Graduate Performance Engineer

IMC Trading; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Paid leave

Insurance

Job summary

IMC Trading seeks highly driven graduates to apply quantitative techniques and practical experimentation to our ultra-low-latency trading systems in Chicago. You will develop strategies to outpace market participants, collaborate with traders and engineers, and work on AI agents, ETL pipelines, and network tech.

Applicants should be CS/Engineering students graduating between 2026 and 2027, with programming proficiency and strong quantitative skills.

Qualifications

• Current university student graduating between September 2026 – July 2027 that is pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technology field.
• Proficiency in at least one programming language is required.
• Exceptional quantitative ability and analytical skills.
• Highly motivated to compete—and win—in one of the world’s most competitive markets.
• Experience with statistical modeling, machine learning, or network technology is a plus.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with a desire to work cross-functionally across trading and engineering teams.
• Interest in the Financial Markets; previous knowledge is NOT required
• Must be available for full-time employment starting in February or August 2027

Responsibilities

• Perform quantitative research with large datasets to understand exchange technology.
• Design novel strategies to optimize IMC’s liquidity taking and quoting strategies for exchange microstructure.
• Develop AI agents, ETL pipelines and algorithms in Python to optimize IMC’s ultra-low-latency trading strategies.
• Reverse-engineer and stress-test network and systems programming technologies in order to understand them better than the manufacturers.
• Collaborate closely with Traders and with the Hardware and Software Engineers who will implement your ideas.

Skills

Programming

Quantitative ability

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

CS/Engineering degree in progress

Job description

Technology is at the heart of modern electronic trading. IMC is seeking highly driven graduates to apply quantitative techniques and practical experimentation to the technology used by exchanges, connectivity providers, and our own systems. You will develop new strategies to outpace other market participants in the highly competitive world of ultra-low-latency trading.

Your Core Responsibilities

• Perform quantitative research with large datasets to understand exchange technology.
• Design novel strategies to optimize IMC’s liquidity taking and quoting strategies for exchange microstructure.
• Develop AI agents, ETL pipelines and algorithms in Python to optimize IMC’s ultra-low-latency trading strategies.
• Reverse-engineer and stress-test network and systems programming technologies in order to understand them better than the manufacturers.
• Collaborate closely with Traders and with the Hardware and Software Engineers who will implement your ideas.

Your Skills And Experience

• Current university student graduating between September 2026 – July 2027 that is pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technology field.
• Proficiency in at least one programming language is required.
• Exceptional quantitative ability and analytical skills.
• Highly motivated to compete—and win—in one of the world’s most competitive markets.
• Experience with statistical modeling, machine learning, or network technology is a plus.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with a desire to work cross-functionally across trading and engineering teams.
• Interest in the Financial Markets; previous knowledge is NOT required
• Must be available for full-time employment starting in February or August 2027

You may submit one application per role each year. We strongly encourage you to focus on applying to a single role that best matches your skills and interests. Though you may apply to multiple roles, please note that each application will be evaluated based on the specific criteria established for that particular role. If you have already applied for this position during the current recruitment season and was not selected, you may reapply when the next recruitment season begins in summer 2027.

The Base Salary range for the role is included below. Base salary is only one component of total compensation; all full-time, permanent positions are eligible for a discretionary bonus and benefits, including paid leave and insurance. Please visit Benefits - US | IMC Trading for more comprehensive information.

Base Salary: $200,000

About Us

IMC is a global trading firm powered by a cutting-edge research environment and a world-class technology backbone. Since 1989, we’ve been a stabilizing force in financial markets, providing essential liquidity upon which market participants depend. Across our offices in the US, Europe, Asia Pacific, and India, our talented quant researchers, engineers, traders, and business operations professionals are united by our uniquely collaborative, high-performance culture, and our commitment to giving back. From entering dynamic new markets to embracing disruptive technologies, and from developing an innovative research environment to diversifying our trading strategies, we dare to continuously innovate and collaborate to succeed.