Associate Director – Program Manager- Capital Markets Domain

About the job

Associate Director – Program Manager- Capital Markets Domain

About Cognizant Consulting

Cognizant Consulting is more than Cognizant’s consulting practice. We’re a global community of 6,000+ experts dedicated to helping clients reimagine their business. Blending our deep industry and technology advisory capability, we create innovative business solutions for Fortune 500 clients. And now, we’re looking for our next colleague who’ll join us in shaping the future of business. Could it be you?

About the Role

As an Associate Director, Program Manager – Capital Markets Domain Consultant, you will make an impact by leading the discovery, functional analysis, design and transformation of critical post-trade capabilities for the institutional brokerage business of a large investment bank.

The program is focused on rebuilding and modernizing functional capabilities that currently run on mainframe platforms. You will bring deep capital markets domain knowledge, particularly across the securities trade lifecycle and middle- and back-office functions, combined with a strong understanding of how these capabilities are implemented within systems and the underlying business rules.

You will be a valued leader within the Banking & Financial Services Consulting team, working closely with Managing Directors, Operations, Engineering and other senior client stakeholders to translate complex business and system functionality into clearly defined requirements, specifications, acceptance criteria and target-state solutions.

New York City-based consultants are strongly preferred. However, candidates from other locations may be considered where there is a strong fit with the required capital markets and post-trade expertise.

What You’ll Do / Responsibilities

• Lead discovery, functional analysis, requirements definition and solution design across complex capital markets post-trade transformation and modernization initiatives.
• Lead and own capability workstreams focused on rebuilding existing mainframe-based functionality for an institutional brokerage business.
• Apply deep understanding of the end-to-end securities trade lifecycle, with particular focus on middle- and back-office processing, to identify business requirements, dependencies, controls and functional rules.
• Lead the discovery and reverse engineering of existing mainframe capabilities, translating current-state system behavior and business rules into clearly defined future-state requirements.
• Provide domain leadership across key post-trade capabilities and serve as a trusted adviser to business, Operations and Engineering stakeholders.
• Develop and quality-review detailed functional specifications, business rules, acceptance criteria and evidence packs, ensuring clarity, consistency and traceability.
• Partner confidently with Managing Directors, Operations and Engineering teams to facilitate complex discussions, challenge assumptions and resolve functional and solution-design issues.
• Champion AI-enabled approaches for discovery and reverse engineering, identifying opportunities to accelerate current-state analysis and functional documentation.
• Support the development of target-state capabilities and ensure alignment across business requirements, operational processes and technology solutions.
• Provide leadership, functional guidance and mentorship to consultants across the program while ensuring delivery against scope, quality and program objectives.
• Contribute to broader consulting initiatives including client relationship development, solution development, proposals, thought leadership and practice-building activities.

What You Must Have / Qualifications

• 12+ years of overall professional experience in capital markets, financial services operations, consulting, technology transformation or related areas.

• 10+ years of relevant experience in capital markets post-trade, operations or consulting within a broker-dealer, clearing firm, custodian or investment bank.

• Deep understanding of the securities trade lifecycle, with extensive knowledge of middle- and back-office functions and processes.

• Strong domain and functional experience across one or more of the following capabilities:

• Equities Trade Processing & Clearing

• US Listed Options Transaction Processing

• Margin & Risk

• Financing

• Custody

• Ledgers, Journals & Cash Management

• Tax, Billing, Fees & Commissions

• Regulatory Reporting & Continuity

• Settlements, Confirmations & Physical Settlement

• Client Reporting, P&L & Portal

• Reference Data & Client Onboarding

• Strong understanding of how these capital markets capabilities are implemented within systems, including associated workflows, dependencies and underlying business rules.

• Experience working on major legacy modernisation, platform transformation or mainframe transformation/re-engineering programs within capital markets or institutional brokerage.

• Strong ability to perform detailed functional discovery and reverse engineering of existing systems and translate findings into requirements and future-state capabilities.

• Fluency with AI-enabled approaches for discovery and reverse engineering, with the ability to identify practical applications of AI within functional analysis and modernization programs.

• Excellent written communication skills with demonstrated experience producing high-quality functional specifications, acceptance criteria and evidence packs.

• Strong consulting and stakeholder-management capabilities, including the confidence to engage directly with Managing Directors, Operations and Engineering stakeholders.

• Ability to bridge business and technology teams and translate complex capital markets requirements into actionable functional and technology discussions.

• Demonstrated leadership capabilities, including experience guiding consultants and contributing to complex client engagements.

Preferred Location

New York City, NY – Preferred, Candidates based in other locations may also be considered where their experience demonstrates particularly strong alignment with the required capital markets post-trade capabilities.

Salary and Other Compensation

The annual salary for this position is between $150,000–$194,000 USD, depending on experience and other qualifying factors.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans. The source Senior Manager JD uses the same compensation structure, with base salary followed by discretionary annual incentive eligibility