Index Design R&D Team Manager, Director

S&P Global•New York, NY

1d•$149,031 - $223,204

About The Position

S&P Dow Jones Indices is seeking an R&D Team Manager to lead R&D experts delivering index research, design, analysis, and scalable capabilities within the Equities & Digital Assets value stream. Reporting to the Head of Equities & Digital Assets Index Design, the role translates value stream priorities into an executable team backlog and ensures consistent, timely delivery of index concepts while providing subject matter expertise. The role is primarily a people leadership position, responsible for hiring, developing, coaching, and performance-managing team members and fostering a high-performance culture grounded in disciplined execution, collaboration, and client focus. It combines technical and domain expertise with leadership to support effective team operations, adoption of agreed operating standards and agile practices, and continuous improvement in delivery quality. The manager works with Product Management, Commercial, Index Engineering, and other functional partners to enable cross-functional collaboration and contribute technical expertise to internal and external engagements. The role owns team backlog planning and delivery, supports execution of value stream strategy, and helps deliver differentiated, client-focused index solutions.

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience in R&D, portfolio/index design, or related technical roles.
At least 3 years of experience directly managing and developing people.
Extensive industry knowledge of impactful trends and the future direction of core index, asset, wealth, and capital market industries.
Experience owning team backlogs and leading delivery in an agile or iterative operating model.
Experience supporting client or stakeholder engagements through technical expertise.
Advanced degree, MBA, or equivalent experience required.

Nice To Haves

CFA or PhD is desirable.

Responsibilities

Lead and contribute to the conceptualization, design, and analysis of new indices and scalable capabilities, personally handling the highest-complexity or highest-risk work while coaching team members on execution.
Serve as the team’s technical escalation point and methodology coach; maintain analytical quality and innovation through reviews, mentoring, and selective hands-on contribution.
Seek customer feedback to understand needs and requirements and support end-to-end feature delivery.
Ensure team adoption of value-stream operating standards and agile practices.
Build relationships across R&D, Product, and functional teams to support collaboration and identify cross-product opportunities.
Partner with Commercial to develop client and stakeholder relationships through R&D designs, capabilities, innovation, and best practices.
Resolve complex technical challenges and unblock delivery through expert analysis, design reviews, and hands-on problem solving.
Hire, onboard, develop, and performance-manage team members.
Develop team members’ skills and capabilities for efficient and effective performance.
Adopt the day-to-day backlog prioritization and delivery process defined by the Head of Asset Class Index Design.
Own team backlog planning, prioritization, and refinement, translating value stream priorities into clear, executable work aligned with stakeholders.
Inspire and empower the team to deliver business outcomes against priorities and OKRs.
Set development and growth targets and lead performance assessments to support ongoing professional development.
Participate in value stream performance calibration to support consistency, fairness, and alignment with enterprise standards.
Contribute technical expertise to internal and external engagements, including client discussions on specific projects, in support of value stream objectives.