Senior Manager of Financial Risk in London

Requirements

• Significant experience in quantitative risk, model risk, or front-office quant roles at a hedge fund, proprietary trading firm, or investment bank — with deep, hands-on expertise in market risk.
• Proven track record of building critical risk models from the ground up, including full validation, back‑testing, and governance ownership.
• Strong, demonstrable Python development skills — writing production‑quality, version‑controlled code in a professional environment, not just scripts.
• Experience building or deploying models in a cloud environment (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Applied experience using machine learning in a quantitative risk or financial modelling context.
• Deep expertise in derivatives pricing and risk sensitivities across multiple asset classes (equities, FX, rates, commodities, crypto).
• Experience designing and building stress‑testing frameworks, including scenario design and methodology documentation.
• Experience partnering with business or product teams on risk assessment for new instruments or market entries.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in a player‑manager capacity — directly contributing technically while leading others.
• Degree in a quantitative discipline (Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Financial Engineering, or similar); CFA, FRM, or PRM advantageous.

Skills & Attributes

• Exceptional quantitative depth — able to build, own, and critically challenge complex risk models at the code level.
• Strong Python engineering capability — comfortable with version control, testing frameworks, and working alongside data and engineering teams.
• Machine learning fluency — familiar with relevant ML techniques and able to apply them pragmatically to risk problems.
• Strong commercial instinct — able to translate highly technical outputs into business‑relevant insight and recommendations.
• A natural player‑manager and role model: technically credible, commercially minded, leads by example on pace and partnership.
• Confident communicator — able to present complex quantitative topics clearly to non‑technical senior stakeholders and regulators.
• Energised by a fast‑paced, high‑accountability environment where you are expected to deliver, not just advise.
• Embodies IG's performance principles: Lead and Inspire, Think Big, Champion the Client, Deliver at Pace, and Raise the Bar.

What the job involves

IG Group is seeking a technically exceptional, commercially sharp Senior Manager, Financial Risk to take ownership of our quantitative market risk framework — including the build, enhancement, and governance of key risk models including, VaR, Expected Shortfall, prudential stress testing, bespoke credit risk stress tests — and to drive the evolution of our risk technology capability in the cloud. This is a player‑manager role. You will be hands‑on in the code, building and owning models directly, while also leading and developing a team of quantitative risk professionals. You will serve as deputy to the Head of Financial Risk, stepping up to lead the function when required.

We are looking for individuals from quantitative risk, model risk, or front‑office quant backgrounds — those who have built and owned market risk models at hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, or investment banks, and who are energised by the opportunity to apply that expertise within a high‑growth, technology‑led fintech. Beyond the technical, you will be a role model within the team for commerciality, pace, and genuine business partnership — engaging stakeholders as a strategic enabler rather than a gatekeeper.

Quantitative Model Build & Ownership

• Own the end-to‑end design, build, validation, and ongoing enhancement of IG's critical risk models — writing and maintaining production‑quality code throughout.
• Apply advanced quantitative techniques including time series analysis, volatility modelling (GARCH, EWMA), correlation modelling, and copulas to continuously improve model performance.
• Apply machine learning techniques to risk modelling problems — including regime detection, volatility forecasting, and anomaly detection in risk exposures.
• Build and maintain a rigorous model validation framework, including back‑testing, P&L attribution, and statistical performance testing.
• Lead model governance — owning documentation, presenting to the Risk Committee, and responding to regulatory and internal audit requirements.

Stress Testing & Scenario Analysis

• Design, build, and maintain a comprehensive stress‑testing suite in Python, covering historical scenarios, hypothetical macroeconomic scenarios, and reverse stress tests.
• Continuously evolve stress test methodologies in response to changing market conditions, new products, and regulatory requirements.
• Own the deployment and scheduling of stress testing pipelines in the cloud (AWS/GCP/Azure), ensuring scalability, reliability, and auditability.
• Translate stress test outputs into clear, actionable narratives for senior leadership and the Risk Committee.

Cloud‑Based Risk Infrastructure

• Lead the migration and development of risk models and analytical pipelines onto cloud infrastructure, working closely with Risk Technology and Data Engineering.
• Write clean, well‑documented, version‑controlled Python code to build and deploy risk models as scalable cloud services.
• Drive automation of manual risk processes, improving speed, accuracy, and analytical coverage across the function.
• Contribute to technical architecture decisions for IG's risk platform, bringing quantitative depth to conversations about data, tooling, and infrastructure.

Real‑Time Market Risk Management

• Monitor and manage IG's real‑time market risk exposures across equities, FX, commodities, rates, and crypto — with deep focus on Greeks, sensitivities, and concentration risk.
• Provide quantitative insight and real‑time risk intelligence to Trading and senior leadership, acting as a genuine partner to the business.
• Oversee hedging strategy analysis, evaluating effectiveness and recommending data‑driven optimisations to reduce residual market risk.
• Act as the firm's foremost expert on derivatives pricing and risk sensitivities across listed and OTC instruments.

Product Partnership & New Business Risk

• Partner closely with Product, Trading, and Commercial teams on new product launches — assessing market risk implications, stress testing new instruments, and defining risk parameters before go‑live.
• Develop quantitative frameworks for evaluating the risk profile of new asset classes, products, and markets IG is considering entering.
• Engage with business stakeholders proactively, translating complex quantitative risk analysis into commercially relevant insight that supports — rather than blocks — product and business development.

Player‑Manager Leadership

• Act as a hands‑on player‑manager: directly contributing to model builds and quantitative work while leading, coaching, and developing the team.
• Act as deputy to the Head of Financial Risk, assuming full leadership of the function when required.
• Set the standard within the team for technical excellence, commercial thinking, pace, and business partnership.
• Mentor junior and mid‑level quants, building team capability in both quantitative methods and Python engineering.

Governance & Regulatory

• Maintain compliance of all risk models and processes with applicable global regulatory requirements (FCA, BaFin, NFA etc).
• Partner with Finance, Compliance, and Legal on regulatory reporting obligations and external engagements.
• Contribute to the development of IG's risk appetite framework and escalation protocols.

Key Deliverables & Outcomes

• Own and continuously improve a best‑in‑class risk modelling suite, fully documented and regularly validated.
• Deliver a cloud‑deployed, Python‑built stress testing framework.
• Lead the integration of machine learning techniques into at least one quantitative risk modelling domain within the first 12 months.
• Deliver measurable improvements in the speed, automation, and analytical depth of market risk monitoring and reporting.
• Act as a credible and effective deputy Head of Financial Risk, maintaining quality and continuity of output at all times.
• Raise team capability through active player‑manager coaching and knowledge sharing.
• Support successful risk sign‑off for new product launches, acting as a trusted quantitative partner to the business.