Associate - Market Risk - Portfolio Risk Job Details

Position Description
Morgan Stanley is looking for a strong Associate for its Market Risk Department (MRD). The Market Risk Department (MRD) provides independent market risk oversight across the Firm’s trading activities.

Based in New York, this individual will report to the Head of Portfolio Risk.  The role involves a diverse range of risk management responsibilities and provides exposure across the business units as well with other control groups inside Morgan Stanley. We seek candidates with a strong desire to learn and the ability to excel in a relatively small multidisciplinary team.

Primary job responsibilities include:
• Analyze market risk across all business areas and asset classes
• Develop tools to better understand and communicate risk concentrations
• Brief senior management on Sales and Trading risks
• Engage business-line risk managers to identify and resolve risk issues that impact market risk calculations such as VaR, scenarios and regulatory capital
• Coordinate with IT on the development of risk systems and data standards
• Represent MRD at cross-functional working groups
• Engage in extensive project work

COMMERCIAL/ BUSINESS ORIENTATION

Risk analysis produced by MRD is used to brief senior management needs to be both timely and accurate. It is therefore essential that candidates are able to demonstrate diligence as well as strong quantitative and investigative skills.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

Information processed in the department is highly confidential and therefore the candidate should demonstrate integrity. The role involves working closely with several other areas (such as Controllers, IT and the Business Unit), therefore the candidate must be able to develop strong working relationships and be capable of communicating clearly, both in writing and verbally.  As the candidate will be working with many different constituents, prior managerial experience would be a plus.

Skills Required
FUNCTIONAL KNOWLEDGE

It is essential that the candidate can perform the role effectively and efficiently due to daily deadlines and sensitivity of the numbers produced. Knowledge of financial products is essential, including an understanding of risk greek representations, although a more in-depth understanding will be developed through job experience. A solid understanding of risk management concepts such as VaR, stress testing, scenario analysis, and capital is ideal.

Strong proficiency with Excel and VBA is required; a working knowledge of databases and SQL is advantageous; more generally, the candidate needs to be comfortable using many different IT applications.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

Suitable candidates will have an excellent academic background, including a degree in a quantitative discipline, such as economics, finance, sciences or engineering. Higher degrees or other qualifications related to any of the above areas will be advantageous.

EXPERIENCE

Qualified candidates should possess experience in either market risk management or a market-risk-related function such as regulatory controllers, product controllers, or risk consulting.  Additionally, because nearly all projects require cross-group coordination and cooperation candidates would benefit from prior project management experience