Advanced Technology > Associate

Business Description

What is Technology?

As one of the key enabling forces behind Citi, Markets & Banking Technology supports all areas from multi-million dollar international trades to individual investors' portfolios. Our objective is to deliver seamless services to meet today's needs, while at the same time ensuring our technology and systems are flexible enough to seize opportunities in the future.

What services do we provide to our clients?

Technology is a vital business function solving problems, enhancing services, finding more efficient ways to build business, raise productivity, boost our competitiveness and expand globally. Our commitment to technology is unprecedented: we put massive financial resources behind our information infrastructure, whether it's a ground-up development project, the acquisition of a technology partner or the enhancement and operation of our day-to-day systems.

Technology
Through a partnership with our businesses, Markets & Banking Technology:
· Develops sophisticated worldwide trading operations, financial systems, databases and internal and external communications networks.
· Designs and develops the firm's websites and the architecture of our global applications, databases, networks and hardware.
· Customizes and recommends software in response to changing business needs.

How we are structured?

We broadly distinguish between Software Development and Technology Infrastructure.
Within Citi Markets & Banking:

Software Development is closely aligned to the business areas in Markets & Banking Technology. You will work hand-in-hand with the world's leading computer and software technologies to develop new, components and enhance existing platforms to provide competitive advantage to many of the key business functions within Citi. You will learn how to architect, design, and build some of the largest and most Global solutions available in the financial service market. You will gain exposure to breakthrough technologies before they become available, and also work extensively with existing Service Oriented Architectures and Web Services Frameworks. You will gain exposure to market leading technologies platforms, such as BEA Weblogic, IBM Websphere, and Oracle.

Technology Infrastructure provides hardware, operating systems, and telecommunication products and services to all Citi's businesses, including Markets & Banking, Global Consumer Bank and Global Wealth Management. Technology Infrastructure offers exciting opportunities in business analysis, project management and business continuity. In addition it provides voice, e-mail, Internet, data processing and desktop support. Technology Infrastructure provides market data services, system and database administration functions, as well as operates the firm’s data centers, command and customer service centers, security control devices, gateways for remote access, mobile computing technologies, and host and server systems.

Roles of an Associate

Roles an Advanced Technology Associate may undertake:

As products in the financial markets become more sophisticated and trading becomes more automated, the successful integration of quantitative methods with trading takes on a greater significance. Today's automated trading environment means that algorithms make many trading and risk management decisions. These algorithms and the infrastructure required to make them perform is one of the most complex problems facing industry today. A system failure or a faulty algorithm can lead to multi million dollar losses while a successful system can lead to profitability unmatched in most other industries.

The Advanced Technology Associate program is designed to be the primary entry point for the quantitative engineers that design and build these solutions. The optimal candidate must have exceptional skills in software development and quantitative methods while having a passion for applying these skills to financial markets. We focus less on your knowledge of a specific language (Java, C#, C++) or specific mathematical techniques commonly used in finance (stochastic calculus) than strong fundamentals in mathematics and development (object oriented design and understanding of the issues surrounding the development of high performance distributed software).

Our quantitative developers tend to develop projects on an agile basis. This means that we look for people who are not reliant on fully developed project plans. We are looking for self-motivated engineers who learn how capital markets works today, work well within their team, and leverage their hybrid skills to deliver solutions that give Citi a competitive advantage in its trading business.

Our Programs

Full Time Associate

Technology is a global organization comprised of approximately 7,500 people located in 69 countries. The department responsible for managing / fulfilling the software needs of Citi Markets & Banking.

The Advanced Technology Associate (ATA) program is an elite initiative to hire full-time Masters of Science and/or Post Doctorate students who can create engineering solutions to support our quantitative products and processes such as Equities, Derivatives, Fixed Income and Risk Management.

Students are hired into the technology organizations supporting the Citi Markets & Banking businesses and will be assigned to problem-solving projects. In addition to the responsibilities within their respective divisions, the Associates are aligned with a training curriculum that focuses on the development of personal skills and business knowledge. The training enhances the performance of the Associates in their day-to-day business assignments and encourages participants to understand and support the strategic direction of the firm. Top performers may be assigned to short-term projects based at any of our international locations. This will further educate them to global best practices within the business and Citi.

