Market Structure Strategy Lead

IMC Trading; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 250,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

IMC Trading in Chicago seeks a seasoned professional to lead Market Structure Strategy. You will shape strategic direction by analyzing regulatory, technological, and competitive shifts, and collaborate with internal teams to optimize trading and business outcomes.

You will build relationships with exchanges, brokers, and liquidity providers, driving insights into market structure evolution and competitive differentiation. Strong leadership and regulatory acumen are essential for success.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in market structure, exchange tech, or strategy in financial services.
• Experience with options trading is critical.
• Strong leadership of cross-functional teams.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills for market trends.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead Market Structure Strategy across asset classes.
• Analyze exchange architecture and matching engine mechanics for impact on IMC's trading.
• Lead cross-functional teams with trading, tech, legal, and compliance.
• Build and maintain relationships with exchanges, brokers, and liquidity providers.
• Conduct competitive analysis to find differentiators and opportunities.
• Work with legal/compliance on market structure advocacy and policy input.
• Support business development, partnerships, and expansion opportunities.

Skills

Market structure

Exchange technology

Leadership

Analytical mindset

Regulatory acumen

Communication

Relationship building (options)

Job description

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced professional to lead our Market Structure Strategy at IMC US, a cutting-edge quantitative trading firm. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in deepening relationships with key market participants and enhancing our market presence, while ensuring IMC stays ahead of the structural, technological, and regulatory shifts that shape our trading environment. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the strategic direction of the firm by influencing market structure evolution and collaborating with internal teams to ensure optimal trading and business outcomes.

Your Core Responsibilities

• Market Structure Strategy: Stay at the forefront of market structure changes across asset classes, providing insights into how regulatory, technological, and competitive developments impact the firm's trading operations and business.
• Exchange Architecture & Technical Analysis: Maintain a technical understanding of exchange architecture and matching engine mechanics across relevant venues, and work with IMC experts to translate incoming changes—technological, structural, or procedural—into clear assessments of how they will impact IMC's trading operations, systems, and strategy.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborate with trading, technology, legal, and compliance teams to align business initiatives with regulatory requirements and market trends.
• Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with external stakeholders, including exchanges, brokers, clearinghouses, and liquidity providers, to optimize trading conditions and market access. In addition to managing these relationships directly, collaborate with the right internal IMC experts to bring into key conversations, fostering stronger, more technically grounded relationships across the firm.
• Competitive Analysis: Conduct ongoing analysis of emerging trends to identify opportunities for competitive differentiation and advantage.
• Regulatory Advocacy: Work closely with legal and compliance teams regarding market structure advocacy; engage with regulatory bodies and industry groups to represent the firm's interests in shaping policy developments that impact market structure.
• Business Development: Support identification of new business opportunities, including partnerships and expansion into new markets or asset classes, where they intersect with market structure strategy.

Your Skills And Experience

• Industry Experience: 8+ years of experience in market structure, exchange technology, or strategy roles within financial services, ideally within a quantitative trading, proprietary trading, or market-making firm. Options market experience is critical.
• Market Structure & Technical Knowledge: Deep understanding of market structure across multiple asset classes (e.g., options, equities, futures, fixed income), including exchange architecture, matching engine mechanics, exchange mechanics, liquidity dynamics, and regulatory environments. Ability to quickly assess the technical and operational implications of exchange or infrastructure changes on IMC's business.
• Proven Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence outcomes in complex, fast-paced environments.
• Analytical Mindset: Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with the ability to interpret data and market trends to drive decision-making.
• Organization & Prioritization: Highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams and prioritize based on IMC's top strategic priorities.
• Relationship-Building: Proven track record of developing and maintaining strong relationships with key market participants, particularly in options trading. Skilled at knowing when to loop in the right internal subject-matter experts to deepen or extend those relationships.
• Regulatory Acumen: Deep understanding of global financial regulations and how they impact market structure, trading, and compliance.
• Communication Skills: Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly to both internal teams and external stakeholders.

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.

Salary Range

$250,000 - $300,000 USD

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.