Job Description

You will work alongside senior quants and portfolio managers to develop quantitative tools, back-test investment strategies, and generate insights that directly influence how we manage billions in fixed income assets.

Do you have a strong quantitative foundation and genuine curiosity about fixed income markets?

Come join Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group as a Quantitative Research Analyst. We are looking for someone who combines rigorous mathematical and statistical thinking with an investor’s mindset — someone who doesn’t just build models but asks whether the signal makes investment sense and how it translates into portfolio decisions.

This is a hands-on research role. You will work alongside senior quants and portfolio managers to develop quantitative tools, back-test investment strategies, and generate insights that directly influence how we manage billions in fixed income assets. The ideal candidate brings solid math/stats training, strong coding skills, foundational knowledge of bond markets, and intellectual curiosity to connect quantitative research to real investment outcomes.

Core Responsibilities

• Build and maintain quantitative portfolio construction, risk management, and signal research tools that support the fixed income investment process.
• Design, implement, and run backtests and scenario analyses for trading and allocation strategies; critically evaluate results with an investor’s lens (not just statistical significance, but economic rationale).
• Develop and enhance valuation, relative value, and risk models for fixed income instruments (government bonds, credit, derivatives, structured products).
• Conduct research on systematic signals — from macro factors to cross-sectional drivers — and communicate findings clearly to portfolio managers and traders.
• Gather, clean, and analyze large datasets (market data, fundamentals, flows, positioning) to surface actionable investment insights.
• Integrate with portfolio management and trading teams, contributing a quantitative perspective to daily market discussions and investment decisions.
• Participate in special projects and perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in a STEM discipline (Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Financial Engineering, Economics, or related field). Strong candidates with a Bachelor’s degree and demonstrated quantitative depth will also be considered.
• Solid foundation in probability, statistics, time series analysis, and optimization. Familiarity with econometrics or machine learning methods is a plus.
• Understanding of fixed income products and bond math (duration, convexity, yield curve dynamics, spread analysis). CFA candidates or coursework in fixed income are preferred.
• Thinks like an investor: able to form views on markets, question model outputs, and connect quantitative results to portfolio implications. Intellectual curiosity about macro, rates, and credit markets.
• Proficiency in Python. Exposure to SQL and version control (Git) is helpful. Prior experience with Bloomberg or other market data platforms is a plus.
• 3+ years of relevant experience (internships, research assistantships, or early-career roles in quantitative finance, asset management, or related fields).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to distill complex quantitative concepts for a non-technical investment audience.

Special Factors

• Hybrid working model
• Vanguard is not offering sponsorship for this position.

About Vanguard

At Vanguard, our core purpose is to take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success. Every decision we make to best serve our clients, crew, and communities is guided by one simple statement: “Do the right thing.” We believe that a critical aspect of doing the right thing requires building diverse, inclusive, and highly effective teams of individuals who are as unique as the clients they serve. We empower our crew (that’s what we call our staff) to contribute their distinct strengths to achieving Vanguard’s core purpose through our values.

Inclusion Statement

Vanguard’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion is firmly rooted in our culture. Every decision we make to best serve our clients, crew (internally employees are referred to as crew), and communities is guided by one simple statement: “Do the right thing.”

We believe that a critical aspect of doing the right thing requires building diverse, inclusive, and highly effective teams of individuals who are as unique as the clients they serve. We empower our crew to contribute their distinct strengths to achieving Vanguard’s core purpose through our values.

When all crew members feel valued and included, our ability to collaborate and innovate is amplified, and we are united in delivering on Vanguard's core purpose: to take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.