Senior Technical Specialist

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland

Job Summary

Role Overview:

We are seeking a Senior Sophis Risque Support Lead to oversee the application support team for the Sophis Risque platform. The role combines technical expertise, leadership, and stakeholder management, ensuring the platform’s stability, availability, and performance for front-office, risk, and operations teams. The manager will also drive process improvements, system upgrades, and vendor coordination to optimize the support function.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Management

Lead, mentor, and manage a team of Sophis Risque application support analysts (L1/L2/L3).

Assign and prioritize support tickets, incidents, and enhancement requests.

Drive performance management, training, and knowledge-sharing initiatives within the team.

Ensure adherence to SLAs, KPIs, and ITIL-compliant processes.

Technical & Functional Oversight

Serve as the senior point of contact for complex functional and technical issues on Sophis Risque.

Oversee incidents, problem, and change management processes, ensuring timely resolution of critical trading/risk issues.

Manage system upgrades, patches, and environment migrations with minimal disruption.

Collaborate with development teams and external vendors (Finastra) for enhancements, bug fixes, and escalations.

Monitor system health, performance metrics, and automated alerts; proactively address risks.

Stakeholder Management & Reporting

Liaise with front office, risk management, operations, and IT leadership to understand business priorities.

Provide regular updates on system performance, incidents, and planned upgrades to senior management.

Ensure compliance with regulatory and internal audit requirements for risk and trading systems.

Process Improvement & Automation

Identify opportunities for automation, efficiency improvements, and risk reduction within support operations.

Standardize operational procedures, reporting, and documentation for the support function.

Drive continuous improvement initiatives in collaboration with IT and business teams.

Skills & Experience

Functional Expertise

Deep understanding of Sophis Risque (front-to-back trade lifecycle, risk, P&L, VaR, Greeks).

Knowledge across multiple asset classes: Equities, Fixed Income, FX, Commodities, Derivatives.

Strong grasp of trading, risk management, and portfolio processes in investment banking.

Technical Expertise

SQL and database troubleshooting (Oracle, SQL Server).

Scripting/automation (Python, Shell, PowerShell) for monitoring and support tasks.

Experience with Unix/Linux environments and batch processing.

Knowledge of integration protocols (MQ, FIX, REST APIs) and APIs for third-party systems.

Familiarity with vendor support processes and version upgrades.

Alternative Skills to Sophis

Alternate platforms for Sophis, in case relevant skill is not available in market -

Murex MX.3

Calypso

Summit

These platforms offer similar functionality like Sophis and are commonly used in the Banking and Financial Services Industry. When evaluating, pls focus on key function areas of “Risk and compliance”.

Key Responsibilities

1. To architect| design and develop (through Team) solution for product/project & sustenance delivery

2. To support as an Subject Matter Expert

3. To ensure knowledge up-gradation and work with new technologies so that the solution is current and meets quality standards and the client requirements

4. Ensuring a sufficient pool of skilled professionals in the designated technology, through activities such as conducting interviews, providing training sessions and offering mentorship.

5. To gather specifications and deliver solutions to the client organization based on understanding of a domain or technology.

6. To support compete