Macro Research Trader — US Index Markets

IMC Trading; Illinois; On-site; USD 200,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

IMC Trading in Chicago seeks a Macro Research Analyst for the US Index desk to identify trading opportunities in US index futures and options. You will partner closely with Traders to translate macro context into actionable trade ideas and to frame views with conviction so they can be turned into positions.

You will monitor markets, events, and volatility, analyze headlines, and assess risks and payoffs across scenarios.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Econometrics, STEM or a related field of study.
• 2-4 years of work experience with Equity Index, Equity Research and/or Fixed Income Futures.
• A strong and proven interest in financial markets; experience with options is a plus.
• Outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong Excel skills.
• Experience in programming with Python is a plus.
• Ability to work in a fast-moving and competitive environment.
• Strong focus on teamwork, details and accuracy.
• Fluent in English.

Responsibilities

• Monitor markets with a focus on US equity indices and their relation to other macro products.
• Monitor headlines and analysis; judge importance, impact and reliability.
• Understand and react to changes in volatility term structures.
• Spot trading opportunities across the US equity markets and translate them into actionable trade ideas.
• Look at global economic events and perform impact/scenario analysis, expressing views probabilistically.
• Understand risks and opportunities in each scenario, suggesting pay-off structures.
• Prepare for and analyze important events (FOMC meetings, data releases, elections).
• Interact with Traders to game plan trading around scenarios.
• Analyze historical performance of trade recommendations and tie research output to trading results.
• Study time series related to volatility of events and realized moves; spot patterns and regime shifts.
• Monitor the relation (beta) between equity indices and their single-stock constituents.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Excel

Python

Problem solving

Teamwork

English fluency

Equity Index experience

Equity Research

Fixed Income Futures

Options experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Econometrics, STEM or related field

Tools

Python

Job description

IMC Trading in Chicago seeks a Macro Research Analyst for the US Index desk to identify trading opportunities in US index futures and options. You will partner closely with Traders to translate macro context into actionable trade ideas and to frame views with conviction so they can be turned into positions.

You will monitor markets, events, and volatility, analyze headlines, and assess risks and payoffs across scenarios.