Geospatial Assets Research Lead

Your Team Responsibilities

We are developing cutting-edge tools to identify and analyze climate change risk exposure of companies and real estate investments. Our models simulate natural and physical risks into insightful metrics for investors. A cornerstone of our climate modeling capabilities is our GeoSpatial dataset of asset locations, which is integrated into multiple models such as physical risk and biodiversity risk. 

The team is seeking a Geospatial Asset Research Lead to drive research, development, and innovation in the geospatial representation and analysis of physical and natural assets. This is a highly technical leadership role requiring deep expertise in GIS and remote sensing, as well as strong computational skills. 

The ideal candidate is a strategic and hands-on leader with a strong academic and practical foundation in geospatial science, and a passion for delivering actionable insight through data. You will lead initiatives at the intersection of climate science, machine learning, and spatial analytics, collaborating across research, technology, and product teams. 

Your Key Responsibilities

• Lead research and development of asset-level geospatial datasets, including physical infrastructure and natural capital, with applications in physical risk and nature-related financial disclosures. 

• Design and prototype scalable spatial models and analytics using Python or R, leveraging geospatial libraries and distributed computing frameworks. 

• Collaborate across internal stakeholders including data engineering, product management, client coverage, and executive leadership to align geospatial capabilities with strategic business objectives. 

• Ensure methodological rigor and scientific credibility of all geospatial products and foster a culture of innovation, quality, and collaboration. 

Your skills and experience that will help you excel

• 10+ years of experience in geospatial data science, exposure/cat modeling or climate analytics, with a proven track record of delivering impactful projects. 

• Advanced coding skills in Python or R, with familiarity with data science libraries such as pandas, numpy, scipy, scikit-learn, tidyverse. 

• Deep expertise in geospatial libraries including GDAL, OGR, rasterio, geopandas, xarray, rioxarray, or R equivalents like sf, terra. 

• Experience with parallel computing frameworks such as Dask or multiprocessing is desireable. 

• Hands-on experience in cloud environments (GCP, AWS, or Azure) and cloud-native geospatial workflows. 

• Demonstrated experience in integrating AI/ML techniques into geospatial workflows is highly desirable. 

• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to engage and influence both technical and non-technical stakeholders. 

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Geography, Earth Systems Science, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Data Science, or a related discipline. 

About MSCI

What we offer you

• Transparent compensation schemes and comprehensive employee benefits, tailored to your location, ensuring your financial security, health, and overall wellbeing.

• Flexible working arrangements, advanced technology, and collaborative workspaces.

• A culture of high performance and innovation where we experiment with new ideas and take responsibility for achieving results.

• A global network of talented colleagues, who inspire, support, and share their expertise to innovate and deliver for our clients.

• Global Orientation program to kickstart your journey, followed by access to our Learning@MSCI platform, LinkedIn Learning Pro and tailored learning opportunities for ongoing skills development.

• Multi-directional career paths that offer professional growth and development through new challenges, internal mobility and expanded roles.

• We actively nurture an environment that builds a sense of inclusion belonging and connection, including eight Employee Resource Groups. All Abilities, Asian Support Network, Black Leadership Network, Climate Action Network, Hola! MSCI, Pride & Allies, Women in Tech, and Women’s Leadership Forum.

At MSCI we are passionate about what we do, and we are inspired by our purpose – to power better investment decisions. You’ll be part of an industry-leading network of creative, curious, and entrepreneurial pioneers. This is a space where you can challenge yourself, set new standards and perform beyond expectations for yourself, our clients, and our industry.

MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 50 years of expertise in research, data, and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process.

MSCI Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of the firm to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, disability, marital and civil partnership/union status, pregnancy (including unlawful discrimination on the basis of a legally protected parental leave), veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. MSCI is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, please email Disability.Assistance@msci.com and indicate the specifics of the assistance needed. Please note, this e-mail is intended only for individuals who are requesting a reasonable workplace accommodation; it is not intended for other inquiries.

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