Why Advanced Technology?

ATA program is a great place to start your career for college graduates. This program makes up for an exciting working and learning environment, which will help you grow up both professionally and personally. At your first day on board, you will be given responsibility and challenges working on large projects, your genuinely passion and accountability are crucial for the bank’s short and long term success. ATA program also provides two years training courses. By taking these courses, you get opportunity to learn some state-of-the-art technologies, business of finance and management skills. A most valuable experience is the opportunity that you can meet so many wonderful people through the program, some of the best and smartest in the business, and you make really good friends with your ATA classmates. (Wen, Joined 2007)

In today's financial industry, a firm's success is closely tied to innovative technology. As the largest financial company in the market, Citi Markets & Banking is an ideal place for individuals with a solid technical background. First of all, you will be exposed to a variety of product lines. The completeness of financial products can be rarely found elsewhere because the huge scale in Citi is just unmatchable. Most technologists in the firm are undertaking more than one project at the same time. Many times, these projects are cross-platform and cross business. Second of all, the engineering solution you give is critical to the performance of the company. You will see the impact of technology to business very quickly. You will also experience with your own eyes that the company is more productive and saves more cost because of your application. As a true developer, you will feel very happy when you are making people's life easier and better. Last but not least, ATA program offers a series of intensive and professional training classes. These training classes will build for you an in-depth understanding of financial markets and how technology can help in this context. In conclusion, Citi is the place for you to learn, to grow, and to start your career.(Weili, 2007 Associate)

Summer Associate

The Advanced Technology Associate (ATA) Summer Program is a ten-week program based in New York and New Jersey for students who have completed the first year of their Masters of Science and/or are completing their Post Doctorate. This program is geared towards students who are interested in creating engineering solutions to support our quantitative products and processes such as Equities, Derivatives and Risk Management.

ATA Summer Associates will participate in an three-day training program at the start of the Summer Program. Throughout the orientation, speakers and presentations, they will be provided with an introduction to Citi Markets & Banking, Technology and all of the tools they will need to be successful in their summer roles. At the completion of their training program, ATA Summer Associates will report to their groups, where they will have an opportunity to experience and contribute to complex, solution orientated hands-on work experience that will challenge their previous academic knowledge.

Throughout the summer the ATA Summer Associate will be given numerous opportunities to network throughout the firm through social events, speaker series and mentors. This is a unique opportunity to experience Citi's business dynamics and culture. This program will help the ATA Summer Associate determine if Citi is the organization he/she wishes to pursue on a full-time basis after graduation, as is a majority and our goal for our full-time class to be comprised of returning ATA Summer Associates.

Summer Diaries

Name: Sanyogita Lakhera 
Group: GCSM Non Agency Mortgage -GLOBAL SECURITIZED
School: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Week 1 & 2

My first few days at Citi were my first encounter with a truly global company. I was mystified by the sheer size of Citi, and it made me realize that during this summer I will be a part of a company which is very global and diversified. I was looking forward to participating and venturing into innovative and exciting projects.

We had an extensive three day training program which provided us information about corporate culture, software engineering, and financial engineering. The training was intense and kept us on our toes. We had plenty of information to digest and every one of us was delighted to be educated by those with real life experience. Our lecturers gave us examples from real Citi projects to illustrate the pivotal role that technology plays in the business.

All the ATA interns were making acquaintances and sharing information regarding the training material and city life. During my first week I was invited to a social event by the Mortgage Analytics Group.

Coming from a small town like Urbana, living in a big city was quite a massive change. I have visited NY many times before but working in NY is an entirely different experience. Tribeca consists of various venues including great restaurants. It is quite common to go out socially every Thursday. After the two days of training, I had a meeting with my manger. In this one-on-one meeting, he gave me a broad idea about the work done in the GCSM Non Agency Mortgage team. He not only informed me about the various information systems used in the group but also gave me an insight of how these software tools are important for the business. After my meeting was over I was introduced to other members of the group. I was quickly given a desktop and as I checked my mail I realized that I was already a member of various mail groups. This was a very important thing that I noticed about the work culture at Citi. The things are done in seconds! As soon as I finished my training, not only did I have work assigned for me but also I received a quick overview of my job description and was readily accepted as a group member. In short, the transition from college to a Citi employee was swift.

Week 3 & 4

I was assigned to work on generation of Investor reports via Loan Management System (LMS) by integrating Excel templates provided by the investors with LMS Reports. I got the unique opportunity to work closely with clients and map their need to available technology. During our thoughtful discussions, I was able to enhance my knowledge on Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) which will be used to integrate templates for top 10 investors identified by the business. Another task was to produce a document highlighting how to develop and maintain investor templates. Next, I had to learn about the RMBS business, specifically focused on roles played by the Mortgage Finance and Mortgage Analytics team and produce an overview on the role Mortgage analytics plays in the RMBS pipeline. Additionally, I enhanced my understanding of RMBS by going through self paced courses provided by Citi Markets & Banking, North America Learning Portals.

I had the privilege of being mentored by some of the finest people at Citi. My senior mentor not only invited me to an informative lunch with him, but during the course of my internship we had thoughtful discussions about various possible career paths for people in the Technology division at Citi. On the other hand, my junior mentor helped me in understanding the life cycle of the software project development.

Of course our internship was not all work; we had plenty of fun activities as well. The summer internship started with a kick-off event, it was followed by a guided tour of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Our guide gave us a good picture of the history of the stock exchange. He also explained to us a typical day. The very next week we went to a family style restaurant called Carmines, along with our junior mentors which was followed by watching a Tony award winning Broadway show Avenue Q.

I worked closely with my team in understanding the client requirements and I learned a great deal about how to interact with people, how to write business emails as well as how to conduct oneself in a business environment.

Week 5 & 6

Throughout my internship I was given additional responsibilities including analysis of requirements, testing. I was also given the responsibility to document the production roll-out process of one on the critical applications.

It was very useful as it provided me with a great opportunity to have a one-to-one conversation about the goals of my internship with my manager.

Week 7 & 8

We had the privilege of listening to some of the biggest names in the finance industry. The distinguished speaker series started with a talk from Alberto Verme who is the Co-Head of the Investment Banking division.  It ended by Tom Maheras, Chairman and Co-CEO Citi Markets & Banking. In between we had an informative lecture from Chairman & CEO Citi, Charles Prince.

I had the privilege of working closely with the client. I was not only having regular meetings with them but I was sitting with them. This unique opportunity provided me with a deeper insight into their needs, and my group was able to communicate ideas effectively across the table. The most important part of the job was to get involved in these interactions and come up with unique and effective solution for their problems.

Week 9 & 10

From the first day onwards I tried to take on responsibility, eager to learn the business and the technology. I interacted with clients and mapped their needs. I was able to deliver the goals assigned to me and encouraged by my manger to look for every learning opportunity available to me. This included, going to team meetings, getting involved in different projects, taking online courses, and having information sessions with the business people.

This internship has given me opportunity to interact with people with technology as well as the business side. The summer internship program definitely gave me an overall exposure to financial engineering and technology. Each day I learned something exciting and was motivated by the innovative and hardworking people around me. Last but not least we had a fun-filled farewell party at the Institute of Culinary Education, where we cooked our own dinner!

Students should look for a company which provides opportunities for overall exposure (business and technical side).  I cherished working closely with clients using technology to solve business problems.

Name: Hyung-Seok Hahm
Group: Structured Credit Technology, Total Return Swap
School: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Week 1 & 2

I was very excited to start the internship program. Coming from a technology background, Wall Street meant a much different world to me. I was eager to learn as much as I could about the finance world and about Citi in the next 10 weeks. In addition, I wanted to explore NYC in the summer, which is the best season to enjoy the city. I could not be luckier to stay in the city in the golden time.

