Fixed Income Division - Associate, Municipal Markets (New York)

Morgan Stanley • New York, NY

2d • $150,000 - $200,000

About The Position

The Associate, Municipal Markets role is part of a quantitative team supporting a large municipal bond market-making desk. The team works with traders across electronic and voice trading, bond origination, specialized lending, and bespoke derivative products. It uses mathematics, statistics, machine learning, and software to address practical trading problems, including strategy analysis, electronic trading algorithms, financial risk modeling, and detailed profit-and-loss analysis.

As a Quantitative Strategist, you will work directly with traders, quantitative researchers, and engineers. You will use data and statistical analysis to identify potential trading strategies, support complex trades and hedging decisions, and improve models and systems for pricing securities and monitoring risk. The role also involves organizing and maintaining the team’s quantitative research environment, including modeling software, research archives, Python packages, Linux environments, containers, and testing. It combines immediate desk-facing analysis with longer-term research into trading strategies and market behavior.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mathematics.
• Master’s degree in a STEM field; Applied Math, MFE, Operations Research, Statistics, Physics, or Engineering is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of probability, statistics, numerical methods, and mathematical modeling.
• Good programming skills, preferably in Python.
• Familiarity with, or interest in learning, Linux, Git, package management, containers, pandas, and NumPy.
• Strong interest in trading and financial markets.
• Ability to take ownership of software, models, and research processes.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
• Collaborative personality and interest in working closely with people on a trading desk.
• Ability to stay calm under pressure.
• Positive, can-do, extroverted personality.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with fixed income, derivatives, bond mathematics, JavaScript, kdb+/q, machine learning, or production model deployment.
• Recent graduates and candidates with up to three years of relevant experience are encouraged to apply.
• Prior municipal bond experience is not required.

Responsibilities

• Research and test quantitative trading strategies.
• Help traders evaluate complex transactions, hedge selection, position sizing, and execution timing.
• Develop pricing and risk models for municipal bonds, bond derivatives, and related products.
• Analyze inventory risk, trading activity, and profit-and-loss performance.
• Apply statistics and machine learning to trading, pricing, and risk-management problems.
• Help move machine-learning and AI models into production.
• Organize and maintain quantitative models, research code, and development environments.
• Communicate analytical findings clearly to traders and other stakeholders.

Benefits

• Comprehensive employee benefits and perks.
• Benefits and support for employees and their families throughout their work-life journey.
• Opportunity to move across the business.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level