The tech hiring hotspots at Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and BAML

In theory, technology is a hot hiring area for most investment banks. Banks are competing for tech talent as they look to build the ranks of developers, project managers and business analysts to keep them on the bleeding edge.

Is this really the case? While tech jobs are relatively plentiful in investment banking, many of these are in offshore locations as cost-cutting remains a priority. We've trawled the careers centres of the top U.S. banks to give you an idea of the opportunities,

J.P. Morgan, 30% of current jobs in technology

The scale of J.P. Morgan’s tech team is vast, with around 30,000 employees in this area. The bank currently has around 2,350 positions available in IT alone. However, while Java leads the way for development roles (predictably), a lot of these positions are in J.P. Morgan’s offshore locations in India as well as the occasion role in New Jersey. Senior positions – a global head of equity trading automation, for example – are still in developed financial centres like London and New York.

Similarly, roles around information security as well as project management and business analysis remain in J.P. Morgan’s investment banking centres. Meanwhile, current vacancies suggest that J.P. Morgan is carrying out a lot of testing functions in Buenos Aires.

Goldman Sachs, 25% of current jobs in technology

Outside the US, the largest proportion of Goldman Sachs tech vacancies are India. The bank is advertising 128 jobs there – or 60% of its total Indian vacancies – and this some relatively high end development jobs related to all its business areas.

In the U.S, one big area of focus is information security. These jobs are based out of Goldman's Dallas office, while the Salt Lake City operation is also a location for software engineering and big data roles. New York, meanwhile, is home to web development and user experience positions as well as to cross-asset trading platforms and other senior client-facing system development roles.

While London remains at the epicentre of its EMEA tech work, Goldman is also hiring for IT staff in Warsaw, Poland. The focus in London is primarily for technical roles, with a number of vacancies across FICC platforms and prime services technology.

Morgan Stanley, 13% of all jobs in technology

If you’re a developer with ambitions to work for Morgan Stanley in Europe, it’s probably not worth setting your heart on London. Again, Java roles proliferate, but most of them are based in the bank’s tech development centre in Budapest, Hungary, while C++ positions are in Glasgow. The good news for those state-side is that a series of mid-ranking development roles and project management positions related to its wealth management business still exist in New York.

And what of London jobs? Morgan Stanley is still hiring, largely for digital talent – user experience designers and HTML developers – as well as for some Scala development and algo trading roles. There’s even a Java development job related to its equity risk systems.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 6% of all jobs in technology

Bank of America, in contrast to most banks, is keeping its technology roles closer to home – albeit in relatively low-cost destinations. There’s a proliferation of information security roles in its Charlotte, North Carolina HQ as well as other US cities outside of major financial centres. What’s more, Java developers related to its global markets business are based out of New York and Python developers are being hired in Chicago.

Bank of America also has 23 jobs in the UK, primarily related to its markets business. It's hiring for a senior developer for a commodities trading platform and a number of other senior development positions across business areas. Again, though, information security is an area of focus.