We had a three day orientation program. The orientation focused on the introduction of CMB Technology, basic finance and software engineering. There were also speakers who worked for various divisions in the firm. The training helped my on-boarding to understand the firm and the business.

The summer ATA class became very close through many events, such as social events, a Broadway musical, distinguished speaker series and so on. It is a great advantage of being a summer ATA because you have the human network to begin with.

Living in NYC is fantastic. There are just so many things to explore. There are endless events offered throughout the summer. Believe me. You can’t possibly attend them all. There are lots of museums, Broadway shows, parks and free concerts. And they are the very best of the kind. Even better, as a Citi employee, you can get free pass to major museums and discounts on many of these.

Week 3 & 4

I was assigned in Structured Credit Derivatives Technology department. Within the department, our team has been developing a system dedicated to Total Return Swap product. My role in the project was to implement data feed among different server systems. I was fortunate to have prior experience in XML, Database and Java, which helped avoid the initial learning curve.

You cannot do anything without your team members’ help. Teamwork is everything. Our group had many meetings because we had an upcoming deadline. Attending team meetings really helped me get up to the speed. I also wanted to sit close to my team members. Originally my desk was located a different floor from the team. Thus I switched my desk to the same floor sitting right next to them. It turned out to be the right move because the implementation of the code required active interactions with the team members.

Two mentors were assigned to me a senior and a junior mentor. I met my senior mentor during my superday interviews.  I found out that I would work for him, so I paid a visit to his office during orientation where he introduced me to other team members. I cannot thank my mentors enough for their invaluable guidance throughout the internship.

One of the advantages of having two mentors is that they provide a balanced view. Typically 1-2 year ATAs are assigned as junior mentors and vice presidents as senior mentors. You can expect answers to day-to-day questions from junior mentors while seeking advice on long-term career goals from senior mentors.

During the internship, we didn’t just work all the time. There were lots of fun events as part of the program. To name a few, we had a Welcome Party, Avenue Q, Broadway musical and a tour of the New York Stock Exchange. We, as Citi summer associates, were also invited to the MBA Challenge, a TV show on CNBC.

We had lunch with Steve Randich, CIO of Citi Markets & Banking, in the Executive Dining Room, who is responsible for the strategy, development, and implementation of all technology in CMB. Over lunch, he kindly shared his philosophy on the ATA program and his vision of the role of technology in financial services. It was an opportunity to share our ideas with top management.

Week 5 & 6

In the first week, summer associates and managers set goals to achieve by the end of the program together. The performances are measured by the goals at the end of the program. However, often times they need to change because things may not go as planned. Mid-summer reviews are helpful because the goals could be adjusted half way.

Communications to other divisions were the key to the project. I had to contact colleagues in other divisions on a daily basis. By doing this, I learned how to build relationships in the firm.

Citi intranet has lots of information for this. Attending the Distinguished Speaker Series also helped me understand the firm.

Week 7 & 8

My role in the project did not require interactions with clients, in my case, total return swap traders. Our team, however, worked closely with the London office. We occasionally had conference calls with them.

Personally, the Distinguished Speaker Series is the highlight of the internship.  The invited speakers in the Speaker Series are ones who lead the world economy. And here they were spending their valuable time with the summer interns. All of them are great speakers with a good sense of humor. It was inspiring to know that many of them started as summer interns. They shared their experience early in their careers and their philosophy on the world economy.

I was able to learn much more from the meetings than any other textbooks or lectures. Watching our team handle difficulties in the project gave me an idea what kinds of real world problems I would face in the future.

Week 9 & 10

I felt privileged at every single moment in the internship. I am truly happy that I was a part of Total Return Swap team and was able to make a contribution to the project. I thank all my team members for their kindness. I was very lucky to have wonderful mentors. Their guidance through the internship completed my joyful journey.

I had two main goals; to learn the firm and the finance knowledge. Coming from a technology background, I did not have enough prior exposure on either. This internship program enabled me to achieve both of my goals. 

It is a great opportunity for you to learn about the firm. You should work hard, but, at the same time, you should also have fun because after all that is what matters the most.

