INVESTMENT OPERATIONS SPECIALIST

Overview OU Foundation Investments, LLC (OUFI) is the institutional investment office that manages $3 billion for the University of Oklahoma Foundation and a small number of external clients. We invest globally, primarily through external managers, across the full opportunity set: public equity, fixed income, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, and real assets. It’s an endowment-model portfolio, with the operational complexity that comes with it: capital calls, lagged private valuations, multi-source reconciliation, and detailed reporting delivered to the investment team, the Investment Committee, the board, and our clients. Behind the office is a long-term institution with a durable mission: the OU Foundation exists to support the University across generations. That mission is why the capital exists and why getting the numbers right matters. Role OUFI is hiring an Investment Operations Specialist to own the office’s performance reporting, data management, and transaction-processing functions. Reporting to the Investment Operations Manager, this role holds end-to-end ownership of the investment book of record (IBOR) and serves as the primary lead for investment transaction processing. We’re a small team, and this role owns key data that the entire office relies on. The numbers you produce land directly in front of the CIO, the Investment Committee, and our clients and are used to inform investment decisions. This is a high-independence individual-contributor role. You own your work and stand behind its accuracy with minimal day-to-day oversight, and you think critically about the numbers to catch errors before they propagate. You’ll also help shape the office’s operational infrastructure during an active build-out, including the rollout of a new research management system and continued automation of the data pipeline, so there’s meaningful room to improve the machinery, not just run it. What We Are Looking For Proven investment-operations capability, whether from an allocator, fund administrator, custodian, fund-accounting or performance team, or audit practice. You’ve maintained a book of record and have reconciled it against outside records. Independent and accountable; you take real ownership, work well with minimal oversight, and stand behind the accuracy of your work. Reconciliation discipline and a problem-solving mindset; you resolve breaks rather than just flag them, and you catch bad data before it ships. Curious and improvement-minded, always looking to make a process more durable rather than just complete the task. A clear communicator who can explain the data, and the exceptions, to the people who depend on it. Responsibilities IBOR and Data Management Owns and maintains the office’s investment book of record in the portfolio analytics system, MSCI Total Plan Manager (TPM, formerly Caissa), including the daily upload of custodial and manager valuations and entry of prior-day transaction activity at the line-item level (fees, return of capital, gains and losses, and distributions). Supports daily portfolio reporting, performing daily cash reconciliation and reviewing total assets and day-over-day changes for anomalies, then investigating discrepancies before they propagate downstream. Monitors the custodian bank (BNY Mellon) data feed, flagging data discrepancies and settlement issues and elevating them as needed. Maintains portfolio composites, user-defined return streams, custom benchmarks, and related portfolio and fund metadata across the performance reporting system and the research/CRM platform (Bipsync). Performs regular gap analyses across systems to confirm that every fund is tagged with the appropriate qualitative and quantitative metadata, such as asset-class descriptions, geography, fees, liquidity terms, holdings, and performance. Conducts recurring document freshness audits, confirming that key manager and fund documents (capital account statements, quarterly reports, K-1s, quarterly letters, and similar) have been received and are current. Works with the systems analyst to confirm the automated document ingestion process is functioning correctly, flagging gaps or failures for resolution. Reconciles valuations, transactions, fund and portfolio accounting returns, manager-reported returns, and quarterly unfunded commitments between the internal book of record and external custodial, administrator, and manager records, investigating and resolving breaks rather than just flagging them. Performance and Reporting Owns the end-to-end performance calculation workflow. Produces, verifies, and distributes recurring performance, risk, holdings, and liquidity reports for internal stakeholders and external clients. Builds ad-hoc reports, analysis, and presentations for OUFI leadership and the investment team. Partners with the Operations Manager and systems analyst to scope and deliver on the office’s reporting needs. Assists the Operations Manager and CIO in preparing quarterly Board of Trustees and Investment Committee materials. Transaction Processing Serves as transaction-processing lead, tracking and processing capital calls, distributions, foreign-currency conversions, and marketable-security transactions across mutual funds, ETFs, fixed income (e.g., US Treasury bills), derivatives (e.g., futures), and equities, all within established controls. Processes cash transactions (wires and book transfers) following appropriate verification and controls. Process, Systems, and Continuous Improvement Owns the SOP and process documentation for their area of responsibility, conducts root-cause analyses on process failures and near-misses and translates those findings into stronger controls. Serves as power user and subject-matter expert for the office’s portfolio-monitoring and operations platforms (TPM and Bipsync). Works with the Operations Manager and systems analyst to identify automation opportunities, translating hands-on process knowledge into durable, automated workflows. Conducts regular research and maintains awareness of industry performance-reporting standards, calculation methodologies, and best practices. Audit and Survey Support Assists in collecting and validating investment and performance data and documentation for the annual audit and periodic industry and peer surveys. Other duty2 as assigned. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and the broader Microsoft Office suite. Strong problem-solving, second-order thinking, prioritization, and time-management skills. Ability to evaluate complex spreadsheets and reports and understand the relationships between inputs and outputs. Good judgment and discretion in handling confidential financial and organizational information. Excellent written and verbal communication, with strong attention to detail. Education / Experience Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, accounting, or related field. Three or more years of experience in investment operations, performance reporting, fund accounting, or related field. Hands-on experience maintaining an investment book of record (or equivalent accounting / NAV records) and reconciling it against external custodial, administrator, or manager records. Working knowledge of private-investment operations: capital accounts, lagged NAVs, capital calls, distributions, and unfunded commitments. Working knowledge of investment performance methodologies and metrics (e.g., time-weighted and money-weighted returns) and performance-reporting best practices. Experience in an institutional allocator environment such as an endowment, foundation, family office, or OCIO. Familiarity with GIPS or institutional performance-reporting standards. Experience with portfolio analytics / IBOR systems (e.g., MSCI Total Plan Manager / Caissa, Solovis, Burgiss), research platforms (e.g., Bipsync, Dynamo, Backstop), and custodial platforms (e.g., BNY Mellon). Compensation and Benefits Competitive base salary aligned with experience and market standards. Medical, dental, prescription drug, and vision insurance. Paid time off at an accrual rate of 160 hours per year, accrued monthly. 14 paid holidays per year. Fidelity-managed 401(k) savings plan. The Foundation contributes generously based on base pay, as well as providing an additional match of employee contributions. #J-18808-Ljbffr