Rob Friend
About Rob Friend
Rob Friend is the Product Director at Symphony in London, with extensive experience in financial technology and product management.
Current Role at Symphony
Rob Friend is the Product Director at Symphony, based in London, England. He plays a key role in integrating over 2,000 community-built applications and bots on the Symphony platform. His work has been instrumental in expanding the Symphony community to over half a million financial professionals from more than 1,300 market participants. His expertise includes managing omnichannel interactions across chat, voice, web, and meetings within the financial services sector.
Past Experience at SteelEye
Rob Friend served as the Chief Operating Officer at SteelEye from 2020 to 2022. During his tenure, he was involved in overseeing the cloud-based platform that provides trade and communications oversight, alongside regulatory reporting tools. His role included managing the day-to-day operations and ensuring the platform's compliance with regulatory standards in London, United Kingdom.
Career at Bloomberg LP
Rob Friend spent twelve years at Bloomberg LP, holding a series of key roles. He was the Global Head of Enterprise Product Implementation & Quality Assurance from 2018 to 2019 and the Global Head of Sellside & Research Workflow between 2016 and 2018. Prior to that, he served as the Global Head of FICC and Foundational Applications from 2014 to 2016. From 2009 to 2014, Rob was the Global Fixed Income Business Manager, focusing on product management and strategy for global fixed income, FX, and foundational applications. Additionally, he worked as ET & Trading Systems Product Manager from 2007 to 2009.
Financial Sector Roles
Rob Friend's career in the financial sector includes roles at major financial institutions. He was Principal at Bank of America from 2006 to 2007, and Vice President at Goldman Sachs between 2005 and 2006. Rob also spent eight years at J.P. Morgan, from 1997 to 2005, where he held positions such as Credit Derivatives MO and Vice President. His experience covers risk and middle office roles dealing with interest rates, credit, and equities across cash and derivative products.
Educational Background
Rob Friend has an impressive educational background with a Master of Science (MSc) in Operations Research from Lancaster University. He also holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Mathematics from the University of York. His academic credentials have provided a strong foundation for his extensive career in financial services and product management.