Director Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income Quant

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Role Overview

The Director - Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income Quant is a senior investment leadership role responsible for the design, oversight, and performance of quantitative fixed income strategies across active, systematic, or enhanced-index mandates. The role has end-to-end accountability for alpha generation, portfolio construction, risk management, and implementation outcomes, while ensuring robust governance and scalability.

The Director partners closely with quant researchers, quant developers, trading, risk, and technology teams, and acts as a senior decision-maker and escalation point for complex portfolio, market, and implementation issues. This role combines deep quantitative investment expertise with platform-level ownership and leadership.

1. Quantitative Investment Strategy Ownership

• Own the investment process for quantitative fixed income portfolios, including rates, credit, or multi-sector strategies (scope dependent on platform).
• Set and refine the alpha framework, including signal selection, combination, weighting, and decay monitoring. Drive innovation in signal research by leveraging alternative data, machine learning and econometric modelling.
• Ensure strategies are grounded in sound economic intuition and demonstrate robust out-of-sample and regime-aware performance.
• Lead periodic strategy reviews, enhancements, and risk assessments.

2. Portfolio Construction & Risk Leadership

• Oversee portfolio construction frameworks, including constraint-based optimisation incorporating duration, curve exposure, spread risk, liquidity, turnover, and transaction costs.
• Define and monitor risk budgets, active risk targets, and drawdown tolerances.
• Ensure portfolios behave as intended across different market environments, including stress scenarios.
• Act as final investment authority on portfolio positioning, rebalances, and material deviations.

3. Implementation, Liquidity & Execution Oversight

. Provide senior oversight of liquidity management and execution outcomes, recognising the unique microstructure and capacity constraints of fixed income markets.

. Partner with trading teams on execution strategy design, including timing, venue selection, and dealer interaction.

. Review transaction cost analysis (TCA), slippage, and implementation shortfall drive continuous improvement in implementation efficiency.

4. Governance, Risk & Controls

. Ensure all strategies operate within mandate guidelines, internal risk frameworks, and regulatory requirements.

. Serve as a senior contributor to investment oversight, risk, and model governance committees.

. Approve model changes, parameter updates, and material enhancements in line with governance standards.

. Support internal and external audits, regulatory reviews, and client due diligence as a senior investment representative.

5. Leadership & Cross-Functional Influence

. Provide functional leadership to quant PMs, researchers, and analysts, setting standards for research quality, portfolio discipline, and documentation.

. Mentor senior and junior team members contribute to talent development and succession planning.

. Act as a key interface between investment, risk, technology, and product teams, aligning priorities and resolving trade-offs.

6. Product & Client Engagement (as required)

. Partner with product teams on new strategy development, enhancements, and positioning.

. Represent the investment team in client, consultant, and internal senior management discussions, articulating strategy design, performance drivers, and risk considerations clearly.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Qualifications and Experience:

• Advanced degree in Finance, Economics, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related quantitative discipline advanced degree strongly preferred.
• 12-15+ years of experience in fixed income portfolio management and/or quantitative investing, with demonstrated leadership responsibility.
• Proven track record managing quantitative fixed income strategies with material AUM and performance accountability.
• Deep understanding of fixed income markets, including rates, credit, curves, spreads, carry, roll-down, and liquidity dynamics.
• Strong experience overseeing portfolio construction, risk budgeting, and execution in less-liquid markets.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a regulated, institutional asset management environment.

Preferred Credentials:

• CFA designation strongly preferred.
• Experience across multiple fixed income sectors (rates, IG/HY credit, securitized) is a plus.
• Familiarity with systematic or enhanced-index fixed income strategies.

Key Competencies & Leadership Attributes:

• Strong quantitative investment judgment with disciplined risk awareness.
• Ability to balance model-driven insights with market intuition and practical implementation realities.
• Credibility with senior stakeholders, including CIOs, risk leaders, and clients.
• Clear, confident communicator of complex quantitative concepts.
• Leadership mindset with a focus on accountability, standards, and long-term platform sustainability.

What Success Looks Like (Director Level)

• Consistent delivery of strong risk-adjusted performance across fixed income quant strategies.
• Robust, scalable portfolios that perform as expected across market regimes.
• High confidence from risk, governance, and senior management in the integrity of the investment process.
• A strong, well-developed quantitative fixed income team with clear standards and succession.