Senior Investment Associate

Business Area: ISA – Investment Strategy & Advice

Place of Work: London

Contract Type: Permanent

When you join USS, the size and scale of our pension scheme means you will have numerous opportunities to learn and develop your career. Given our size you'll have real autonomy and influence as you collaborate closely with a wide-ranging team of experts.

About the role

In your role as Senior Investment Associate, you will make a meaningful and valued contribution from the outset. This role will provide a great opportunity to be part of the Total Portfolio Management (TPM) team within the wider Investment Strategy and Advice team (ISA). The team supports the Asset Allocation Committee (AAC) with the design and management of the DB and DC investment solution, developing asset allocation strategies for DB and DC funds and translating them into actionable plans, as well as overseeing their implementation by co-ordinating input from ISA and other USSIM teams (dealing team, asset class desks, manager research etc.) and managing total portfolio exposures on a day to day basis.

The team fully embraces a total portfolio philosophy in all of its main responsibilities. The purpose of this role is to contribute to all of these which include:

• Strategic portfolio construction
• Strategy implementation
• Thematic projects
• Long term capital markets return forecasting
• Day to day portfolio management
• Portfolio analysis
• Portfolio communication

What you will be doing

As a trusted part of the ISA – Investment Strategy & Advice team you will be responsible for:

• Significantly contributing to the delivery of DB and DC asset allocation solutions, including managing portfolio rebalancing and implementing changes to target allocations, working closely with internal teams.
• Support the strategic portfolio construction process by contributing to expected return forecasts, running scenario analysis, assisting with strategic portfolio reviews and asset class deep dives.
• Significantly contributing to strategy implementation by inputting/driving topics like mandate design and review, and design of centrally owned synthetic allocations.
• Providing recommendations on asset allocation implementation choices and process enhancements, contributing to decisions within TPM/ISA governance.
• Leading or co-leading thematic research projects on strategic and cyclical asset allocation topics, producing insights that inform investment decisions.
• Developing and refining approaches to long-term return forecasting, helping to enhance the robustness of USSIM’s proprietary models.
• Proactively conducting scenario and stress testing to assess the impact of uncertainty and specific macroeconomic or market events on portfolio outcomes.
• Producing high-quality portfolio analysis and contribute to the development of insights that support decision-making across the organisation.
• Actively supporting the use and enhancement of portfolio management platforms (e.g. Jacobi), and contribute to the development of other analytical tools.
• Collaborating with the ISA function and build deep relationships with other investment teams to evolve and improve the asset allocation process across the total portfolio.
• Reviewing and quality-assuring analysis produced by Investment Associates; coach on modelling, communication and investment judgement.

About you

We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they don't tick every box, if you're excited about working for us and have most of the skills or experience we're looking for, then please apply, regardless of whether you meet all the requirements outlined in this profile.

To be successful in the role you will have:

Essential:

• In-depth knowledge in at least one TPM core domain
• Broad understanding of multi-asset portfolios
• Broad understanding and interest in investment matters across multiple asset classes (e.g. LDI, equities, credit and private markets, derivatives) including drivers of risk and return.
• Excellent analytical and quantitative skills – able to pick up new and challenging concepts (quantitative, statistical and qualitative) and able to provide clear solutions
• Intellectual curiosity – willingness and ability to investigate and develop new ideas and investment strategies
• Willingness to work in a close-knit team with a long-term perspective
• Ability to deliver high quality work under constrained timelines
• Attention to detail with the ability to identify issues prior to wider communication
• Strong compliance culture and high personal ethics and standards

Desirable:

• Working experience within an investment institution
• Progress towards investment qualifications (e.g. CFA, CQF, CAIA)
• Keen to stay up to date with developments affecting the UK pensions industry
• Strong data analysis and programming skills, experience with Python preferred
• Interest in responsible investment, ESG and sustainability
• Strong writing skills; including formalisation and documentation of technical investment processes
• Experience with Power BI, Bloomberg terminal and SQL

Why join us?

At USS, every individual contributes to building a secure financial future for our members and their families. We strive to create a work environment where everyone can thrive professionally while making a meaningful impact on the lives of others. We're also committed to helping you build your career by providing opportunities for development. We put a focus on recognising and supporting each individual's unique career path, driving this forward with the support of an engaged and proactive management team. Here at USS, we want you to thrive in and out of work with a friendly team, flexible culture and excellent range of benefits!

How we will reward you

• Great starting salary
• Generous annual leave package
• Access to a high quality pension scheme provided through Universities Superannuation Scheme
• Supportive people policies (including enhanced occupational sickness pay and family friendly pay)
• Financial contributions towards your personal development to help you maintain your physical and mental wellbeing
• Access to a range of health and wellbeing services i.e., private healthcare, discounted gym membership
• Learning and development opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and talent
• Employee Volunteer Day’s to support the communities where you work and live
• Cycle to Work Scheme

Our culture and values

Our people are what makes us different. We work together to create a diverse and inclusive culture that embraces individuality, where people are welcomed and feel comfortable in the knowledge that they can be themselves. Our purpose firmly states the importance of members, putting them ‘front and centre’ of what we do. This is embedded through our values:

• Integrity
• Collaboration
• Excellence

About us

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) was established in 1974 as the principal pension scheme for universities and other higher education institutions in the UK. We work with around 330 employers to help build a secure financial future for almost 577,000 members and their families. We are one of the largest private defined benefit pension schemes in the UK, with total assets of around £76.8bn (at 31 March 2025). To find out more, please visit https://www.uss.co.uk

USSIM is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We strive to ensure our recruitment process is as flexible and inclusive as possible so we can attract diverse candidates and recruit the best talent. We want all candidates to perform at their best during the recruitment process, so if you need any reasonable adjustments or if there is anything we can do to help support you through your recruitment journey please let us know by contacting resourcing@uss.co.uk.