Applied Mathematician — Electronic Trading & Quantitative Finance

About the role

We are a small, team of researchers and developers. We build algorithms for trading stocks, bonds, and derivatives at Morgan Stanley. Our work sits at the intersection of stochastic control, statistics, financial derivatives and numerical methods. We are looking for a Statistician or Control Theorist who wants to work on market problems where the mathematics really matters.

Responsibilities

• Optimizing large bond inventories to serve thousands of clients while managing risk, liquidity, and capital.
• Developing derivative pricing and hedging models that are robust enough for real trading environments.
• Formulating models, challenging assumptions, and performing challenging statistical analysis of data.
• Writing simulations to turn insights into profitable trading policies and risk management tools.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Operations Research, Theoretical Physics
• Strong mathematical maturity and ability to reason from first principles
• Advanced Data Analysis skills
• Ability to program well enough to turn ideas into working models or prototypes
• Clear communication skills: you should be able to explain complex ideas to both technical and non-technical colleagues
• Working knowledge of probability, statistics, stochastic calculus, optimization, or stochastic control
• Desire to work independently
• A good sense of humor

Nice to Have

• Knowledge of derivatives mathematics such as option pricing and credit default swaps
• Experience with noisy data, sparse estimation, dimensionality reduction and numerical optimization

Benefits

Morgan Stanley offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Health, wellness, and fitness programs
• Retirement savings plans
• Flexible spending accounts
• Life insurance and disability coverage
• Comprehensive paid time off
• Professional development opportunities

Pay

Expected base pay rates for the role will be between $150,000 - $200,000 per year for Associate and between $225,000 - $250,000 for Vice President at the commencement of employment.

Schedule

Our schedule is flexible and designed to accommodate the needs of our employees and clients.