The most memorable thing to me was the New York Stock Exchange visit. In a sense, we were privileged to be allowed to visit the largest stock exchange in the world. It was thrilling that I stood at the heart of the world economy.

Name: Navodit Kaushik
Group: Munis Pre-Trade
School: University of Illinois

Week 1 & 2

My first impressions of the company were based on the three day orientation that we had at the beginning of my internship. It gave me an idea of how truly global this company is and provided an insight into the kind of diverse opportunities that exist here. For example, it is not necessary that you will always be performing the same role or working in the same team that you start your career with. Mobility and flexibility are big keywords for this company and this was enforced right from the beginning. 

The three day orientation at the beginning of the internship was the perfect start which gave me a good idea about the company and provided me an initial look into the financial world. Once I joined my team it was more a case of learning on the job which was exciting as I got the opportunity to put into practice what I learned on a daily basis.

The summer events provided a perfect opportunity to interact and bond with my peers. Events like the Broadway show and social events provided the perfect medium for having detailed interaction and discussions with other summer associates. 

Working and living in NYC and Tribeca in particular was a truly awesome experience. Life moves fast in NYC and faster in the financial world and I learned this within the first few weeks of my internship. The 388 Greenwich building is at a great location with all kinds of restaurants nearby as well as being close to the waterfront. It was an enjoyable experience overall.

Week 3 & 4

During the initial weeks I developed a support tool which was required to facilitate the needs of the support team for Munis. I was responsible for getting the user requirements, developing the application, testing it and then releasing it to the production server where it was used by the support team. Based on some initial feedback, I was also responsible for laying out an outline of the next steps/enhancements to be worked on.

It also gave me a good idea about the best practices involved in building an application from scratch and taking it to production, while also learning about the different company-specific protocols to be followed during such a cycle.

At a later stage I was part of a more complex project which required me to interact with different team members and get a good understanding of the business process involved in the system. I contributed towards the project by designing an initial task list outlining the key steps and then working on them. At the end of the internship I was able to deliver a working version of a subcomponent of the system.

Most of my work was in Java. Though I had used Java before, the most useful part was getting exposure to and working on projects which were of very large scale, something which one can never encounter in the academic environment. Besides I got to work on the Spring Framework which is one of the most widely used frameworks in the industry today.

The team spirit among my group was amazing. From day one I was part of the weekly team meetings which gave me a good idea about the projects that our team was working on and where my contribution fit in the overall picture.

Having a mentor program is a great idea as it provides an opportunity for summer interns to interact with junior personnel and get an idea of what their future career path can be like.

I thoroughly enjoyed being part of all the events that were organized during the early weeks of the internship. While the initial welcome party provided an excellent opportunity to network with program managers in the company, the NYSE tour was a great way to get an insiders view of the stock exchange.

The management was always approachable and whenever I had some concerns I never felt any hesitation in talking to my manager or to reach out to the higher management as well.

Week 5 & 6

During the later course of my internship, I was given the opportunity of working on a real-time large scale project which required me to get a good understanding of the big picture and the interactions between the different systems in place.

The mid-summer reviews were helpful in two ways. First, they were helpful in determining if I was going on the right track (i.e. my contributions were in line with the expectations). Second, it was helpful in getting my internship goals more streamlined and SMART in the real sense, since through the process of preparing for the summer review, I got a realistic idea of what all I can achieve during the internship.

I worked in the Municipals Department with the Order Management team. During the course of my internship I got a good exposure to the other projects that were going on in the Muni’s division. 

Throughout the duration of the internship we had a speaker series which gave us a peek into the vision that the top management had for Citi. This was especially useful in developing a good understanding of the firm.

Week 7 & 8

The distinguished speaker series is a great idea to provide the summer associates with an opportunity to network with the top management. I found the speaker series especially useful in developing an overall picture of the firm and its future goals.

I find all my time at Citi to be interesting. Having worked in different team environments across the globe one thing which struck me as particularly inspiring about the group was the team spirit and orientation towards working not individually but as a team towards the organizations goals.

