Delta-One Quant Research Lead

Cumberland; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

DRW, a diversified trading firm headquartered in Chicago, seeks a Senior Quantitative Researcher (Delta One) to join the FICC options trading group. You will lead delta-one research, developing and validating futures-driven systematic strategies that complement the broader derivatives platform.

Collaborate with traders and developers to translate research into production strategies, build signal-generation frameworks, and implement hedging and risk-management tools across global markets.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in quantitative research supporting systematic trading, preferably in futures and listed derivatives.
• Proven track record of developing quantitative signals or models that have been deployed in production and contributed to trading performance.
• Strong understanding of derivatives pricing, volatility dynamics, and risk modeling.
• Deep experience in signal research, statistical modeling, and alpha generation.
• Expertise in research design, backtesting, and model validation, including addressing overfitting, data leakage, and implementation costs.
• Fluency in Python and experience working with large-scale financial datasets.
• Strong knowledge of market microstructure and execution modeling.
• Ability to independently lead research projects while collaborating effectively with traders and developers.

Responsibilities

• Research, develop, and validate systematic delta-one futures strategies across global markets.
• Build and refine quantitative signal generation frameworks to support futures and options portfolios.
• Develop and evaluate futures-based hedging methodologies to improve portfolio risk management.
• Research directional options overlays grounded in quantitative futures signals, partnering with traders on implementation and evaluation.
• Model and analyze strategy and portfolio risks, including exposure, volatility, liquidity, and cross-asset correlations.
• Partner closely with traders, developers, and trading infrastructure teams to productionize research, establish model monitoring, and improve execution.
• Conduct rigorous research, backtesting, out-of-sample validation, and performance attribution, incorporating realistic transaction costs and execution constraints.
• Analyze live strategy performance to identify model weaknesses, changing market conditions, and opportunities for improvement.
• Continuously refine models to improve signal quality, robustness, scalability, and capital efficiency.
• Develop quantitative frameworks to inform portfolio construction, capital allocation, and risk budgeting within the FICC platform.

Skills

Python

Quantitative research

Derivatives pricing

Backtesting

Signal generation

Model validation

Data handling

Education

Advanced degree in Mathematics/Statistics/Physics/Engineering/Computer Science

Job description

DRW, a diversified trading firm headquartered in Chicago, seeks a Senior Quantitative Researcher (Delta One) to join the FICC options trading group. You will lead delta-one research, developing and validating futures-driven systematic strategies that complement the broader derivatives platform.

Collaborate with traders and developers to translate research into production strategies, build signal-generation frameworks, and implement hedging and risk-management tools across global markets.