Model Validation Analyst Job Description Template

The model validation analyst independently tests the models the firm relies on, checking the mathematics, the implementation, the calibration and the appropriateness of the model for its actual use. The role exists to find problems before the market does, and it works only if the person doing it is genuinely independent and technically strong enough to challenge the model’s author.

Typical Duties and Responsibilities

• Independently validate pricing, risk and trading models
• Review model methodology, assumptions and mathematical derivation
• Reproduce model results using independent implementations
• Test model behavior at boundaries and under stress
• Assess whether a model is appropriate for how it is being used
• Review calibration approach and data quality
• Document validation findings, limitations and required remediation
• Track outstanding model issues through to resolution
• Maintain the model inventory and validation schedule
• Present findings to model owners and governance committees

Education

• Master’s or PhD in a quantitative discipline

Required Skills and Experience

• 3+ years in model validation, quantitative risk or a quant development role
• Strong mathematics including derivatives pricing theory where relevant
• Ability to independently reimplement a model from its documentation
• Proficiency with Python for testing and analysis
• Rigorous, skeptical approach to reviewing other people’s work
• Precise technical writing, since the report is the deliverable
• Independence and willingness to raise uncomfortable findings
• Understanding of model governance requirements

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience validating machine learning models
• Familiarity with regulatory model risk guidance