Applied Mathematician — Electronic Trading & Quantitative Finance

About the Role

We are a small team of researchers and developers building 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.

• Hedge multi‑billion‑dollar transactions using derivatives and dynamic risk‑transfer strategies.
• Optimize large bond inventories to serve thousands of clients while managing risk, liquidity, and capital.
• Use stochastic optimal control to combine instruments with different temporal dynamics into a unified market‑making portfolio.
• Build models to price hundreds of thousands of instruments from sparse and noisy market observations.
• Develop derivative pricing and hedging models robust enough for real trading environments.
• Formulate models, challenge assumptions, conduct challenging statistical analysis of data, write simulations, and turn insights into profitable trading policies and risk‑management tools.

• Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Operations Research, Theoretical Physics, or a related field.
• Strong mathematical maturity and ability to reason from first principles.
• Advanced data analysis skills.
• Proficiency in programming to turn ideas into working models or prototypes.
• Clear communication skills to explain complex ideas to technical and non‑technical colleagues.
• Working knowledge of probability, statistics, stochastic calculus, optimization, or stochastic control.
• Desire to work independently.
• Good sense of humor.
• Nice to have: knowledge of derivative mathematics such as option pricing and credit default swaps; experience with noisy data, sparse estimation, dimensionality reduction, and numerical optimization.

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. Base pay and total compensation will be determined on an individualized basis and may include commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, short‑ and long‑term incentive packages, and other Morgan Stanley‑sponsored benefit programs.

Morgan Stanley is an equal‑opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in experience and background. Our recruiting efforts reflect our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion, where individuals are hired, developed, and advanced based on their skills and talents. For more information, visit