Counterparty Risk Analyst - Trading Risk & Infrastructure Team
Operations · London · Full-time · On-site
Annual base salary: £120,000 – £145,000 GBP
Role description
Westren Capital is a systematic trading firm focused on quantitative research, derivatives, volatility strategies, and multi-asset systematic trading. The firm operates across centralized and decentralized markets with an emphasis on execution quality, infrastructure resilience, and disciplined risk management.
The Counterparty Risk Analyst sits within the Trading Risk & Infrastructure Team and works closely with trading, treasury, operations, and quantitative research functions to monitor and manage exposure across brokers, exchanges, clearing venues, banks, and OTC counterparties.
The role focuses on safeguarding the firm from counterparty failures, liquidity disruptions, settlement issues, collateral inefficiencies, and operational contagion risks across both traditional finance and digital asset ecosystems.
Responsibilities:
Monitor real-time counterparty exposure across exchanges, brokers, banks, custodians, and OTC trading venues
Track collateral utilization, margin requirements, funding concentration, and liquidity fragmentation across portfolios
Build internal risk dashboards for counterparty concentration, settlement risk, and exposure stress scenarios
Evaluate financial health, operational reliability, and structural risks of trading counterparties
Work with trading teams during periods of market stress, volatility spikes, or liquidity dislocations
Analyze historical failure events, liquidation cascades, exchange outages, and systemic contagion patterns
Coordinate collateral movements and treasury workflows to optimize capital efficiency while minimizing operational risk
Assist in onboarding and due diligence processes for new counterparties, brokers, custodians, and exchanges
Develop automated alerting systems for withdrawal delays, abnormal spreads, funding anomalies, or solvency concerns
Collaborate with quantitative researchers and engineers to integrate counterparty risk signals into execution and allocation systems
Produce internal reports covering exposure metrics, stress-test results, concentration limits, and risk recommendations
Monitor regulatory developments and infrastructure risks affecting clearing, settlement, and custody ecosystems
Requirements
Requirements:
Strong understanding of market structure, derivatives, margin systems, and prime brokerage mechanics
Familiarity with exchange microstructure, clearing workflows, and collateral management principles
Experience working with Python, SQL, or data analysis tools for monitoring and reporting
Understanding of liquidation mechanics, leverage cycles, and systemic risk dynamics in financial markets
Ability to interpret balance sheets, liquidity conditions, and operational risk indicators
Strong analytical thinking with high attention to detail during fast-moving market conditions
Comfortable working in a high-intensity quantitative trading environment with cross-functional teams
Prior exposure to crypto markets, OTC trading, or treasury operations is a strong advantage
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to summarize complex risks clearly