About the Role:Grade Level (for internal use):
13
The Team
S&P Dow Jones Indices is seeking an R&D Team Manager to lead a team of R&D experts responsible for delivering high‑quality index research, design, analysis and scalable capabilities within the Equities & Digital Assets value stream. Reporting to the Head of Equities & Digital Assets Index Design, this role is accountable for translating value stream priorities into an executable team backlog and ensuring consistent, timely delivery of index concepts, while offering invaluable subject matter expertise in support of the team’s work.
The R&D Team Manager is first and foremost a people leader - responsible for hiring, developing, coaching, and performance‑managing team members while fostering a high‑performance culture grounded in disciplined execution, collaboration, and client centrism. By balancing hands‑on technical/domain expertise with strong leadership, this role ensures that the team operates effectively, adopts agreed operating standards and agile practices, and continuously improves delivery quality.
Working closely with Product Management, Commercial, Index Engineering, and other functional partners, the R&D Team Manager enables effective cross‑functional collaboration and contributes technical expertise to internal and external engagements. Through strong backlog ownership and team leadership, this role plays a critical part in executing the value stream strategy and strengthening S&P DJI’s ability to deliver differentiated, client‑focused index solutions.
Responsibilities:
Research & Design:
- Lead and contribute to the conceptualization, design and analysis of new indices and/or scalable capabilities that power them, personally driving the highest‑complexity or highest‑risk work while coaching team members to deliver the majority of execution
- Act as the team’s technical escalation point and methodology coach, setting a high bar for analytical quality and innovation through reviews, mentoring, and selective hands‑on contribution
- Proactively seek customer feedback to learn and better understand their needs and requirements and ensure end-to-end delivery of features
- Ensures team‑level adoption of agreed operating standards and agile practices as defined at the value stream level
- Build relationships across R&D, Product and functional teams to ensure ongoing collaboration and success, including identification and support of cross-product opportunities
- Partner with Commercial team to develop and deepen relationships with clients and internal/external stakeholders through R&D designs, capabilities, innovation, and best practices.
- Own resolution of complex technical challenges and unblock delivery via expert analysis, design reviews, and hands‑on problem solving where the work requires the highest domain competency
Team and People Management:
- Hiring, onboarding and performance management of team members
- Develop team members to acquire and grow the skills and capabilities needed for efficient and effective performance
- Adopt the day-to-day backlog prioritization and delivery process as defined by the Head of [Asset Class] Index Design
- Own team backlog (planning, prioritization, refinement) translating value stream priorities into clear, executable work while ensuring alignment with key stakeholders
- Inspire and empower team to deliver business outcomes against priorities and OKR’s
- Set targets for development and growth and lead performance assessment of team members supporting ongoing professional development
- Participates in value stream performance calibration to ensure consistency, fairness, and alignment with enterprise standards
Stakeholder & External Engagement
- Contribute technical expertise to internal and external engagements (including client discussions on specific projects) in support of value stream objectives
Compensation/Benefits Information: (This section is only applicable to US candidates)
S&P Global states that the anticipated base salary range for this position is $149,031 to $223,204. Final base salary for this role will be based on the individual’s geographic location, as well as experience level, skill set, training, licenses and certifications.
In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible for an annual incentive plan.
What we are looking for:
Basic Qualifications:
- 8+ years of experience in R&D, portfolio/index design, or related technical roles
- Three plus years’ experience directly managing and developing people
- Extensive industry knowledge about most impactful trends and future direction of the core index, asset, wealth, and capital market industries
- Experience owning team backlogs and leading delivery in an agile or iterative operating model
- Experience supporting client or stakeholder engagements through technical expertise
Preferred Qualifications:
- Advanced degree, MBA or equivalent experience required
- CFA or PhD desirable
We require all external candidates who reach the final stage of our interview process to attend at least one in-person interview, which is ordinarily at your nearest S&P Global office. This must be completed before we can proceed to an offer.