Week 9 & 10

During the internship I got the opportunity to make a strong technical contribution to the goals of my group. The support tool that I developed was used by the Muni Support team to facilitate customer support.

My last impressions are similar to my first. As I mentioned before, mobility and flexibility are definitely big keywords in this organization and while networking with different professionals in the past few weeks, I have seen ample evidence of this. 

The student should be clear as to what kind of role he envisions for themself. Whether it's technical or business oriented, the candidate should then try and look for internships which afford those opportunities. It is also useful to know about the target audience for a particular internship. For example ,one of the ways that the Summer ATA program differentiates itself from other similar programs in the financial industry is it’s orientation towards attracting Master’s and PhD students. Knowing about the career path that an organization envisions for an entry level position can help the student better understand if that internship is for them.

The most memorable part of my internship was the day when I finally released my application to the production server for client use. It was a proud moment for me as I could see that my work as an intern was being recognized and being used in the real world!

Who we are looking for

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. We seek candidates with a strong work ethic, high energy level, and strong interpersonal and communication skills. Successful program participants share many common traits. They are:

• Analytical thinkers, with software development skills
• Quick learners, assimilating information quickly, organizing it, and putting it into useful form
• Quick to seek the help of peers, recognizing the value of support and mutual assistance
• Enthusiastic, eager to advance quickly and assume greater leadership responsibility
• Comfortable thinking outside of the box and innovating beyond the limits of a position

We are looking to hire people who have a sound technology background as well as those who possess business acumen. The ideal candidate should have:

• Earned or will be obtaining a Master of Science or Post Doctorate Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Management Information Systems.
• Achieved a minimum GPA of 3.5 within their major as well as overall
• Possess a desired 2 years work experience in a “real world” environment that demonstrates responsibility and technical skills. However, part-time internships and related extracurricular activities will also be considered in evaluating experience.

Recruitment Process

Citi Markets & Banking Technology, begins the formal Advanced Technology Associate (ATA) recruiting process in September in the form of an on-campus presentation. All students are invited to attend this event to learn about the culture, the business, and the technology at Citi. Subsequently, job descriptions are posted through university career centers. All students will need to apply via career services with their school as well as to the Citi website. Once all resumes have been collected and reviewed, a closed, targeted list of first round interview candidates is compiled. First round interviews take place in the September-October timeframe and successful interviewees subsequently go directly to Super Day. Citi on campus interviews are typically 45 minutes; Super Days typically consist of three to four 45-minute interviews with a committee of Technology professionals. Offers are given as soon thereafter Super Day as possible.

Stage 1: On Campus Presentations: beginning in September. Interested applicants are highly encouraged to attend.

Stage 2: Applications: submitted via your career services AND the Citi web-site. Campus Recruitment reviews applications.

Stage 3: First Round Interviews: take place on campus in the September/October time frame. Citi on-campus interviews are typically 30 minutes.

Stage 4: Super Day: successful first round interviewees are invited to our Super Day. This day typically consists of four to five 30-minute interviews with a committee of Technology professionals.

Stage 5: Offers: extended by the business as soon thereafter the Super Day as possible; follow up by Campus Recruitment.

Summer Associate

Stage 1: On Campus Presentations: beginning in September. Interested applicants are highly encouraged to attend.

Stage 2: Applications: submitted via your career services AND the Citi web-site. Campus Recruitment reviews applications.

Stage 3: First Round Interviews: take place on campus in the September/October time frame. Citi on-campus interviews are typically 30 minutes.

Stage 4: Super Day: successful first round interviewees are invited to our Super Day. This day typically consists of four to five 30-minute interviews with a committee of Technology professionals.

Stage 5: Offers: extended by the business as soon thereafter the Super Day as possible; follow up by Campus Recruitment.

Where

Full time Associate

• New York, NY
• Jersey City, NJ
• Warren, NJ
• Hong Kong, CH (Must be work authorized)
• Singapore, IND (Must be work authorized)

Summer Associate

• New York, NY
• Jersey City, NJ
• Warren, NJ