Subject Matter Expert(s) SME – CIRO Exams (Learning Content & Exam Validation)
Contract | Remote (Canada) | ~20+ hours per week | up to 20-week contract
Multiple Specializations & Contractors Needed (9 Exam Areas)
Help Us Reinvent Exam Prep for the Modern Investment Professional. We’re building a powerful, adaptive learning solution that goes way beyond traditional study guides. Our platform learns from each user, identifies knowledge gaps, and challenges learners with real-world scenarios drawn from the best minds in Canada’s investment industry… yours!
As a SME, you’ll play a key role in shaping the content that fuels this experience. Your insight will directly help thousands of future advisors, traders, supervisors, executives, and compliance leaders succeed on their CIRO proficiency exams — and in their careers.
We’re seeking senior industry professionals to serve as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) supporting the development and validation of learning content and assessments to prepare learners for their Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) proficiency exams.
This is a unique opportunity to shape the curriculum and exam standards for the next generation of Canada’s investment industry professionals.
We are looking for SME contractors across nine specialization areas:
- Canadian Investment Regulatory Exam (CIRE)
- Retail Securities Exam (RSE)
- Institutional Securities Exam (ISE)
- Director & Executive Governance Exam
- Supervisor Exam
- Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) Exam
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Exam
- Derivatives Exam
- Trader Exam
About the Role
As a CIRO Exam SME, you will:
- Validate the technical, regulatory, and conceptual accuracy of learning modules and assessment items.
- Ensure realism and professional credibility across all scenarios, case studies, and question sets.
- Review content for correct interpretation of CIRO/IIROC rules, UMIR, CSA National Instruments, NI 93-101, and relevant market, governance, or financial frameworks.
- Evaluate exam items for judgment quality, decision reasoning, and alignment with professional expectations.
- Ensure all rationales, distractors, and calculations are correct, defensible, and reflective of real-world practice.
- Provide structured, actionable feedback to improve clarity, accuracy, and instructional design.
- Contribute to ontology and curriculum architecture, helping to strengthen the conceptual structure and sequence of learning.
Key Areas of Expertise (You may qualify for one or more)
1. CIRE (Regulatory Integration)
- CIRO/IIROC rules, UMIR, and CSA National Instruments
- Client relationship standards (KYC, KYP, disclosure, conflicts)
- Complaints, record-keeping, and suitability supervision
- Ethics and professional responsibility
- Regulatory enforcement and disciplinary processes
- Financial statement interpretation and market integrity obligations
2. Retail Securities
- Know-Your-Client (KYC) and suitability requirements
- Product categories: equities, fixed income, managed products, and derivatives basics
- Disclosure and conflict-of-interest standards
- Client communications and ethics
- Trade execution, account documentation, and complaint handling
- CIRO rules and National Instrument 31-103
3. Institutional Securities
- Market structure, trading systems, and order handling
- Best execution and market conduct (UMIR)
- Fixed income, derivatives, and alternative investment products
- Institutional risk management and margining
- Clearing, settlement, and collateral management
- Compliance supervision and governance for institutional dealers
4. Director & Executive
- Corporate governance and fiduciary duties
- Director and UDP responsibilities
- Risk oversight and internal controls
- Ethics, transparency, and decision-making frameworks
- Board composition, independence, and reporting structures
- Regulatory accountability under CIRO and CSA frameworks
5. Supervisor
- CIRO supervisory standards and branch management
- Trade supervision and suitability review
- Risk identification and trend monitoring
- Complaint handling and escalation
- Documentation, control, and audit processes
- Ethics, leadership, and compliance culture development
6. Chief Compliance Officer (CCO)
- CIRO/IIROC regulatory frameworks and enforcement processes
- The compliance function and internal control systems
- Governance and ethics integration
- Risk management and remediation practices
- Significant areas of risk: AML, privacy, cybersecurity, conflicts of interest
- Roles and accountabilities of CCOs and UDPs
7. Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
- Regulatory Financial Management – CIRO/IIROC Form 1, capital adequacy, RAC calculation, liquidity coverage
- Financial Reporting Standards – IFRS compliance, audit and assurance, materiality, and disclosure
- Governance and Ethics – fiduciary duties, conflicts management, and board accountability
- Risk Oversight – credit, market, operational, and liquidity risk frameworks
- Significant Areas of Risk – insurance coverage, custody and segregation of client assets, and related-party transactions
- Regulatory Coordination – interactions with auditors, CIRO reviews, and early warning systems
8. Derivatives
- Derivatives Instruments: Futures, forwards, options (plain and exotic), swaps (interest rate, currency, equity, commodity, credit).
- Pricing Models: Fair value, cost-of-carry, Black–Scholes, binomial, Greeks, mark-to-market, and convergence.
- Trading and Settlement: Listed vs. OTC structures, clearinghouse operations (e.g., CDCC), and margin systems.
- Strategies and Risk: Hedging, speculation, arbitrage, delta hedging, spread and volatility strategies.
- Regulatory Frameworks: CIRO rules, NI 93-101, UMIR (market integrity), and documentation standards.
- Ethics and Conduct: Conflicts of interest, standards of conduct, and gatekeeping obligations.
- Quantitative Analysis: Proficiency with derivative valuation, scenario modeling, and performance calculation.
9. Trader
- Marketplaces and Market Structure – Exchanges, ATSs, and order routing
- Trading Rules and Order Types – UMIR requirements, order handling, and trade matching
- Best Execution and Conflicts of Interest – Client priority, fair pricing, and transparency obligations
- Trade Desk Operations – Error correction, supervision, and escalation processes
- Clearing and Settlement – Trade lifecycle, post-trade reporting, and dealer obligations
- Ethics and Professional Conduct – Confidentiality, gatekeeping, and market integrity
- Derivatives Context – Exposure management and trading rule overlap
What You Bring
- 7–10+ years industry experience (or 10+ years for CCO, CFO, and Executive SME roles).
- Deep expertise in at least one of the nine specializations above.
- Strong understanding of CIRO/IIROC rules and relevant regulatory frameworks.
- Ability to assess both technical correctness and judgment quality.
- Excellent analytical, communication, and writing skills.
- Availability of approx. 20-25+ hours per week.
- Preferred credentials: LL.B/J.D., CPA, CFA, FRM, CIM, ICD.D, or equivalent professional designation.
Why This Role Matters
We’re not just validating content — we’re building a transformational, adaptive learning system that mirrors how real professionals think, solve problems, and make ethical decisions under pressure.
Your expertise will help:
- Elevate the quality of CIRO exam-prep nationwide
- Build more competent, confident, and ethical professionals
- Strengthen market integrity across Canada
- Shape how future generations learn and enter the industry
