The coding language for the most exciting jobs at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs these days is all about Marquee. The firm's 'digital storefront' which allows clients to interact directly with its SecDb risk and pricing system, has at least 50,000 users a month and is a big focus for hiring. Goldman went into this year with plans to make 350 technology hires for both Marquee and for its Atlas high-speed equities trading platforms. Despite the pandemic, this recruitment seems to be going ahead.  

Right now, Goldman is advertising 29 openings directly related to Marquee, including jobs in Marquee Prime as the platform pushes into prime services and offers an electronic capital introduction service for hedge funds. 

While Java jobs tend to be the most prolific at GS, developer jobs linked to Marquee tend to require people who can code in Python.

Speaking at a Goldman student event today, Lauren Ash, co-head of sales for Marquee, said that while SecDB itself is coded in Goldman's proprietary coding language, Slang, Marquee is built around Python wrappers that make SecDB accessible to clients. "We have chosen Python because that's where the clients have taken us," said Ash, adding that APIs are available to connect to SecDB in other languages, but that Python is the language Goldman is using most on the trading floor. Python wrappers enable clients to, "leverage the capability of SecDB without coding in Slang," she added. 

As Marquee evolves, Ash said it's enabling Goldman to interact with clients in novel ways. For example, PlotTool Pro, the firm's time series analytics tool, enables clients to build time-structured trade ideas. "Clients can create a Plot they like the look of and can share it with each other. We can also share ideas with them through PlotTool," said Ash. "It changes the dynamic of how we're communicating with clients."

Ash said Marquee differentiates Goldman by allowing clients to access market intelligence, proprietary analytics and datasets on a single platform. "We've built Marquee with the intention of going to clients in their environments instead of making them come to us." - The platform can be accessed through desktop, website app, or programmatic access through APIs. "Our whole philosophy is that everything is built API first," said Ash, adding that Marquee can be easily segmented. "It allows clients to pick and choose the pieces that are of the greatest interest to them."

Although Marquee is built around the legacy SecDB platform, which dates back to the 1990s, Ash said the use of Python makes it highly scalable and adaptable, particularly compared to other banks with legacy systems fudged together after mergers. “I totally appreciate how hard it is to build on legacy systems,” she said, adding that Marquee isn't like that. - It has the fluidity to easily move into different product areas: "Marquee is truly cross-asset."

While most Marquee jobs are for developers, this isn't always the case: Goldman's also looking for a Marquee content editor and curator, for a member of a new Marquee marketing team, and has been hiring UX professionals to help design the client interface. 

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