Head of Quant Research & Live Trading AI

Protogon Research; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Benefits package

401(k) / HSA

Flexible PTO

Competitive pay

Job summary

Protogon Research, based in San Diego, seeks an executive Head of Quantitative Research to own P&L, lead the elite AI, ML, and quant development teams, and steer model development, risk, and execution. The role is hands-on from day one, with an emphasis on real-world results and expanding into more markets and instruments.

You will report to the CEO and build a scalable quantitative and trading capability while managing risk, capital allocation, and operational excellence in a primarily

Qualifications

• 8-12 years in quantitative research or applied ML in systematic funds, prop trading, or crypto market making.
• Fluent in Python and modern ML techniques; able to distinguish backtest artifacts from real-edge signals.
• Experience designing models end-to-end, not just deploying existing ones.

Responsibilities

• Own trading P&L, risk, and capital allocation with clear attribution across model alpha, market exposure, execution, financing, and fees.
• Lead the ML and quant dev team; define modeling roadmap and drive live results with measurable impact.
• Develop core ML infrastructure, data pipelines, training workflows, evaluation tooling, and high-fidelity simulations.
• Oversee execution quality, venue selection, routing, costs, and comprehensive trading operations.

Skills

Python

Deep learning

Time-series modeling

Reinforcement learning

Market microstructure

Education

PhD in quantitative discipline

Job description

Protogon Research, based in San Diego, seeks an executive Head of Quantitative Research to own P&L, lead the elite AI, ML, and quant development teams, and steer model development, risk, and execution. The role is hands-on from day one, with an emphasis on real-world results and expanding into more markets and instruments.

You will report to the CEO and build a scalable quantitative and trading capability while managing risk, capital allocation, and operational excellence in a primarily