Equity Risk Manager - Volatility

Paragon Alpha - Hedge Fund Talent Business; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Paragon Alpha seeks an experienced Equity Volatility Risk Manager to partner with Portfolio Managers across its equity volatility business. This front-office role focuses on optimizing risk-adjusted returns while maintaining a robust risk framework.

You will develop a deep understanding of volatility trading strategies, monitor risk factors such as delta, gamma, vega, and skew, and provide independent oversight of complex equity derivatives portfolios.

Qualifications

• 8-15 years in risk management at a hedge fund or similar environment.
• Strong understanding of option pricing theory and derivatives risk.
• Ability to engage credibly with Portfolio Managers
• Knowledge of Black-Scholes, implied/realised volatility, volatility surfaces and related Greeks.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary risk partner to Equity Volatility PMs, providing independent oversight across options strategies.
• Develop understanding of trading strategies and portfolio construction to provide risk recommendations.
• Monitor and analyse exposures across delta, gamma, vega, theta, rho and other risk factors.
• Provide independent oversight of complex equity derivatives portfolios (single stock options, index options, ETFs, variance/volatility swaps).
• Conduct stress testing and scenario analysis for market dislocations and events.
• Evaluate portfolio construction, capital allocation, leverage and hedging strategies.

Skills

Front-office risk management

PM collaboration

Stress testing

Quantitative analysis

Option pricing

Job description

A global multi-strategy hedge fund is seeking an experienced Equity Volatility Risk Manager to partner closely with Portfolio Managers across its global equity volatility business. This is a true front-office risk role, focused on helping investment teams optimize risk-adjusted returns while maintaining a robust risk framework. The successful candidate will develop a deep understanding of complex volatility trading strategies, challenge portfolio construction, monitor evolving market risks and contribute to investment decisions through proactive risk management.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary risk partner to Equity Volatility Portfolio Managers, providing independent oversight and constructive challenge across a broad range of listed and OTC options strategies while supporting informed risk-taking and optimal portfolio construction.
• Develop a deep understanding of individual trading strategies, investment objectives and portfolio construction methodologies, enabling you to identify emerging risks, challenge assumptions and provide commercially focused risk recommendations that enhance risk-adjusted returns.
• Monitor and analyse portfolio exposures across a comprehensive range of market risk factors, including Delta, Gamma, Vega, Theta, Rho, implied and realised volatility, volatility surfaces, skew, term structure, correlation, convexity, jump risk and other higher-order Greeks, ensuring risks remain consistent with the Portfolio Manager's investment thesis and the firm's risk appetite.
• Provide independent oversight of complex equity derivatives portfolios, covering single stock options, index options, ETF options, variance swaps, volatility swaps, correlation trades, dispersion strategies and other sophisticated volatility structures, assessing both individual positions and aggregate portfolio risk.
• Conduct detailed stress testing and scenario analysis, modelling the impact of market dislocations, volatility spikes, earnings announcements, macroeconomic events, geopolitical developments and liquidity shocks to assess portfolio resilience under a wide range of market conditions.
• Evaluate portfolio construction and capital allocation, challenging position sizing, concentration levels, diversification, leverage, hedging strategies and overall risk utilisation to ensure portfolios are appropriately balanced and capital is deployed efficiently.
• Partner closely with Portfolio Managers throughout the investment lifecycle, providing pre-trade risk assessments, evaluating proposed trades and new investment ideas, and delivering ongoing analysis to support dynamic portfolio management in rapidly changing market environments.
• Analyse portfolio performance and P&L attribution, identifying the key drivers of returns, explaining changes in risk exposures and assessing the effectiveness of hedging strategies, allowing Portfolio Managers to better understand performance across varying volatility regimes.
• Monitor liquidity, financing and execution risks, assessing the impact of market depth, bid-offer spreads, financing costs, borrow availability and transaction costs on portfolio performance and the ability to efficiently manage or unwind positions.
• Identify emerging market risks and changing volatility regimes, proactively communicating observations and recommendations to Portfolio Managers and senior investment professionals before risks become material to portfolio performance.
• Ensure adherence to the firm's risk management framework, continuously monitoring portfolio exposures against established risk limits, escalation thresholds and governance standards while maintaining an appropriate balance between independent oversight and commercial partnership.
• Prepare and present insightful risk analysis for senior management, Chief Risk Officers and Investment Committees, translating complex quantitative risk metrics into clear, actionable insights that support investment decision-making.
• Collaborate closely with Quantitative Research, Trading, Technology and Data Engineering teams to enhance risk analytics, improve data quality, develop new monitoring tools and automate risk reporting processes to support a growing and increasingly sophisticated trading platform.
• Drive the ongoing enhancement of the firm's Equity Volatility risk framework, contributing to the development of new risk methodologies, analytics, stress testing capabilities and reporting tools to ensure the platform continues to evolve alongside increasingly complex trading strategies and market conditions.
• Maintain a forward-looking approach to risk management, staying abreast of developments in derivatives markets, market structure, volatility products, regulatory changes and quantitative risk methodologies, ensuring best practices are consistently incorporated into the firm's risk management processes.

Required Experience

• 8-15 years of experience working as a risk manage at a hedge fund covering Equity Volatility strategies.
• Strong understanding of option pricing theory and derivatives risk.
• Ability to engage credibly with experienced Portfolio Managers
• Excellent knowledge of: Black-Scholes, Implied volatility, Realised volatility, Volatility surfaces, Skew, Term structure, Correlation
• Experience monitoring equity derivatives portfolios
• Strong understanding of market microstructure and liquidity dynamics.
• Experience performing stress testing and scenario analysis.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills.