Senior Associate, Portfolio Construction & Im

LOS ANGELES CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 115,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Los Angeles Capital seeks a Senior Associate to translate research into client portfolios with high fidelity. The role is hands‑on, data‑driven, and focuses on improving monetization across the product suite through construction, optimization, and trade execution.

The candidate will collaborate with Portfolio Management, Research, and Trading, gaining exposure to senior leadership and deep expertise in systematic investment processes at a leading equity manager.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field; advanced degree a plus.
• 4+ years in a quantitative/technical environment; asset management or hedge fund preferred.
• Experience with portfolio optimizers (Axioma, Barra/MSCI, Northfield, or Gurobi).
• Strong understanding of financial concepts and quantitative application.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high‑impact research across portfolio construction, implementation, and optimization.
• Improve machinery translating stock characteristics into portfolios.
• Enhance portfolio optimization; evaluate new objective functions and frameworks.
• Collaborate with software engineers to extend the firm’s optimization tooling.
• Analyze rebalancing frictions and trading costs to improve execution.
• Support new product design with quantitative insights.

Skills

Quantitative analysis

Python programming

Portfolio construction

SQL

Communication

LLM tools familiarity

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Finance/Economics/Math/CS

Tools

Axioma

Barra/MSCI

Gurobi

Northfield

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Professional Los Angeles, CA, US

Salary Range: $115,000.00 To $150,000.00 Annually

About the Firm

Firm Mission

“Achieving Client Success through Research and Technology”

Los Angeles Capital, the “Firm”, is a global equity manager of assets for leading institutions around the world. The Firm is recognized as a pioneer in dynamic equity management, utilizing proprietary technology to engineer equity portfolios that adapt to today’s equity market. The Firm’s senior investment professionals have worked together for three decades developing models for measuring and forecasting return and risk of global equity securities. The Firm manages approximately $40.1 billion as of December 31, 2025, across a wide variety of public equity strategies designed to meet institutional client return and risk objectives. The Firm has been ranked for seven years in a row by Pensions and Investments as one of the “Best Places to Work in Money Management.” The Firm’s working environment places a strong focus on teamwork and values work‑life balance. The Firm offers a competitive compensation package that includes health care plans, 401(k), and top-tier benefits. The Firm is 100% employee‑owned through a holding company structure and seeks to retain and motivate employees’ long term. Los Angeles Capital firmly believes the quality and commitment of the individuals are vital to the success of the Firm, ensuring that client expectations are exceeded.

Position Overview

Reporting to the Director of Portfolio Construction and Implementation Strategy, the Senior Associate is a member of the implementation strategy team and supports the firm’s efforts to translate research views into client portfolios with maximum fidelity. The role is hands‑on, data‑driven, and quantitative: the Senior Associate will focus on improving monetization across the firm’s product suite through portfolio construction, optimization, rebalancing, and trade execution. The successful candidate will meaningfully contribute to the team from day one.

The Senior Associate will collaborate cross‑functionally with Portfolio Management, Portfolio Implementation, Research, and Trading on firm‑wide initiatives that improve risk‑adjusted returns net of all costs. The role is a high‑impact seat with direct exposure to senior investment leadership and offers the opportunity to develop deep expertise in portfolio construction, optimization, and implementation at a systematic investment manager.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Deliver high‑impact research across portfolio construction, implementation, and optimization.
• Improve our machinery for translating stock characteristics into portfolios
• Improve our portfolio optimization process, including proposing and evaluating new objective functions and optimization frameworks
• Work with software engineers to build and extend tooling around the firm’s optimization engine and related infrastructure.
• Evaluate and reduce frictions between the rebalancing process and trading.
• Analyze market structure and liquidity to model and control trading costs, enhancing execution efficiency.
• Contribute to new product design.

Skills and Knowledge Required

• Bachelor’s degree from a strong program in Finance, Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, or another quantitative field. Advanced degree is a plus.
• 4+ years of relevant experience in a quantitative or technical environment. Experience in implementation or portfolio construction research at an Asset Management or Hedge Fund preferred.
• Demonstrated experience with commercial or open‑source portfolio optimizers (Axioma, Barra/MSCI, Northfield, Gurobi, etc.).
• Strong understanding of economic and financial concepts and demonstrated intuition around applying these concepts in a quantitative environment.
• Working understanding of modern portfolio theory, factor and risk models, and the systematic investment process.
• Demonstrated programming ability and experience in Python. Comfort with SQL, version control (Git), and structured codebases.
• Familiarity with equity market microstructure.
• Clear written and verbal communication; curious, rigorous, and detail‑oriented; self‑motivated and collaborative across functions.
• Hands‑on experience leveraging agentic AI tools and large language models in a research, analytical, or software development context.
• CFA designation is a plus.

This is a hybrid position based in Los Angeles, CA which requires weekly attendance.

Los Angeles Capital is an SEC registered investment adviser and required to track certain political contributions under rule 206(4)-5. Therefore, you will be required to disclose your prior political contributions.

Los Angeles Capital is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual’s race, color, religion, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, medical condition, genetic information, veteran status or disability.

For more information about the company, please refer to our website at www.lacapm.com.

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