and on-demand reporting using reporting as a feedback tool to inform hedge execution. Hands-on work with PowerBI to modernize reporting. Develop processes, systems and tools to support P/L reporting and attribution, risk reporting, scenario analysis and transaction cost analysis. This work will include writing and maintaining SQL queries, building database and reporting functionality, market and trade data retrieval, and other elements common to the functionality and maintenance of derivatives analytic systems.

Who you are

• B.S. degree in computer science, mathematics or engineering.
• 5+ years of experience in a hands-on derivatives trading and analysis role focused directly on hedging and/or the derivatives markets in an insurance company or asset management firm.
• Ability to handle trade requests from multiple sources simultaneously and multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
• Well organized, independent, entrepreneurial and self-motivated with the ability to maintain composure while working under pressure.
• A roll-up the sleeves, “get it done” work ethic that supports the completion of tasks within specified time frames, understanding that the work requirements of the position will sometimes embed inflexible deadlines.
• Accurate, best practice trade execution with attention to detail and the ability to efficiently balance both project work and trading responsibilities.
• Advanced spreadsheet and coding skills, including an emphasis on efficient automation and day-to-day maintenance of…