Head of Market Risk

Decibel; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Decibel is seeking an experienced Head of Market Risk to enhance its risk management framework across market and trading risks. In this senior leadership position, you will work closely with engineering and trading teams to ensure robust risk controls and real-time monitoring mechanisms.

The ideal candidate will have at least 6 years of experience, particularly in derivatives and crypto markets, with a strong background in risk modeling and crisis management. Join Decibel to empower traders and institutions with top-tier financial infrastructure.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in market risk management.
• VP/MD level experience in finance.
• Prior roles in investment banks or prop trading firms.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the firm's risk management framework.
• Develop and refine market risk models.
• Collaborate with engineers for stress testing.

Skills

Risk modeling

Crisis management

Analytical skills

Programming skills (Python)

Communication skills

Education

Degrees in Mathematics, Quantitative Finance, or Actuarial Science

Job description

Decibel is a high-performance, fully on-chain trading platform built in collaboration with Aptos Labs and the Decibel Foundation. Designed to match the speed of high performance trading, Decibel offers spot, perpetuals, and yield products through a unified, self-custodial interface. The platform runs on the Aptos blockchain, leveraging its sub‑20ms block times and parallel execution to support real‑time settlement, cross‑margining, and modular vault strategies. Decibel aims to serve as the execution layer for the Aptos global trading engine, empowering traders, developers, and institutions with scalable, composable financial infrastructure.

Position Overview

The Head of Market Risk (Decibel) is a senior leadership role responsible for overseeing and enhancing the firm’s risk management framework across market, trading, and exchange operational risks. This individual will ensure robust risk controls, real‑time monitoring, and crisis response mechanisms while working closely with engineering, trading, and executive teams. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in derivatives risk modeling, crypto markets, and financial engineering, with prior experience at top‑tier trading firms, exchanges, or investment banks.

Key Responsibilities

• Risk Engine & Framework: Continuously improve and manage the firm’s risk engine, ensuring accurate pricing, margin modeling, and liquidation mechanisms.
• Risk Modeling & Analysis: Develop and refine market risk models, including Value‑at‑Risk (VaR), stress testing, and scenario analysis.
• Risk Surface Assessment: Identify emerging risk exposures, assess business impact, and implement mitigation strategies.
• Stress & Sensitivity Testing: Collaborate with engineers to design and execute stress tests, scenario analyses, and sensitivity tests.
• Market Surveillance: Build and enhance real‑time monitoring tools for liquidity risks, market manipulation, and abnormal liquidation events.
• Alerting & Emergency Protocols: Establish automated alerting systems and on‑call response processes for risk‑related emergencies.
• Documentation & Reporting: Maintain clear documentation of risk models, processes, and key risk vectors for internal and external stakeholders.
• Define and adjust max leverage, position limits, and maintenance margin ratios per market.
• Set open interest caps and evaluate collateral haircuts for multi‑asset portfolios.
• Continuously validate model accuracy by comparing expected vs. actual outcomes.
• Evaluate and set collateral haircut ratios.
• Trader Collaboration: Work closely with traders to establish risk management policies, position limits, and margin requirements.
• Risk Dashboards & Alerts: Develop real‑time risk dashboards and automated alerts for trading desk activities.
• Position & Margin Oversight: Monitor and manage the trading desk’s exposure, ensuring adherence to risk limits.
• Monitoring Tools: Partner with engineers to implement surveillance mechanisms for smart contract risks (e.g., large withdrawals, exploit detection).
• DeFi Risk Assessment: Evaluate protocol‑level risks in DeFi integrations and recommend safeguards.

4. Crisis Management & Incident Response

• Emergency Protocols: Lead risk‑related crisis management, including liquidation cascades, exchange outages, or market manipulation events.
• Post‑Mortems & Prevention: Conduct thorough incident analyses and implement preventive measures to mitigate future risks.

Required Background & Expertise

Industry Experience

• Years of Experience: VP - MD level experience. 6+ years of experience.
• Traditional Finance: Senior market risk roles at investment banks (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan) or prop trading firms (Jump Trading, Jane Street, DRW, Citadel).
• Options & Derivatives Trading: Experience in options trading, index arbitrage, or volatility strategies.
• Crypto Hedge Funds & Market Makers: Wintermute, Cumberland, Amber Group, etc.
• Fintech & DeFi: Risk professionals from Robinhood, BlockFi, Aave, Compound, or similar platforms.

Education & Technical Skills

• Degrees: Mathematics, Quantitative Finance, Actuarial Science, or related fields.
• Quantitative Expertise:
• Strong foundation in statistics, probability, and financial modeling.
• Experience in derivatives pricing, risk modeling (VaR, Greeks, stress testing).
• Programming skills (Python, or similar) for risk analytics and automation.

Personality & Competencies

• Decisive Under Pressure: Strong crisis management skills in high‑stakes, volatile environments.
• Analytical & Proactive: Anticipates risks and implements preemptive controls.
• Detail‑Oriented: Meticulous in risk assessment, documentation, and process improvement.
• Strong Communicator: Clearly articulates risk strategies to technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Collaborative: Works effectively with traders, engineers, and executives.