Senior Quantitative Engineer - Exotic Derivatives (15+yrs exp)
My global financial service company is looking for an experienced Quantitative Engineer specialising in exotic Derivatives to join their team in London on a contract basis.
This role is for a hands-on quant engineer with 15+ years of demonstrable experience independently designing, implementing, and delivering production-grade pricing and risk models for exotic derivatives across Equity, Rates, FX, and Commodities.
This is not a managerial or advisory role. The expectation is deep hands-on ownership: modelling, numerical implementation, performance optimisation, and direct contribution to live analytics and trading systems.
Essential skills
15+ years of hands-on experience as a quantitative developer / quant engineer (not only modelling or only engineering)
Advanced degree (Master's or PhD preferred) in Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, or Computer Science, or equivalent demonstrable commercial experience at senior level
Expected to operate as a true senior IC, delivering tangible outcomes quickly
Requires strong autonomy, accountability, and minimal hand-holding
Proven experience independently building pricing and risk models that have run in production
Deep experience with exotic derivatives across Equity, Rates, FX, and/or Commodities
Strong understanding of front-to-back derivative lifecycle, not just valuation
Track record of personally authored quantitative components, such as:
Pricing libraries
Risk engines
Exotic payoff models
Calibration frameworks
Ability to explain and defend modelling choices under scrutiny from trading, risk, or clients
You should be able to clearly articulate what you personally built, why it was implemented that way, and how it behaved in production.Technical Skills
Strong production experience in Java, C++, and/or Python (numerically intensive code, not scripting only)
Advanced numerical computing and algorithm design
Solid understanding of performance optimisation and memory management
Experience working with shared analytics services and distributed systems
Comfortable working with imperfect data, legacy systems, and real-world constraintsRole Duties
As a Distinguished Quantitative Engineer, you will:
Independently design, implement, and validate pricing and risk models for complex and exotic OTC derivatives
Own models end-to-end: mathematical formulation → numerical method → code → calibration → production rollout
Build and evolve core analytics libraries used for valuation, sensitivities, scenarios, and XVA
Implement advanced numerical techniques:
Monte Carlo methods (including variance reduction)
Tree / lattice methods
PDE approaches
Curve construction, interpolation, and bootstrapping
Work directly with real-world market data, calibrations, fixings, and conventions across asset classes
Deliver high-performance, low-latency implementations suitable for large books and intraday risk
Review, debug, and improve existing quantitative codebases with a focus on correctness, stability, and scalability
Act as a technical authority, setting engineering standards for analytics quality and implementation rigor
Partner with product and stakeholders to ensure models reflect real market behaviour, not academic simplificationsThe role is a 12 months initial contract and offers hybrid working with 2 / 3 days a week expected to be worked from Canary Wharf (London) and the remainder to be worked remotely.
I have interview slots ready to be filled so get in touch ASAP to find out more.
Randstad Technologies is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy