Senior Python Developer - Systematic Applied AI

About Man Group

Man Group is a global alternative investment management firm focused on pursuing outperformance for sophisticated clients via our Systematic, Discretionary and Solutions offerings. Powered by talent and advanced technology, our single and multi-manager investment strategies are underpinned by deep research and span public and private markets, across all major asset classes, with a significant focus on alternatives. Man Group takes a partnership approach to working with clients, establishing deep connections and creating tailored solutions to meet their investment goals and those of the millions of retirees and savers they represent.

Headquartered in London, we manage $253.6 billion* and operate across multiple offices globally. Man Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker EMG.LN and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Further information can be found at www.man.com

At Man Group, we respect your privacy and we are committed to protecting and safeguarding your Personal Data. We have developed policies and processes which are designed to provide for the security and integrity of your Personal Data. We are committed to Processing your Personal Data fairly and lawfully, and being open and transparent about such Processing. For further information on how we process your data, please see the privacy notice for applicants here.

* As at 30 June 2026

The Team

Applied AI is the initiative to make Systematic, Man Group's quantitative investment business, an AI-native research firm: making general-purpose AI useful for quantitative research, and closing the gap between what frontier models can do and what the research process needs. We sit centrally within it as a combined research and technology team, and collaborate with Systematic's research teams across London, Boston, Sofia, Hong Kong and Shanghai to integrate AI into their research processes.

Applied AI is a newly established team, and much of what we build is greenfield. Within the initiative, our technologists own the AI-native foundations: the knowledge layer over our code, research and data; the platform for long-horizon multi-agent research systems; and the evaluation harnesses and patterns that let researchers build reliable agent systems themselves.

The team is part of Systematic’s broader technology group of over ninety technologists, with backgrounds spanning Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Engineering. What unifies us is a passion for technology and high-quality code, and a conviction that AI will change how systematic research is done. We are small and hands-on: everyone on the team writes code, works with researchers and owns what they ship.

Role Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with researchers to build and own the AI-native research process, scoping problems and contributing ideas as well as code

• Design, build and maintain agents and agentic workflows for research

• Build knowledge bases and retrieval systems that give agents and Quant Research reliable access to the firm’s research, code and data

• Build evaluations and benchmarks for AI tools and workflows, so that their value is measurable and changes to models, prompts or tooling can be compared

• Follow developments in applied AI, prototype the ones that matter quickly, and harden what works into the platform
  

Key Competencies

Essential

• Strong software engineering in Python; experience building production applications and services in a formal development environment

• Proficient on Linux and with the Python numerical stack

• Strong interpersonal skills; able to work closely with quantitative researchers, traders and senior business people alike

• Experience building agents, agentic workflows, and harnesses

• A solid grounding in machine learning and modern LLMs: their strengths, weaknesses, limitations and evolution

• Good judgement about what to build; able to turn an ambiguous need into a useful tool

• Proficient, ambitious use of agentic coding tools such as Claude Code or Codex

• Demonstrable passion for applied AI and technology e.g. personal projects, open-source involvement, writing or talks

Advantageous

• Hands-on experience of quantitative finance or of working alongside quants

• Experience building knowledge bases and retrieval systems

• Hands-on experience of reinforcement learning or LLM post-training, e.g. fine-tuning, RLHF, reward modelling

• Awareness of frontier AI research and products, in particular long-horizon agents and recursive self-improvement

• Experience with distributed compute frameworks like Spark, Ray or Kubernetes

• A research background, academic or industrial, in any field

Inclusion, Work-Life Balance and Benefits at Man Group
You'll thrive in our working environment that champions equality of opportunity. Your unique perspective will contribute to our success, joining a workplace where inclusion is fundamental and deeply embedded in our culture and values. Through our external and internal initiatives, partnerships and programmes, you'll find opportunities to grow, develop your talents, and help foster an inclusive environment for all across our firm and industry. Learn more at www.man.com/diversity.

You'll have opportunities to make a difference through our charitable and global initiatives, while advancing your career through professional development, and with flexible working arrangements available too. Like all our people, you'll receive two annual 'Mankind' days of paid leave for community volunteering.

Our comprehensive benefits package includes competitive holiday entitlements, pension/401k, life and long-term disability coverage, group sick pay, enhanced parental leave and long-service leave. Depending on your location, you may also enjoy additional benefits such as private medical coverage, discounted gym membership options and pet insurance.

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

Man Group provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants and all employees without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, religion, disability, sex, gender identity and expression, marital status, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, age or any other legally protected category or status in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.

Man Group is a Disability Confident Committed employer; if you require help or information on reasonable adjustments as you apply for roles with us, please contact TalentAcquisition@man.com.