Operations & Automation Intern (Python)
FX Trading Technology | Canary Wharf, London
Contract Length
3 to 6 months, with potential to extend to 12 months
Location
Canary Wharf, London (4 days in the office, 1 day from home)
Salary
£27,000
Start Date
Immediate
Working Hours
9:00am to 5:00pm, with some flexibility on start time (e.g. 8:00am starts)
Reports To
Head of Operations and Business Management, with day-to-day supervision from a Quant on the team
Interview Process
Initial interview (approx. 20 minutes) followed by a Python assessment
About the Business
A leading Electronic Communication Network for global FX trading, forming part of a major exchange group. The business gives clients, including retail brokers, institutions, banks, hedge funds and proprietary trading firms, access to deep, diversified liquidity through award-winning, ultra-low-latency trading technology capable of handling thousands of clients simultaneously.
The Role
This is a hands-on internship working directly with the Head of Operations and Business Management, and supervised day-to-day by a Quant, on a focused, high-value automation project: replacing a manual invoicing and billing process with a robust, code-based solution.
Today, this process involves pulling data from separate systems, applying exceptions logic, running multi-stage validations, and a significant amount of manual intervention to produce final files. You will learn the process in full, then build the Python tooling that makes it largely self-running.
Key Responsibilities
Work closely with the operations team to map the existing invoicing process end-to-end: data sources, transformation logic, exception rules, validation steps and manual outputs.Translate that process knowledge into a clear technical specification for the automation solution.Build a Python-based pipeline that ingests data from multiple source systems, applies business rules and exception handling, runs the required validation checks, and generates accurate, client-ready invoices.Work with a large, data-heavy spreadsheet and encode its logic accurately in code, applying strong attention to detail throughout.Reduce manual copy-paste steps through scripted data transformation and output templating.Build a robust solution: handle edge cases, surface errors clearly, and keep outputs auditable.Document the solution clearly so it can be maintained, extended and handed over.Present progress at key milestones to the Head of Operations and other stakeholders.What We're Looking For
This is not a software engineering role. We are not looking for a computer science background or formal software development experience, no specific university or degree subject is required. What matters is real, hands-on Python experience and a careful, detail-focused approach to working with data.
Essential:
Proven, hands-on Python experience, gained through real projects rather than coursework aloneComfortable working with Pandas; prior hands-on use is preferred.Strong Excel skills: able to open a complex, formula-heavy workbook built by someone else, understand its logic, and translate that into code.Experience working with large, detailed datasets, with the attention to detail needed to encode business logic accurately, including exception paths.A rigorous approach to validation: you design for edge cases, not around them.Clear communication: able to explain what you have built and why to a non-technical audience.Follows good coding practice and writes clean, readable, maintainable code.Preferred:
Background or coursework in finance, economics, fintech or a related field is a plus, but not essential.Process
A short initial interview (around 20 minutes) followed by a Python test. The assessment is not about completing every part of it. It is about how you approach the problem and the quality of the work you produce.