Job Opportunities

At the D. E. Shaw group, individuals might be involved in any of a wide range of financial and non-financial projects, depending both on our current activities and on the interests and capabilities of the individual in question. Although a specific background in finance or technology is neither required nor expected, the firm is extremely selective in its hiring and can give serious consideration only to individuals having extraordinary intellectual capabilities, communication skills, and general “real world” competence.

Below are descriptions of some of the roles for which the D. E. Shaw group recruits year round. At any given time, numerous additional opportunities are available, so if you feel that you might be a better fit for a role that you don’t see listed here, you can let us know your interests and objectives by applying online.

The D. E. Shaw group members do not discriminate, in employment matters, on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other protected class.

Generalist Associate
Computer Systems Administrator
Securities Trader
Finance and Operations Generalist
Software Developer
Quantitative Analyst
Research on Algorithms and Architectures for Computational Biochemistry
Computational Chemistry and Biology Opportunities at D. E. Shaw Research and Development

Generalist Associate

The D. E. Shaw group is looking for individuals with an extraordinary record of academic and/or professional achievement to play key roles in its financial activities as well as to research and develop new technology-oriented businesses. Generalist Associates work closely with senior management to move ideas from conception to execution. While we welcome applications from candidates with computer science, engineering, or pure science backgrounds who have an interest in finance, we are equally interested in exceptional candidates with other backgrounds who are open to the possibility of a career they may never have previously considered.

We neither require nor expect any previous financial experience. Ideal candidates are critical thinkers and effective communicators who have demonstrated academic achievement and real world experience.

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Computer Systems Administrator

Extraordinarily intelligent, resourceful, articulate individual sought to provide internal technology support for the D. E. Shaw group. While we welcome applications for this position from outstanding computer scientists and engineers, we are looking for exceptional raw ability more than specific technical experience, and would gladly hire a truly brilliant and capable generalist, regardless of background, if he or she had a serious commitment to the position. The person we hire will be responsible for dealing with a wide range of technical issues, involving desktop PC technologies as well as Unix, networking, and telecommunications. The ideal candidate will have excellent verbal and written communication skills and a high degree of comfort with computer technology (programming ability a plus, though not a requirement). We are seeking an exceptionally well-qualified candidate, and are prepared to offer a highly attractive compensation package.

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Securities Trader

The D. E. Shaw group is looking to train motivated individuals to effect model-driven trades in a variety of strategies. Strong quantitative and analytical abilities, excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, and an exceptional sensitivity to detail are essential. The ideal candidate will have an outstanding academic record, a high level of computer literacy, a demonstrated interest in finance, and an aptitude for trading. Prior experience is not required, but some financial exposure is a decided advantage.

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Finance and Operations Generalist

The D. E. Shaw group seeks bright and academically accomplished individuals to join our Finance and Operations department. Generalist Associates have the opportunity to gain diverse experience in management reporting, financial reporting, treasury, and trade accounting and operations, and to work closely with our proprietary trading, investor relations, and software development groups. Daily responsibilities may include capital allocation and optimization, cash management and liquidity analysis, profit and loss computation, position reconciliation and trade break investigation, treasury operations and money movements, and special projects. If you are good with numbers and want to work in a friendly, casual, and collegial environment while gaining exposure to financial instruments across a wide spectrum of asset classes and markets, this position offers strong growth potential.

The ideal candidate will be aggressive, detail-oriented, and a motivated self-starter with superior quantitative and problem-solving skills. A degree in economics, accounting, finance, business, math, science, or engineering is preferred, but not necessary.

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Software Developer

The D. E. Shaw group is looking for top-notch software developers to help it expand its proprietary and technology ventures businesses. Software developers with D. E. Shaw group design and deploy (as well as manage the development of) applications for the firm's trading, venture capital, back office, and support activities. This includes automating and streamlining a broad spectrum of computerized trading systems, designing and implementing software improvements, and ensuring the reliable operation of our trading software, hardware, and data inputs. Responsibilities may also include some mathematical or quantitative analysis.

