Senior Analyst, Investment Risk and Data Science

Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc.; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc. is seeking a Senior Analyst for its Investment Risk and Data Science (IRDS) team, reporting to the Head of IRDS.

The role focuses on analyzing portfolio performance, risk, and positioning while developing analytical tools to support decision-making. The position emphasizes building scalable code, documenting processes, and collaborating across teams to strengthen the firm’s analytical capabilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, or a related field.
• 5-10 years of relevant professional experience.
• Strong proficiency in Python or R and SQL.
• Ability to independently investigate open-ended investment and data questions.
• Ability to learn new technologies, data sources, and analytical methods.
• Strong attention to detail and data quality.

Responsibilities

• Analyze portfolio performance, positioning, characteristics, and risk using qualitative and quantitative information.
• Develop investment insights for the Investment Research team and other decision-makers.
• Collaborate with Analysts and Research Directors on oversight of subadvisors.
• Design, build, test, and maintain analytical tools, applications, and data workflows in Python, R, SQL, or similar technologies.
• Improve reliability and scalability of recurring analytical processes through automation and controls.
• Establish and follow sound development practices with version control, code review, testing, and documentation.

Skills

Python

R

SQL

Attention to detail

Communication

Collaboration

Ownership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

FactSet

Morningstar Direct

Job description

Summary

Harbor Capital Advisors is seeking a Senior Analyst to join its Investment Risk and Data Science (IRDS) team, reporting to the Head of IRDS. The IRDS team is part of the broader Harbor Investment Research team and is primarily responsible for:

• Monitor the performance, risk, and positioning of Harbor investment strategies.

• Analyze prospective investment partners and support the development of new Harbor investment products.

• Provide timely, decision-ready portfolio analysis to the Investment Research team.

• Design, build, and maintain analytical tools and data-driven processes that improve investment decision-making across the firm.

• Strengthen the reliability, scalability, and continuity of the team’s analytical and coding capabilities.

• Provide investment analysis and analytical support for internal and external communications when needed.

This hire will analyze portfolio performance, characteristics, and risk for existing Harbor strategies, support due diligence on prospective strategies, and develop analytical tools used by the Investment Research team and other stakeholders. A central responsibility of the role will be to strengthen the resilience of the team’s technical capabilities. This includes building maintainable code, improving shared development practices, documenting analytical processes, reducing reliance on individual team members, and helping colleagues use and support the team’s analytical tools. The ideal candidate combines investment judgment with strong coding and data skills. The candidate should be a self-starter who takes ownership of problems, develops practical solutions, and moves work forward with limited direction while contributing to a collaborative and sustainable team environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Analyze portfolio performance, positioning, characteristics, and risk using qualitative and quantitative information from portfolio management teams, researchers, market data, analytical platforms, and internal databases.

• Develop and clearly articulate investment insights that help the Investment Research team and other decision-makers understand portfolio outcomes, exposures, and sources of risk.

• Collaborate with Analysts and Research Directors on recurring oversight of existing subadvisors and the underwriting of prospective subadvisors.

• Design, build, test, and maintain analytical tools, applications, and data workflows using Python, R, SQL, or other appropriate technologies.

• Improve the reliability and scalability of recurring analytical processes through automation, validation, monitoring, and appropriate controls.

• Establish and follow sound development practices, including version control, code review, testing, documentation, reproducible analysis, and clearly defined ownership.

• Review and improve existing code, models, and analytical workflows to reduce operational risk, technical debt, and reliance on individual team members.

• Create clear technical and process documentation so that analytical tools and workflows can be understood, maintained, and supported by multiple members of the team.

• Help develop shared coding standards, reusable components, and common analytical frameworks across the IRDS team.

• Support the technical development of other team members through collaboration, code review, knowledge sharing, and informal mentoring.

• Identify gaps or inefficiencies in the team’s methods for measuring and reporting strategy performance, characteristics, and risk, and take ownership of implementing improvements.

• Build tools that make complex investment analysis accessible and actionable for both technical and non-technical users.

• Research and implement improved methods for identifying, evaluating, and communicating sources of alpha and risk within actively managed strategies.

• Prepare accurate and time-sensitive analytical reports for Harbor’s Board of Directors, internal investment committees, and other senior stakeholders.

• Participate in due diligence meetings with current and prospective subadvisors and synthesize quantitative and qualitative findings into actionable investment perspectives.

• Provide analytical support for fund-specific materials, webinars, client communications, and other external content as business needs require.

Key Behavioral Expectations

• Drives for Results

• Creates Culture of Collaboration

• Courageous and Resilient

• Agility and Adaptability

• Operates with agency, independence, and proactive problem solving

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, or a related field.

• 5-10 years of relevant professional experience.

• Experience in, or strong knowledge of, the asset management industry.

• Strong proficiency in Python or R and SQL.

• Ability to independently investigate open-ended investment and data questions.

• Ability to learn new technologies, data sources, and analytical methods.

• Strong attention to detail and a demonstrated commitment to data quality and analytical accuracy.

• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced and evolving environment.

• Strong collaboration and communication skills, including the ability to explain technical and investment concepts to audiences with varying levels of expertise.

• Strong sense of ownership, responsiveness, and follow-through.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience developing, maintaining, and improving code-based analytical tools or data workflows in a professional environment.

• Experience testing, debugging, reviewing, and documenting analytical code.

• Ability to design solutions that are reliable, reusable, maintainable, and understandable to other team members.

• Experience analyzing, or a strong interest in analyzing, portfolio risk across equity, fixed income, commodity, or multi-asset strategies.

• Experience designing reusable Python or R packages, libraries, modules, or shared analytical components.

• Experience implementing automated testing, data validation, workflow monitoring, or continuous integration processes.

• Experience working with investment data platforms such as FactSet and Morningstar Direct.

• Familiarity with software-development principles applicable to analytical environments, including modular design, separation of concerns, dependency management, and reproducibility.

• Demonstrated ability to use large language models and agentic AI tools to improve analytical development, documentation, testing, quality assurance, and workflow efficiency.

• Sound judgment regarding the controlled and responsible use of AI tools with proprietary data, investment information, and analytical processes.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Required

The candidate should possess exceptional attention to detail and be able to work collaboratively with stakeholders who have varying levels of investment and technical knowledge, including Investment Research, Data Operations, Technology, Distribution, and senior management. The candidate should be able to communicate analytical conclusions clearly, but the role’s primary focus is the development of reliable investment analysis, analytical tools, and data processes rather than the production of marketing or thought-leadership content.

A substantial portion of the role will involve analyzing data related to markets, active management, and Harbor strategies, as well as developing, maintaining, and improving the systems that support that analysis. The candidate should be comfortable working across the full analytical lifecycle, including data acquisition, transformation, validation, analysis, implementation, documentation, and ongoing support. The candidate should be able to combine quantitative tools, including SQL and Python or R, with qualitative investment assessments to understand strategy performance, positioning, and risk. The candidate should also be able to translate complex analysis into clear insight and practical recommendations for investment decision-makers.

Base salary range: $150,000-$175,000

This position is a hybrid opportunity based in our New York/Chicago/Boston office. #LI-Hybrid