Data Science Lead, JP Morgan Commercial & Investment Bank

Three questions for Jonathan

What has your career looked like to date?

I studied for a BSc at the University of Melbourne from 2000-2004. After an honours year in mathematics, I worked in retail finance for about four years before returning to undertake a PhD part-time. I decided to pursue post-graduate studies after coming across a rather difficult problem in my job which, after some discussion and encouragement from my supervisor, became the topic of my thesis.

I enjoyed working towards my PhD immensely. Make no mistake, it's a hard undertaking, but one which is immensely rewarding.

I moved to London in 2013, and since then I've worked at a major investment bank, two start-ups (one as co-founder) and Salesforce, a Fortune 500 technology company.

What do you do in your current position?

Currently I am a Data Science Lead at JP Morgan, working with the core development team on the trading platform used by the investment bank. My day-to-day job involves a lot of communication with other leads in the organisation to understand their business needs and how AI/ML solutions can help.

My background in mathematics means I can quickly cut to the essence of a problem and understand what's happening by analysing relevant data.

How has your mathematics/statistics training been useful in your career?

My studies in mathematics have had some very useful side-effects for my career – the ability to work on tough problems (sometimes for a long time) and learn new skills and concepts (particularly complicated ones) is highly valued in the sectors I work in. Another useful side-effect has been the fantastic network; I'm regularly in touch with other graduates who studied at the same time with me.