Investing in Waterloo co-op students pays dividends for CIBC’s Capital Markets Technology group | Hire Waterloo

By: Christie Zeb (she/her)

It started 30 years ago with a handful of on-campus interviews. Today, co-op students play a pivotal role in CIBC’s Capital Markets Technology strategy.

For more than three decades, the Capital Markets Technology group at CIBC has been a leader in building tech infrastructure to support the bank’s trading businesses. The group develops in-house tools and risk systems that power decision-making and regulatory reporting across CIBC’s global markets portfolio, from interest rate swaps to equity derivatives and commodities.

Behind that innovation is a commitment to talent development, including hiring and mentoring students from the University of Waterloo’s Co-operative and Experiential Education program.

“We’ve had co-op students on board throughout my entire career,” says Jeff Hill (he/him), senior director, Treasury and Capital Markets Risk Management Technology at CIBC.

“Thirty years ago, Waterloo was the gold standard. There’s always been something distinct about the structure, calibre and preparation of Waterloo students.”

At any given time, there are 10 to 20 students embedded across CIBC’s broader Capital Markets division, and between three and eight within Hill’s team alone. These students aren’t just sitting on the sidelines.

They’re rolling up their sleeves and helping design, test and deploy technologies that directly support front-office trading and risk.

Jeff Hill, senior director, Treasury and Capital Markets Risk Management Technology at CIBC

Waterloo students are always keen to learn and make a contribution. They're bright and always willing to help.

Jeff Hill, senior director, Treasury and Capital Markets Risk Management Technology, CIBC.

Hands-on learning with real business impact

Waterloo co-op students working at CIBC’s Capital Markets division have built real-time risk dashboards and developed trade lifecycle documentation to map credit risk data. One of these students, Laura Seceleanu (she/her), has completed three work terms with the team.

A third-year Faculty of Mathematics student, Seceleanu began her first co-op term with CIBC as an advisory application developer and returned for two consecutive terms as a business analyst with the Capital Markets Technology team.

Across all three terms, she worked on projects that supported trading operations and risk management. Seceleanu gained hands-on experience with technical tools, systems and financial data.

Laura Seceleanu, Faculty of Mathematics co-op student

Among her many contributions, Seceleanu helped build an interface between Bloomberg’s Multi-Asset Risk System (MARS) and CIBC’s in-house application used to generate Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) risk results.

“I conducted data analysis and integrity validation of large datasets using SQL and Excel to support the implementation of this new Front Office-Bloomberg connectivity system to capture the market risk of new products,” Seceleanu says.

“I also assisted in resolving the mapping logic of portfolio data and risk measures received from Bloomberg MARS.”

Seceleanu describes her experience as both technically rigorous and deeply rewarding. Her roles at CIBC helped her develop strong analytical and critical thinking skills.

“I developed both my communication and presentation skills through system documentation, preparing presentations and engaging with stakeholders across different teams,” Seceleanu says.

Working at CIBC enabled me to strengthen my technical capabilities, as I worked with tools like SQL, Excel and Python

Laura Seceleanu, Faculty of Math co-op student

Creating space for students to grow

As part of the organization’s effort to support co-op students, the Capital Markets Technology group organizes a range of professional and personal development events for students. These events provide opportunities for students to connect with peers and expand their network.

“What truly stood out was how team members went above and beyond to support my learning. When I expressed an interest in financial products and investment strategies, a team member organized weekly learning sessions specifically on those topics, on top of their regular responsibilities,” Seceleanu says.

Students also get one-on-ones with directors and managers from various groups in the bank, where they share their experiences and provide insight into their teams, helping students explore their specific interests.

“The Capital Markets Technology team demonstrated a genuine commitment to supporting the professional growth of co-op students and preparing them for a successful career in the future,” Seceleanu says.

That sense of support is built into the culture of the team and CIBC’s broader student talent program.

“Our goal is to help students learn as much as they can while they’re here,” Hill says. “We pair them with mentors, introduce them to other business units and sometimes even invite them to present to the broader group, because being able to communicate your work is just as important as doing it.”

Beyond the work term

For CIBC, hiring Waterloo co-op students isn’t just about short-term help. It’s a long-term strategy, as these work terms help identify students who’ll be great fits as full-time team members.

“We’ve seen that co-op programs are a great way to test talent in a live environment, see who stands out and bring back top performers,” says Rajeev Chib (he/him), senior business manager, Capital Markets Technology at CIBC.

“Waterloo’s longer work terms make that even more effective because students can take on meaningful projects and really integrate with the team.”

In a field as fast-evolving as capital markets technology, the fresh insights and on-demand skills of emerging talent like Waterloo co-op students continue to help the group innovate, stay ahead of industry trends and prepare for the future.