Researcher, Asset Management AI

Manulife; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services company in Canada seeks an innovative AI Researcher to join its Asset Management team. In this hybrid role, you'll collaborate with investment professionals, leading AI/ML projects that enhance decision-making through advanced data science. Ideal candidates will have a PhD or Masters in a relevant field, at least 5 years of financial market experience, advanced Python skills, and a passion for AI in asset management. The company promotes a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Benefits

Career Growth Opportunities

Flexible Work Environment

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in financial markets, preferably on the buy-side.
• Experience in fixed income trading and investment processes.
• Proven expertise in advanced Python programming and open-source software development.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with investment professionals on AI/ML projects.
• Design and maintain Python SDKs and applications for investment insights.
• Lead research projects on adversarial machine learning and synthetic data.

Skills

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Python Programming

Fixed Income Trading

Cloud Platforms (Azure)

MLOps

Data Governance

Communication Skills

Education

PhD or Masters in Financial Engineering, Machine Learning, Statistics, Mathematics, or Computer Science

Tools

Databricks

Docker

Kubernetes

MLFlow

Job description

We are seeking a motivated and innovative AI Researcher, Asset Management to support our fundamentally driven investment teams. In this pivotal role, you will collaborate directly with front office analysts and portfolio managers to deliver advanced AI solutions, drive research and development, and enhance investment decision-making through state-of-the-art data science and machine learning techniques.

Position Responsibilities

• Collaboration & Support: Work closely with investment professionals to identify AI/ML project opportunities, develop prototypes, and implement key capabilities tailored to fundamental investment processes.
• Tooling & Software Development: Design, build, and maintain Python SDKs, libraries, and applications for investment insights, portfolio construction, and risk management.
• Research & Innovation: Lead or contribute to cutting-edge research projects, including adversarial machine learning, synthetic data generation, and deep generative modeling for financial applications.
• Standards & Architecture: Define and implement best practices for MLOps, CI/CD, and data governance, ensuring robust and scalable AI infrastructure.
• Industry Insights: Stay current with advancements in LLMs, GenAI, time series simulation, and integrate emerging technologies into investment workflows.
• Communication: Effectively explain complex concepts to various stakeholders and support the adoption of new AI tools and processes.

Required Qualifications

• Education: PhD or Masters equivalent in Financial Engineering, Machine Learning, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field.
• Experience: 5+ years in financial markets (buy-side preferred), with direct exposure to processes supporting fixed income trading and investment.
• Technical Skills:
  • Fixed income trading, valuation, with demonstrated buy side or sell side research experience.
  • Advanced Python programming and open-source software development (e.g., DeltaPy, AtsPy, DataGene, MTSS-GAN).
  • Experience with cloud platforms (Azure preferred), ML development environments (Databricks), and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
  • Familiarity with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, CircleCI), experiment tracking (MLFlow), and full ML lifecycle management.
  • Expertise in LLM, time series forecasting, synthetic data generation, and model risk management.
  • Experience working with investment data, including understanding of security characteristics, propagation up and down the hierarchy, and the impact of corporate actions.
  • Experience in deploying and maintaining RAG pipelines and working with vector databases like MongoDB/LanceDB.
  • Experience developing within an agentic framework, using Langgraph, Semantic Kernel, MCP etc.
  • Understanding of the research process showcased by at least one publication or major project.

Preferred Qualifications

• Collaboration: Strong communication skills and experience working with cross‑functional teams in investment management.
• Bonus Points:
  • Hands‑on experience with Databricks Unity Catalog and full‑stack engineering for proof‑of‑concept demos.
  • Demonstrated ability to rapidly learn and apply new frameworks and libraries.
  • Contributions to published work in top journals, open‑source contributions with significant adoption.

Motivations & Values

• You are passionate about advancing asset management through AI and quantitative analysis.
• You thrive in collaborative, high‑performance environments and take ownership of impactful solutions.
• You are committed to integrity, innovation, and continuous learning.

When you join our team

• We’ll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.
• We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well‑being and inclusion are more than just words.
• As part of our global team, we’ll support you in shaping the future you want to see.

Location

Boston, Massachusetts

Work Modality

Hybrid

Manulife es un empleador que ofrece igualdad de oportunidades a todas las personas, velamos por la diversidad y trabajamos en un entorno inclusivo donde el talento se evalúa sin discriminación por motivos de raza, origen étnico, religión, orientación sexual, identidad de género, edad, discapacidad u otros aspectos protegidos por la ley.