[ by Melanie Gretchen ] The SEC's increased scrutiny of the industry translates into more jobs for number crunchers, programmers, and ex-traders.  The Agency's new group, the Office of Analytics and Research - overseen by the Division of Trading and Markets - will analyze trading data and monitor the markets, a need made apparent after the "Flash Crash" of 5/6/10. Gregg Berman, senior adviser to the director of the division, will lead the team consisting of 6 people - himself, 2 current SEC staffers within the division, plus 3 hires at the outset. What the Team Would Help the Agency Do:

• reconstruct events
• root out their causes
• make market structure improvements
• examine policy, market structure and other issues.

What the SEC is Looking For (besides a few good men and women). The Agency seeks candidates with:  (i) quantitative math experience;  (ii) programming skills;  (iii) market knowledge;  and, (iv) financial engineering background.  The SEC is open to hiring any qualified individual. Meanwhile, the SEC will be "combing" Wall Street and major universities, including - MIT, Georgetown, UCLA, Princeton - with an eye towards senior-level professionals who at this point in their careers have a desire to improve the market or those who want to work in the financial markets but not actually trade or be on a trading desk. Gain from Working for the SEC. New hires gain access to non-public data offered by the new jobs, which could be an attractive incentive to those looking for a career on Wall Street without actually working on the Street, according to Robert Schwartz, a finance professor at Baruch College, CUNY - including unique insights on how the markets function or how they are supposed to function without ever executing a trade.

If you're eligible, and available, why not go for it and apply for the job? For further details, go to [Traders Magazine, 8/10/12].