Principal, Financial Engineering

BCI•Victoria, BC

6d•CA$135,000 - CA$160,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Financial Engineering branch operates as a business team embedded within Investment Operations, distinct from BCI’s Technology department. It is a specialist quantitative and software engineering group that partners with Technology for infrastructure and enterprise systems support while retaining direct ownership of its own model development, analytical platforms, and deployment pipelines. Every member of the team, including senior leadership, is directly and actively involved in hands-on model development, maintenance, and deployment. The branch drives innovation and the adoption of advanced technologies including AI-enabled tooling, high-performance computing, and modern DevOps practices delivering equitable, objective support across all Investment Operations functions. Reporting to the Senior Principal, Financial Engineering, the Principal, Financial Engineering is a senior leadership role within the branch. The successful candidate will both lead a team of Financial Engineers and Analysts and contribute directly as a practitioner, personally engaged in the design, development, and production support of quantitative models and software platforms across Investment Operations. This is not a purely managerial role: a genuine passion for software development and financial modelling is essential.

Requirements

7+ years of progressive experience in financial engineering, quantitative finance, or a closely related discipline, preferably within a large asset management, investment firm, or banking institution.
Demonstrable passion for software development and solution architecture design: a proven history of personally writing and shipping production-grade financial models and analytical tools, not solely in an oversight capacity.
Strong hands-on proficiency in R and/or Python for financial modelling and data engineering; experience with SQL, non-SQL databases (e.g., MongoDB), and version control (Git/Bitbucket).
Experience designing or deploying AI agents or LLM-enabled tooling within an operational finance setting preferred.
Practical experience with CI/CD tooling, containerisation (Docker), and cloud platforms (AWS or equivalent).
Demonstrated track record of leading and developing high-performing engineering or quantitative teams while remaining an active technical contributor.
Relevant degree in a quantitative discipline: STEM, finance, economics, computer science, or equivalent.
Working knowledge of derivatives markets including OTC and exchange-traded products, FX, and fixed income; familiarity with valuation, hedging, and lifecycle management concepts.
Ability to manage competing priorities, lead through ambiguity, and deliver results in a fast-paced, regulated environment.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both specialist and non-specialist business audiences.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree (MSc, PhD) or professional designation (CFA, FRM, CQF, MBA, CPA) is a strong asset.
Experience with Bloomberg AIM / BQUANT, ICE Data Services, TriOptima, or MarkitWire preferred.
Exposure to securities lending, collateral management, or cash liquidity modelling preferred.
Familiarity with Posit Connect, Jupyter Notebooks, or similar analytical publishing platforms used within a business team context preferred.
Background in enterprise integration patterns, microservices architecture, or iPaaS platforms (e.g., MuleSoft) preferred.

Responsibilities

Actively develops, validates, and maintains financial models in R and/or Python, covering derivatives valuation, FX hedging, cash liquidity forecasting, securities lending, and collateral management.
Explores and prototypes emerging technologies, including AI agent frameworks and LLM-enabled tooling, to advance the branch's innovation agenda.
Writes production-quality code, participates in peer code review, and contributes directly to the design and implementation of analytical platforms and business-facing portals.
Personally contributes to CI/CD pipeline management, release engineering, and deployment processes across Posit Connect, Docker, and MongoDB Atlas environments.
Leads by example as a developer: champions engineering best practices, clean code standards, automated testing, and documentation within the team.
Directly manages a team of Financial Engineers and Associates; sets clear objectives, coaches performance, and fosters a culture of continuous learning and high standards.
Builds team capability by identifying skill gaps, sponsoring stretch assignments, and supporting each team member's individual development plan.
Acts as a cultural role model: fosters a collaborative, inclusive, high-trust environment where intellectual honesty is expected, individual strengths are developed, and feedback is given and received in good faith.
Manages resource allocation and workload across concurrent development projects, ensuring sustainable delivery without compromising quality.
Owns and actively contributes to the branch's CI/CD pipeline strategy and release management practices across Posit Connect, Jupyter, Docker, and MongoDB Atlas environments.
Provides architectural input and governance across microservices, data integration, and API design to ensure scalability, resilience, and maintainability.
Partners with BCI's Technology department to coordinate infrastructure support, environment provisioning, and enterprise systems alignment while maintaining the branch's autonomy over its analytical toolchain.
Collaborates with the Architecture Working Group and Architectural Review Board to align branch initiatives with enterprise standards.
Serves as the primary liaison between the Financial Engineering branch and its business clients across Derivatives, Collateral, Cash, Trade Management, and Business Solutions.
Manages delivery of strategic programmes including client portals, cash exposure modelling, reconciliation platforms, and inflows management systems.
Prepares and presents business cases, programme updates, and risk escalations for senior leadership and governance forums.
Maintains effective working relationships with technology vendors, external counterparties, and custodians in support of branch objectives.
Develops and maintains the branch's operational and data quality frameworks, monitoring adherence to policies, procedures, and internal controls.
Identifies and mitigates technical and model risk across the platform estate; escalates material issues with appropriate urgency.
Drives a culture of continuous improvement: benchmarks processes, introduces efficiency initiatives, and ensures the team adopts best practices in software engineering and financial modelling.
Contributes to and oversees compliance with BCI's risk management, records management, and business continuity requirements.