Received job offer: can I ask for job title to be changed?

[devsen]

I’ve been offered a job as a quant analyst in an investment fund (about 400 people globally, 90 in London). It’s an experienced hire (I have more than 5 years of experience as a quant).
They got my CV from a recruiter and we started the conversation without a job description or job ad.
The role is about building quantitative predictive models to forecast where prices are going and trade accordingly.

On the offer, the position title is “Quantitative Analyst”. I have some reservations with that title:
- it’s a widely used, one-size-fits-all title which doesn’t give much information on what the person actually does: most quants work on asset valuation and pricing, risk assessment, or portfolio optimisation. My job is about quantitative market research, predictive modelling, and quantitative-based fundamentals forecast.
- “analyst” doesn’t have a good connotation because it’s the title of entry-level positions in investment banks
- it creates confusion inside and outside the organisation about what the person does which doesn’t facilitate cross-team collaboration or networking outside the organisation.

I would like to ask the hiring manager if they can be flexible with the job title and change it to “Quantitative Researcher” which reflect better the actual responsibilities of the role.
This is in no way a deal breaker for me but something that would make me happier accepting the offer and make my life easier once on the job when I need to reach out to people internally or externally.

How do you think such request could be perceived by the hiring manager? Does it seem legitimate? I don’t want to be that annoying candidate nagging for the little things.

Any feedback appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Michsund]

If you can reach out to the recruiter I would try talking through them to get the request done

 

[devsen]

If you can reach out to the recruiter I would try talking through them to get the request done

Thanks. I was wondering if I should go through the recruiter or directly contact the hiring manager. The recruiter is completely oblivious to what the role really entails though.

 

[Michsund]

Thanks. I was wondering if I should go through the recruiter or directly contact the hiring manager. The recruiter is completely oblivious to what the role really entails though.

I mean it’s the recruiters job to help the client. I worked as a recruiting intern before actually going into quant, so I think if you bring it up to them they can relay it to the managers attention. I mean it’s not a serious request all you want to do is change the title. I don’t see why they would have a problem with it.

 

[devsen]

I mean it’s the recruiters job to help the client. I worked as a recruiting intern before actually going into quant, so I think if you bring it up to them they can relay it to the managers attention. I mean it’s not a serious request all you want to do is change the title. I don’t see why they would have a problem with it.

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. Will talk to the recruiter tomorrow.

 

[binomial-torrent]

it doesn’t really matter, if anything quantitative researcher more implies you’re coming in at the phd level whereas quantitative analysts are like bachelors/masters who have to do grunt work for the first few years to prove themselves. but in general different firms use them interchangeably

 

[devsen]

it doesn’t really matter, if anything quantitative researcher more implies you’re coming in at the phd level whereas quantitative analysts are like bachelors/masters who have to do grunt work for the first few years to prove themselves. but in general different firms use them interchangeably

Thanks. Hopefully if it doesn’t matter to them but it does matter to me that should be an easy one to negotiate.

 

[Ken Abbott]

Don't do it. Companies have varying title structures. If this were a small shop, it wouldn't matter. With 400 people, they have policies and procedures which probably include title structure.

 

[devsen]

Thanks all for the feedback. I talked to the recruiter as advised in an answer above and he actually told me they weren’t sure of which job title to put and wanted to see if I had any preference. Title got changed to “Quantitative Trading Researcher”. They added trading which is fine by me.