Do you need a PhD to be a quant?

Backgrounds we see hired across the disciplines: Physics or mathematics PhD, Statistics / econometrics PhD, Computer science with ML research, Olympiad and competitive mathematics, Mathematics or engineering undergraduate, Trading competition and poker backgrounds, Physics graduates, Internal promotion from research or dev, Computer science graduates, Software engineers moving from big technology, Systems and infrastructure specialists, Physics or engineering with strong programming, Financial mathematics masters, Master El Karoui and equivalent programmes, Mathematics or physics PhD, Actuarial and risk backgrounds, Embedded and systems engineering, Computer engineering / hardware, Games and real-time systems, Telecoms and networking, Senior researchers with attributable track record, Traders promoted to book ownership, PMs relocating a team from another platform, Engineers from large technology companies, Backend and platform specialists from fintech, Self-taught engineers with strong systems fundamentals, Machine learning masters or PhD, Applied scientists from large technology firms, Engineers who moved into modelling, Physics and statistics graduates with deep-learning work, Data engineers from technology or fintech, Backend engineers moving into data, Analysts who became platform owners, Computer science graduates with data-systems focus, Data science and analytics backgrounds, Statistics or economics graduates, Consultants moving into industry analytics, Operations analysts who moved into modelling, Systems administrators who moved into engineering, SREs from large technology firms, Network and infrastructure engineers, Backend engineers with production ownership, Network engineers from telecoms or exchanges, Data centre and infrastructure specialists, Systems engineers with hardware experience, Military or industrial communications backgrounds, Security engineers from technology or finance, Penetration testers moving in-house, Infrastructure engineers who specialised in security, Government and defence security backgrounds, Operations analysts from banks and brokers, Graduates in finance, economics or business, Middle office at asset managers, Internal moves from client or exchange operations, Risk professionals from banks and hedge funds, Quant analysts moving into risk, Financial mathematics graduates, Prime brokerage and financing backgrounds, Compliance professionals from banks and brokers, Regulators moving into industry, Legal and paralegal backgrounds, Operations analysts who specialised in controls, Qualified accountants from audit or industry, Fund administrators moving in-house, Product control from investment banks, Treasury specialists from brokers, Agency recruiters moving in-house, Technology talent acquisition specialists, Campus and early-careers programme managers, People operations professionals.

Where a vacancy states a doctorate requirement we record it from the advert rather than inferring it, so the counts on each role page reflect what employers actually asked for.

The practical test is whether you can defend original quantitative work under pressure. A PhD is one way to acquire that; a publication record, competitive programming or a demonstrable research track are others.