Not all quant jobs are created equal. Historically, quant research was the high-prestige job where quants formulated algorithms to trade and generate PnL, while quant developers built the software infrastructure that enabled the quant researchers to actually run these algorithms on trading platforms.
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In this bifurcated world, one former buy-side quant, speaking anonymously, told us in 2020 that researchers usually handled the complex issues of “modelling and back testing [trading] strategies, parameter optimisation, production reconciliation relative to models, and the reporting of results.”
By comparison, he said quant developers built “market data capture and parsing tools, for productionized models from quants, for passing those models through order gateways with exchanges/banks.” He said quant devs also “monitor[ed] operations for reconciling positions with counterparties.”
To thrive in those quant development roles, you needed to be a “polyglot programmer” who could work in the lower-level languages used by exchanges (C++, Java) as well as the languages used in modelling by quant researchers (R, Python)
Times have changed.
In 2025, some quant developer jobs are being merged with others.
Augusta Aiken, CEO of quant search firm AAA Global, told us in July that a new breed of quant-engineer-infra hybrid archetype is emerging, particularly in hedge funds. These new quants do all the work that quant developers, quant researchers and software engineers do. For the moment, though, they’re only at hedge funds and top prop shops.
In banks, however, quant developers (or strats as they are sometimes known) are still going strong. They primarily work to support a trading desk by developing efficient tools to a quick turnaround. For example, as a quant dev in a bank you might be asked to develop a pricing engine for a new order management system from core technology based on models from quantitative research. The buy-side quant said that these roles aren’t always glamorous, and you’re often “at the absolute mercy of the traders.” Some teams are more popular than others. – At UBS, a team of top quant developers is busy building low-latency trading systems across various asset classes.
Hedge funds’ quant developers have a broader remit. Connor White from Citadel said in the Top 10% podcast in June that banks often have “five people doing [the] role” of a single hedge fund quant developer. This is despite the fact that quant dev teams in hedge funds often encompass business analyst and testing jobs too.
AI stands to erode the role of the quant developer by making it easier for business analysts or quant researchers to write their own code. However, White says there will still be a need for highly competent quant developers to translate ideas into code, particularly in “deeply technical” areas like ultra low-latency C++ or low-latency technologies like FPGAs, where automation is more complex.
Quant developers would often like to become quant researchers. In the past, this wasn’t always possible. But times are changing, particularly in hedge funds and electronic trading firms.
Speaking five years ago, the hedge fund quant told us that quant developers are often people who “haven’t got the maths to be a traditional Quantitative Researcher.”
In the age of machine learning , this is less of an issue. AI trading firm Quadrature, which paid its staff $3.19m per head in 2023, employs no quant researchers, and exclusively hires good programmers for its quant development team. Similarly, High frequency trading (HFT) firm Hudson River Trading employs ‘algorithm developers’ rather than quant researchers, and expects them to have Python and/or C++ experience at graduate level.
Starting with the basics, a quant developer needs technical expertise. You’ll be expected to have a degree in a STEM subject, preferably computer science, and you should demonstrate aptitude for multiple programming languages. Doing a PhD can improve your chances at banks and hedge funds, but it would make you less attractive to younger firms like Jane Street, unless you’re in a deeply technical role like hardware engineering. Doing a master’s in financial engineering (MFE) can help you develop the business knowledge that’s becoming increasingly in-vogue, but there are only a few truly elite courses.
Too much time in school can be a bad thing. White said some candidates with excellent technical skills also had “a very academic mindset” which cost them top jobs. He said people with this mindset are preoccupied with “goldplating every little part of” a problem, rather than working on a functional, quick solution.
Pay for quant developers is changing and varies according to where you work . In hedge funds, you can earn $250k-$400k in total compensation when you first join as a quant developer, according to Balyasny’s head of quant research Giuseppe Paleologo. Top level quant researchers earn slightly more, up to $500k on average, but you’re unlikely to see quant research pay drop below $450k.
A 2025 salary report from recruitment firm Danos Group found that, in the UK, managing director-level quant developers on the buy side earn up to £1m ($1.34m) in total compensation, with salaries of up to £400k. The survey found that salaries for developers are largely the same as salaries for quant researchers, but the latter camp had slightly higher average bonuses at assistant vice-president (AVP) and executive director (ED) level.
You can also earn a lot in banks. Quant dev executive directors earn salaries of up to $350k at JPMorgan in New York. Citi is paying salaries of up to $260k to ‘algo developers’ in the city. Bonuses vary according to proximity to profit generation.
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