Senior Quant AI Researcher

Cantor Fitzgerald; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Cantor Fitzgerald is seeking a senior ML/AI engineer to develop and productionize proprietary models and agents for financial markets in London. You will shape market intelligence and client workflows, bridging model innovation with governance and regulatory compliance.

You will lead technical delivery, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and mentor juniors while staying ahead of AI/ML advances applicable to our trading and research platforms.

Qualifications

• Strong Python proficiency with solid ML fundamentals (classification, clustering, time series).
• Hands-on with LLM/RAG/agent tech and shipping models beyond notebooks.
• Deep understanding of financial markets, macro data, FX, rates, central banks.

Responsibilities

• Develop ML models for financial regimes, forecasting, event risk, sentiment analysis, and market classification.
• Build LLM/RAG/agent solutions to enhance market intelligence and client workflows.
• Oversee model evaluation, backtesting, and release gates ensuring accuracy and governance.

Skills

Python

ML fundamentals

LLM/RAG/agents

Financial markets knowledge

Communication & leadership

Governance & compliance

Forecasting & time series

Nowcasting techniques

Job description

In this role, you will play a pivotal part in developing and productionizing our proprietary ML models and AI agents, shaping the future of financial markets. Your expertise will be instrumental in enhancing our market intelligence and client workflows, ensuring we stay at the forefront of the industry.

• Develop ML models for various financial market regimes, forecasting, event risk assessment, sentiment analysis, and market classification.


• Construct LLM/RAG/tool-calling agents to enhance market intelligence and streamline client workflows.


• Oversee model evaluation, backtesting, hallucination testing, and release gates, ensuring the highest standards of accuracy and governance.


• Integrate quant signals, trusted data sources, and human-review controls for robust and reliable model performance.


• Benchmark model providers and explore open-source alternatives to stay ahead of the curve.


• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align ML models and AI agents with business objectives and client needs.


• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior team members, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.


• Stay updated with the latest advancements in AI/ML technologies and apply them to enhance our market intelligence capabilities.


• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry best practices in the development and deployment of ML models and AI agents.

• Strong proficiency in Python, with a solid understanding of ML fundamentals, including classification, clustering, time series analysis, and regime detection.


• Hands-on experience with LLM/RAG/agent technologies, demonstrating a track record of shipping models beyond notebooks.


• In-depth knowledge of financial markets, including macro, FX, rates, central banks, and economic data, with a keen understanding of market dynamics.


• Excellent judgment and decision-making skills, particularly in assessing model accuracy, governance, and the need for human-in-the-loop review.


• Experience in forecasting and nowcasting techniques is highly advantageous, as is expertise in financial NLP and fine-tuning.


• A background in quant finance or systematic strategies is desirable, providing a unique perspective on financial market modeling.


• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a cross-functional team environment.


• A proactive and innovative mindset, constantly seeking opportunities to enhance our ML models and AI agents.


• A strong work ethic, attention to detail, and a commitment to delivering high-quality results.