Member of Research Staff, Causal Inference, Voleon Securities

The Voleon Group; Berkeley, Northern (CA, KY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Life insurance

AD&D insurance

20 days paid time off

9 sick days

401(k) with company match

Job summary

The Voleon Group is seeking an experienced researcher to join the Securities ML research group as Member of Research Staff, focusing on causal inference for market prediction and portfolio optimization. The role emphasizes rigorous theory and practical application in live trading environments, with a strong publication and collaboration culture.

Relocation and visa eligibility are supported. The team works hybrid in the San Francisco Bay Area, combining cutting-edge ML with finance and

Qualifications

• PhD level coursework required; PhD preferred in a relevant field.
• Strong background in causal inference and statistics with publication record in top venues.
• Evidence of strong mathematical abilities (publication record, coursework, or competition).
• Interest in software development techniques and willingness to write production-level code (Python).
• Interest in financial applications; prior finance experience not required.

Responsibilities

• Develop causal inference research innovations and experiments to build, maintain and optimize market models.
• Prepare and analyze new market datasets to understand market microstructure.
• Develop, validate, and implement improvements to market models.
• Design and conduct synthetic and live trading experiments to sharpen market understanding.
• Collaborate with other researchers and software engineers to drive tangible outcomes.

Skills

Causal inference

Statistics

Mathematics

Python programming

Education

PhD in a relevant field

Tools

Python

Job description

Member of Research Staff, Causal Inference, Voleon Securities

Location

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

Hybrid

Department

Securities

Compensation

The listed base salary range for this position is based upon the location(s) of this posting. Individual salaries are determined through a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and geography. Base salary does not include other forms of total compensation such as bonus compensation and other benefits.

Our benefits package includes medical, dental, and vision coverage, life and AD&D insurance, 20 days of paid time off, 9 sick days, and a 401(k) plan with a company match.

Voleon Securities, a new business within the Voleon Group, provides liquidity in securities markets. We apply state-of-the-art AI/ML techniques to construct our liquidity-provision strategies. For more than a decade, our affiliate Voleon Capital Management has led the hedge fund industry and worked at the frontier of applying AI/ML to investment management, becoming a multibillion-dollar asset manager. Voleon Securities builds on Voleon's deep real-world experience applying ML to financial markets.

We are looking to add an experienced and creative causal inference researcher to our growing ML research group. We welcome researchers with both strong theoretical foundations and experience applying causal inference methods in industrial settings. Financial applications of causal inference are challenging and demand new methods that go beyond the academic state-of-the-art; it is critical candidates have a deep understanding of the field to draw inspiration for new methodology.

This is a chance to join the initial buildout of a fully modern securities business rooted in the frontier of AI/ML and statistics. Your colleagues will include internationally recognized experts in artificial intelligence and machine learning research as well as highly experienced finance and technology professionals.

As a Member of Research Staff, you will work at the forefront of modern statistical machine learning. Your research colleagues across Voleon have collectively published hundreds of academic articles in top-tier venues on machine learning, systems, and theory, and we meet regularly to stay current on the latest academic research and share ideas. Founded in 2007 by two leading scientists, Voleon supports a culture of curiosity, collegiality, and creativity.

Your work will focus on financial market prediction and portfolio optimization. The behavior of financial markets is noisy and violates a number of classical statistical assumptions, and we've spent over a decade pioneering scientific advances in the application of machine learning techniques to this domain. You will work with a complex and diverse array of datasets to implement and iterate on predictive models. Predicting financial markets is an enduringly hard problem, but results are immediate and unambiguous.

Years of academic training has prepared you for this moment. You won't just conduct research, you'll apply it on a daily basis, working with a team across the entire life cycle of applied research problems. Your work will span from basic research to productizing solutions and validating their efficacy in live trading.

Relocation and work visa eligibility for qualified candidates

Responsibilities

Develop a rich understanding of Voleon's challenges and methodologies and propose causal inference research innovations and experiments to build, maintain and optimize models of the market

Prepare and analyze new market datasets to gain insight into market microstructure

Develop, validate, and implement improvements to our models of the market

Design and conduct synthetic and live trading experiments to sharpen understanding of market behavior

Communicate and collaborate effectively with other Members of Research Staff and Software Engineers at each stage, driving progress towards tangible outcomes

Keep up to date on the latest causal inference academic research to identify novel approaches to explore for application to our domain

Requirements

Ph.D. level coursework is required, and a Ph.D. degree in a relevant field is preferred

Background in causal inference and statistics with a strong track record of publishing causal inference papers in top tier journals and conferences

Evidence of strong mathematical abilities (e.g., publication record, graduate coursework, or competition placement)

Interest in software development techniques and willingness to write production-level code (Python)

Eagerness to work in a fast paced and growing business

Interest in financial applications is essential, but prior finance industry experience is not a pre-requisite

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Voleon Group is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.