Quantitative Risk Specialist, Derivatives / Credit Products Risk Quant (3-5 Years Experience), Global Financial, New York City recruitment

Executive Search Assignment:

Risk Aggregation Analyst / Quant Specialist

Derivatives / Credit Products Specialist

New York, NY

Our client is seeking a Quantitative Risk Specialist to join its Enterprise Risk Management Group in New York City. Total experience required for this position is (approximately) 3-5 years.

The Risk Specialist (Quantitative Analyst) plays an essential role by providing the firm with superior analytical skills. Risk Specialists work collaboratively with other team members and senior managers on risk analysis, risk reporting, and value added strategies.

Risk Specialists are responsible for the creation of risk and product valuation models, strategy analytics, and various risk and valuation tools used by fellow members of the team to better understand risk and to better identify market exposures.

Salient attributes or skills associated with this position are as follows:

Three to five years experience in the area of valuation (credit derivatives / CDS, IR, and/or other financial products), risk factor models, quant programming, stress testing, model development, implementation and validation, and/or risk management (market risk, credit risk, asset-liability management) – with specific expertise in derivatives / credit products.

A background in quantitative economics or macroeconomics is a plus; Ability to act as an active participant and contributor in the development and implementation of valuation models, risk measurement and management tools for structured securities and derivatives; Participate and contribute - in market risk, credit risk measurement and the management of structured securities and derivatives; Participate and provide guidance in the risk aggregation, stress testing development and reporting; Determining and creating valuation and risk management models that will assist the firm in managing, assessing and mitigating risks associated with structured products and derivatives; Monitoring and analyzing the effectiveness of current valuation and risk models and championing or enacting new developments as needed; Collaborating with others to analyze and advise on managing the risk of structured products and derivatives.

Technical Skills

i) Technology skills (C/C++ experience is highly desired, as is experience with others tools such as VBA, Matlab, SAS, Intex, SQL, R, Mathematica, or others)

ii) An ability and talent in discussing and contributing ideas.

iii) Excellent communication and collaborative skills.

iv) Market inquisitiveness – a natural desire to contribute to the firm’s commercial relevancy – through the development of financial analytics and the application of analytical skills. The candidate must have the ability to combine various disciplines and sub-disciplines – mathematical finance, empirical statistics, etc. – and must have market expertise in order to identify revenue enhancing / risk mitigating opportunities.

v) Experience in designing and implementing analytics which have gained widespread use on one or more well regarded platforms is extremely desirable.

vi) Candidates must have experience in derivatives, credit derivatives, or similar products

vii) Strong independent problem solving skills. Assiduous work ethic.

Other Essential Qualities:

- Even temperament – especially in time-critical and pressure situations

- Strong attention to detail and follow-up

- Ability to work in a complex environment as a significant idea contributor and team player in situations involving multiple geographic and financial markets

- Ability to work on various ad hoc projects as required. 

- Ability to deal with ambiguity and change.

Other

A college degree is required and a degree from an elite school is a plus. An advanced degree in a quantitative field is strongly preferred (such as a Masters degree in Computational Finance; a Masters degree in Mathematical Finance; a PhD in Finance or Economics; or a PhD in Mathematics, Physics, Statistics, or Computational Sciences). A graduate degree from a top ranked school is a plus.

The firm offers an employee benefit package that includes health and insurance coverage and other important benefits including relocation allowance, if applicable.

Please Note:

The Polaris Group conducts its activities in keeping with the highest ethical standards. Candidates are presented in a manner which complies with anti-discrimination laws – and in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws – without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected category.

About The Polaris Group

The Polaris Group, with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, Minneapolis, New York, Tampa, and Charleston, South Carolina, conducts executive search and advisory work for large integrated investment and commercial banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, asset management firms, broker/dealers, insurance companies, and specialty finance firms.

The firm’s financial services practice includes various functional areas: banking and structured finance, leveraged finance, derivatives, transaction structuring, modeling, administration, risk management, quantitative algorithmic finance, syndication, trading specialists, fixed income sales/trading; as well as IT, systems technology, and treasury functions (CFO office, Treasury related specialists).

For candidates, the firm provides senior client intermediation – that reflect interesting and uniquely attractive opportunities for outstanding professional growth; and for the firm’s clients and candidates, the firm is dedicated to long-term senior level consultative and advisory relationships.