Data Science - Index Quant Specialist

About MSCI

MSCI is a premier provider of essential decision support resources and services for the global investment community. With over five decades of expertise in research, data, and technology, MSCI empowers clients to analyze and understand critical risk and return drivers, enabling the creation of more effective investment portfolios. MSCI is committed to enhancing financial markets transparency and leveraging innovation to foster global economic growth, which in turn fuels job creation, infrastructure development, and overall improvement in living standards worldwide.

Role Overview

MSCI's newly formed R&D Quality & Architecture division aims to establish firm-wide quality standards, especially from a quantitative finance view, foster modular architectural design, and champion AI-first workflows across product lines. As a Senior Associate for Data Science - Index Quant Specialist, you will be instrumental in implementing analytical validation frameworks, driving modular design adoption, and enabling AI-driven processes through close cooperation with research, engineering, and platform teams to uphold scalable and consistent high-quality product delivery.

Primary Responsibilities

• Execute and maintain cross-product validation frameworks focusing on business and financial logic accuracy.
• Identify gaps in quality and propose improvements consistent with enterprise-wide standards.
• Ensure AI-driven workflows reach required quality benchmarks.
• Promote and support modular architecture principles throughout various products.
• Recognize opportunities for reuse across platforms to minimize redundancy.
• Participate in review sessions for design and architecture concerning new company initiatives.
• Help define and implement best practices for AI workflows, including agents, automation, and pipelines.
• Assess emerging AI applications for compliance with established governance and standards.
• Assist in converting manual procedures into AI-enabled workflows.
• Collaborate closely with product, engineering, and R&D units to ensure uniformity of standards across business sectors.

Qualifications and Experience

• A bachelor's or master's degree in STEM fields, quantitative finance, investment analysis, index management, or other strongly quantitative disciplines.
• Five to nine years of quantitative finance experience, with familiarity or knowledge of indices being an added advantage.
• Experience working with programming languages such as Python, C#, Java, or C++.
• Strong analytical and quantitative capabilities, coupled with an eagerness to learn about capital markets.
• Meticulous attention to detail in daily work tasks.
• Excellent proficiency in both written and spoken English.
• A proactive ownership mindset, with the capacity to anticipate and implement enhancements in processes, products, or services.
• Exposure to AI and machine learning workflows, automation frameworks, or agent-based systems is beneficial.

Work Culture and Benefits

• Transparent and competitive compensation structures alongside comprehensive benefits tailored to your region to support financial security, health, and overall wellbeing.
• Flexible working conditions, state-of-the-art technologies, and collaborative office environments.
• A culture that emphasizes innovation, high performance, experimentation, and accountability for delivering results.
• Access to a global professional network promoting inspiration, collaboration, and the exchange of expertise for client-driven innovation.
• Structured onboarding via a global orientation program and ongoing development opportunities through proprietary and external learning platforms.
• Dynamic career advancement paths offering growth via new projects, internal mobility, and expanded responsibilities.
• Active promotion of diversity, inclusion, and belonging through multiple Employee Resource Groups supporting various communities.

Equal Opportunity and Policies

MSCI is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination or harassment based on protected categories as defined by law, including but not limited to race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and veteran status. Reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities are provided upon request during the hiring process.

Note: MSCI does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruitment agencies and warns of recruitment scams involving impersonation attempts. Candidates are advised to apply through legitimate internal channels only.