Job Description

About Masterworks

Masterworks is a fintech platform that allows anyone to invest in SEC-qualified shares of multi-million dollar paintings by names like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso. We have built a portfolio of over $1.2 billion in world-class artworks, introducing over 1 million individuals to the $2.2 trillion art market.

Masterworks has been covered by The New York Times, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times, and was recognized as one of the Top 50 Startups in the US by LinkedIn. In 2021, we achieved unicorn status with a $110M Series A at a valuation exceeding $1 billion. We are based at 1 World Trade Center in New York City's Financial District.

Why Masterworks?

If you answered "Yes" to any of the below, we'd love to hear from you!

• Are you passionate about democratizing alternative investments?
• Are you interested in working for a disruptive start-up, focused on a new asset class?
• Do you enjoy meaningful work that has a noticeable impact on business performance?

Position Overview:

We are seeking a VP of Quantitative Research to lead the development and prediction of trends in the overall art market, including index construction, predictive analytics, and Machine Learning.

Team Overview:

The research team consists of the following functions:

1. Data Infrastructure & Reporting - responsible for owning data pipelines, database architecture, and analytical reporting. 
2. Data Quality & Operations - owns the integrity of the underlying auction dataset, including repeat-sale pair construction, currency conversion logic, buyer's premium separation, and auction house coverage QA.
3. Quantitative Modeling & ML - consists of index construction, artist ranking models, momentum and acceleration signals, and predictive feature development. This team primarily drives a quantitative counterpart to the Art Acquisitions team and owns the model layer that feeds directly into IC recommendations.

Responsibilities Overview:

We are ideally seeking an experienced, high-performing individual who is highly curious about the art market, worked in quantitative research at a traditional asset manager, and has led diverse teams.

• Help evolve the Masterworks Contemporary Art Index methodology - including repeat-sales regression, hedonic pricing, and return-bounds filtering - in a form suitable for CFTC review and third-party licensing
• Lead development of artist-level predictive models, including ML feature engineering, F1-score optimization, and momentum/acceleration signal identification
• Help translate quantitative research into actionable acquisition recommendations alongside the Art Acquisitions team

Requirements and Preferred Experience:

• 10+ years in quantitative research, data science, or financial economics - ideally with exposure to alternative assets, structured products, or index construction
• Hands-on experience with repeat-sales regression, hedonic pricing, or similar asset valuation methodologies strongly preferred
• Proficiency in Python and / or R; comfort with SQL and large transactional datasets
• Deep intellectual curiosity about what drives returns in illiquid, infrequently-traded asset markets

Measurements of Success in First 90 Days:

• Assist in improving / adapting current Masterworks index methodologies to support derivative investment products
• Augment existing model through feature enrichment, leading to increased F1-score 
• Develop 2 - 3 models to utilize in order to better understand trends in artists markets
• Identify investment metrics that can be applied to artists markets to identify momentum or accelerating markets
• Aid in the execution of backend development for analytics and business objectives

Additional Requirements:

• Must be able to work in the NYC office 5 days per week
• Must be eligible to work in the US 

Benefits at Masterworks:

• Daily catered lunches and free admission to art museums and galleries
• Health, dental, and vision coverage with FSA options
• PTO, company holidays, paid parental leave, and 401k
• Happy hours, company outings, and more!

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