Operations Apprentice

About this opportunity

LME Group is offering a two-year apprenticeship which aims to provide the grounding for someone with longer term ambition to move into a commodities trading role.

LME Group is offering a two-year apprenticeship which aims to provide the grounding for someone with longer term ambition to move into a commodities trading role. We have collaborated with The Growth Company to offer full time paid employment and to assist the successful candidate to obtain qualifications from the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments. The Apprenticeship scheme will introduce the fundamentals of Financial Services and will provide candidates with the basic knowledge required for working within the commodities sector. The qualification content covers types of banking, and commonly used financial products such as shares, bonds and insurance and provides an understanding of financial terminology. It will also equip candidates with the knowledge to perform important basic calculations. This is a globally recognised qualification for practitioners working in the administration and operations areas of financial services.
You will be expected to pass the following qualifications:
• Introduction to Securities and Investment
• UK Financial Regulation
AND any ONE of the following:
Operational Risk
Risk in Financial Services

Responsibilities:

Clearing Operations 3 months
The Apprentice role in operations will be to serve as a member of the Operations team helping to run the day to day operations including clearing and settlement, day to day clearing operations, payments monitoring, physical delivery processing and operational support including those related to business continuity planning (BCP) Capturing and clearing matched trades
• Managing the settlement process of trades including contract expiry and settlement
• Managing the payment and collection of cash and non cash collateral
• Treasury operations including payments and cash flow monitoring and investment of monies
• Monitoring the Precious & Warrants Physical Delivery processing
• Account Reconciliations
• Static data maintenance including contract, client and calendar management
• Monitor trade matching via LMEsmart and provide 1st line support
• Oversight of LMESword lodgement and Withdrawal instructions
• Develop comprehensive understanding of the Matching Rules
• Undertake daily reporting obligations undertaken by the Regulatory Reporting team
• Responding to client queries & resolving any issues
• Interacting with peer-level staff within the industry

Trading Operations 3 months
• To provide support for first-line supervision for all trading activity on the Ring and LMEselect
• To learn and support all processes across LME venues and functions managed by Trading Operations
• Supporting role to ensure the LME’s reference prices are determined in a manner that promotes the LME and meets the commercial and regulatory requirements of the job in full
• Supporting the Quotations Committee on the Ring for the determination of Official and Closing Prices
• Supporting role for the establishment of prices on LMEselect for Cash-settled futures and Precious futures traded electronically
• Supporting the daily procedure for the determination of the Closing Prices for Traded Options using LMEprism by making reference to all relevant trading activity and participant submissions
• Supporting role to ensure the Platinum and Palladium prices are determined effectively through daily auctions on LMEbullion
• To provide support to ensure the Error Trade Policy and Dynamic Price Bands on LMEselect are managed effectively
• Effectively deal with all stakeholder queries relating to LME’s pricing procedures and Trading Operations in general

Market Surveillance 2 months
The Apprentice role in Market Surveillance will be to support the Trade Surveillance sub-team in monitoring trading activity on the LME to identify behavior, which may be indicative of market abuse. The role of the team is to monitor activity on all LME trading venues to ensure that the markets remain fair, transparent and orderly. The team monitors order and trade activity to identify behavior, which may be indicative of market abuse, or other behavior, which may damage the integrity of LME markets.

• Assist in conducting daily market abuse and market integrity surveillance using LME electronic surveillance systems and reports
• Assist in the calculation of daily member lending obligations and application of the LME Lending Rules
• Assist with the handling and analysis of referrals of possible rule breaches and unusual activity
• Draft communications to be sent to members, querying the trading rationale of activity identified by daily surveillance
• Participation in the weekly Referrals Committee meeting when required
• Assist in responding to requests for information from the FCA
• Draft responses to member queries and assist in resolving issues when required
• Assist in the preparation of daily management information
• Whilst primary focus is the Trade Surveillance sub-team, there will also be the opportunity to shadow the formal Investigation and Enforcement function within Market Surveillance

Market Data 2 months
• Support business processes for distribution of data to licensed market data clients and redistributors (vendors) – commercial
• Support operational procedures for the real time distribution of the Exchange’s market data services – operational
• Understand Exchange technologies for distribution of real time data – technology
• Understand client needs to effectively manage business or technical queries related to accessing market data from the Exchange – Customers

Physical Operations 1 month
The Apprentice role in operations will be to support the processing of brands and warehousing operational activities
• Understanding the stock movements
• Inputting the static data on LMEsword
• Learning the process of listing warehouse companies/warehouses
• Understanding the basics of brand listings
• Assisting in following up queries from the ongoing brands surveys

Relationship Management, Market Access, Technical Account Management 1 month
TAMS
• Attend weekly Colt (LME network provider) meeting. Noting minutes and action points
• Conduct audit of LME member network lines to Colt monthly invoice
• Produce internal cheat sheets on LME new cross connect service
• Respond to external emails to the generic TAM email inbox
• Help maintain/update member/ISV readiness spreadsheet for new trading platform
• Draft member/ISV communication and upload relevant information to the LME website

RM/MA
• Shadow RM member meetings and learn how to write notes and enter into salesforce system
• Create the precious default letter templates for the precious members for 2021
• Choose a relevant LME project/initiative and create a PowerPoint to present to MA and RMs
• Draft member communication and upload relevant information to the LM Website
• Assist with member diagrams (org charts)
• Administration of PLP program – including client application responses
• Create external distribution list for client incentive sales reports
• Indexing and reflecting all client correspondence in respective client folders
• Updating member onboarding tracking lists, reflecting all member locations as well planned system usage and country
• Create quick reference guide for Cat 1-5 member onboarding
• Update CRM with onboarding member developments

Personal Qualities

• Team player with the ability to think independently
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Pro-active with a can-do attitude
• Thrive in a challenging environment where you need to think on your feet
• Resilient and adaptable approach

Skills

• Good verbal, written, and presentation communication skills
• Highly numerate
• Good skills in working with PCs and on-line systems
• Intermediate Level Experience of Excel
• Knowledge of, or interest in analytical or financial math’s

Minimum 5 GCSE passes essential and A-Level qualification preferable