We are seeking outstanding graduates (BS, MS, and Ph.D.) in CS from top-tier universities. Candidates must be excellent programmers with a sound understanding of systems, programming paradigms, and software engineering practices. They will ideally have prior experience with nontrivial software projects in an academic or industry setting (with demonstrated high output per unit time). They must have software engineering experience under Unix and/or Windows NT, preferably in building distributed or client/server real-time, mission-critical systems. We are specifically seeking experience with C/C++, Java, Tcl/Tk, and other scripting languages.

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Quantitative Analyst

Quants at the D. E. Shaw group apply sophisticated numerical techniques and write software to analyze and develop statistical models for our computerized financial trading strategies. Their work involves examining trading data to determine ways of increasing profitability, decreasing risk, and lowering transaction costs. In addition, quants research financial literature to identify new trading ideas and create simulations to test them. Quants at the D. E. Shaw group have traditionally been the top students in their respective math, physics, engineering, and computer science programs; a considerable number of them have also competed successfully in the United States and International Math Olympiads as well as the Putnam Competition.

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Research on Algorithms and Architectures for Computational Biochemistry

Extraordinarily gifted computer scientists, systems architects, electrical engineers and systems software professionals are sought to join a rapidly growing New York–based research group pursuing an ambitious, long-term project aimed at achieving major scientific advances in the field of biochemistry and fundamentally transforming the process of drug discovery. This research effort is being financed by the D. E. Shaw group, an investment and technology development firm with approximately $16 billion in aggregate capital, and operates under the direct scientific leadership of its founder, Dr. David E. Shaw

Among the group’s current research activities is a project aimed at developing a massively parallel special-purpose supercomputer and innovative mathematical and computational techniques to direct unprecedented computational power toward the solution of key scientific and technical problems in the fields of molecular simulation and molecular design. Successful candidates will be working closely with a number of the world’s leading computational chemists and biologists, and will have the opportunity not only to participate in an exciting entrepreneurial venture with considerable economic potential, but to make fundamental contributions within the fields of biology, chemistry and medicine.

Serious candidates will have an exceptionally distinguished history of academic and/or industrial accomplishment in computer science, electrical engineering, applied mathematics, or a related area. Particularly relevant areas of expertise might include parallel computation, high-speed interconnection networks, scientific computing, numerical analysis, optimization, the analysis of algorithms, operating systems, digital systems simulation, reconfigurable computing, and ASIC design, but specific knowledge of any of these areas is less critical than exceptional intellectual ability and a demonstrated track record of achievement. We are prepared to reward exceptionally well-qualified individuals with above-market compensation.

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Computational Chemistry and Biology Opportunities at D. E. Shaw Research and Development

Extraordinarily gifted computational chemists, biologists, and other computational scientists are sought to join a rapidly growing New York-based research group that is pursuing an ambitious, long-term strategy aimed at fundamentally transforming the process of drug discovery.

Candidates should have world-class credentials in computational chemistry, biology, or physics, or in a relevant area of computer science or applied mathematics, and must have unusually strong research skills. Relevant areas of experience might include protein structure prediction, the computation of protein-ligand binding affinities, the study of biologically important systems using molecular dynamics and/or Monte Carlo simulation, and the application of statistical mechanics to biomolecular systems -- but specific knowledge of any of these areas is less critical than exceptional intellectual ability and a demonstrated track record of achievement. Current areas of interest within the group include molecular dynamics simulation of functionally significant globular and membrane proteins, the prediction of protein structures and binding free energies, structure- and ligand-based drug design, characterization of protein-protein, protein-nucleic acid and protein-lipid interactions, and the development of algorithms for biomolecular simulations.

This research effort is being financed by the D. E. Shaw group, an investment and technology development firm with more than $16 billion in aggregate capital. The project was initiated by the firm's founder, Dr. David E. Shaw, and operates under his direct scientific leadership.

We are eager to add both senior- and junior-level members to our world-class team, and are prepared to offer above-market compensation to candidates of truly exceptional ability.

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