eFinancialCareers

A dearth of experienced staff is making it easier for outsiders to move into some of the best paid technology jobs in financial services – in quant development.

"People are taking guys from more IT-focused development teams and moving them into the quant development space," says Nick De Vito, team leader for front-office development at recruitment firm Huxley Associates.

Quant developers bridge the gap between IT and the business. Broadly speaking, they take the complex mathematical models created by the quants and build the IT systems around them. This demands developers with equally strong technical and mathematical skills.

The majority of quants still write their analytics in C++, but an increasing shortage of good C++ developers means companies are extending their search beyond City limits. People in telecoms and gaming development sectors who can demonstrate the necessary C++ and mathematical skills will find it easiest to transfer.

"Finding people with the right blend of technical and mathematical skills can be hard. You can often find people with good technical skills and not the maths or good mathematical skills but not the technology expertise. As a result, managers are becoming increasingly flexible about where these people come from. Raw technical skills and problem solving ability are becoming just as attractive as specific business experience," says De Vito.

A shift in focus at universities to spit out graduates with Java rather than C++ skills is compounding the shortage.

Craig Millar, managing director of quant recruiter Millar Associates, says that this is always an intensely competitive segment of the banking world. "There's always been a good demand for people who can produce and implement systems," he says.

An experienced quant developer can expect to command a base salary of £80k to £100k, rising to £150k with bonuses. And if this sounds impressive – quant developers in the hedge fund space can expect to double this figure.