Graduate Performance Engineer

IMC B.V.; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Paid leave

Insurance

Job summary

IMC Trading 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 ultra-low-latency trading.

You will perform quantitative research, design strategies for liquidity taking, and develop AI agents and ETL pipelines in Python to optimize trading strategies.

Qualifications

• Current university student graduating between September 2026 – July 2027 pursuing CS, Engineering, or a related technology field.
• Proficiency in at least one programming language.
• 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

Python

Quantitative ability

Analytical skills

Strong communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

CS/Engineering student

Tools

ETL pipelines

SQL

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

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

#LI-DNP

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.