Quantitative Researcher

MA CAPITAL U.S. LLC; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

MA Capital US LLC seeks a Quantitative Researcher to join our options trading team and develop systematic strategies across SPX, VIX, and related index derivatives. The core infrastructure supports data, models, risk, and execution to identify, validate, and deploy strategies that generate real trading edge and P&L.

You will work closely with traders and engineers in a highly collaborative environment with ownership and autonomy, advancing ideas from hypothesis through production and live

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, Financial Engineering, or a related quantitative discipline.
• 3-5 years of quantitative research experience at a proprietary trading firm, hedge fund, market maker, or other quantitative trading firm.
• Direct experience researching SPX and/or VIX options strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience developing systematic strategies that was deployed in production and generated positive live trading P&L.
• Strong understanding of options pricing, implied volatility, volatility surfaces, skew, term structure, Greeks, and hedging.
• Experience with systematic options strategies, relative value, statistical arbitrage, or volatility trading.
• Strong understanding of transaction costs, execution, liquidity, and market microstructure.
• Experience working with large options and futures datasets.
• Ability to take a research idea from hypothesis through backtesting, validation, and production.

Responsibilities

• Research and develop systematic trading strategies across SPX options, VIX options, and related index products
• Develop signals using volatility surfaces, skew, term structure, relative value, cross-market relationships, market microstructure, and other statistical relationships
• Build and improve fair-value, pricing, and predictive models for options and volatility products
• Backtest strategies using realistic assumptions around transaction costs, liquidity, market impact, and execution
• Take research from initial hypothesis through validation, production implementation, and live trading
• Analyze live strategy performance, P&L drivers, drawdowns, and changing market conditions, and refine strategies accordingly
• Work closely with traders and engineers to improve pricing, signals, execution, hedging, and risk management
• Contribute to a repeatable research process for efficiently testing and deploying new strategies

Skills

Quantitative research

Mathematics

Statistics

Financial engineering

Collaboration

Risk management understanding

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD in Mathematics/Statistics/CS/Physics/Engineering/Financial Engineering

Job description

MA Capital US LLC is a proprietary trading firm focused on systematic and discretionary strategies across global markets. Our edge is driven by technology, research, and a disciplined approach to infrastructure and risk.

We operate a high-performance trading environment spanning multiple regions, co-location data centers, and global offices, with continued investment across research, technology, and trading.

The Role

We are seeking an experienced Quantitative Researcher to join our options trading team and develop systematic strategies across SPX, VIX, and related index derivatives. The core infrastructure is already largely in place, including market data, historical datasets, pricing models, risk systems, and execution capabilities. This role will use that infrastructure to identify, research, validate, and deploy strategies that generate real trading edge and P&L.

You will work closely with traders and engineers in a highly collaborative environment with significant ownership and autonomy.

Key Responsibilities

• Research and develop systematic trading strategies across SPX options, VIX options, and related index products
• Develop signals using volatility surfaces, skew, term structure, relative value, cross-market relationships, market microstructure, and other statistical relationships
• Build and improve fair-value, pricing, and predictive models for options and volatility products
• Backtest strategies using realistic assumptions around transaction costs, liquidity, market impact, and execution
• Take research from initial hypothesis through validation, production implementation, and live trading
• Analyze live strategy performance, P&L drivers, drawdowns, and changing market conditions, and refine strategies accordingly
• Work closely with traders and engineers to improve pricing, signals, execution, hedging, and risk management
• Contribute to a repeatable research process for efficiently testing and deploying new strategies

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, Financial Engineering, or a related quantitative discipline.
• 3-5 years of quantitative research experience at a proprietary trading firm, hedge fund, market maker, or other quantitative trading firm
• Direct experience researching SPX and/or VIX options strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience developing systematic strategies that was deployed in production and generated positive live trading P&L
• Strong understanding of options pricing, implied volatility, volatility surfaces, skew, term structure, Greeks, and hedging
• Experience with systematic options strategies, relative value, statistical arbitrage, or volatility trading
• Strong understanding of transaction costs, execution, liquidity, and market microstructure
• Experience working with large options and futures datasets
• Ability to take a research idea from hypothesis through backtesting, validation, and production

Nice to Have

• Experience with SPX options market making or systematic trading
• Experience with VIX options and VIX futures
• Experience developing index volatility or relative-value strategies
• Experience with 0DTE or short-dated options
• Experience with volatility surface modeling, skew, or term-structure strategies
• Experience researching SPX/VIX cross-market relationships
• Experience with intraday options strategies or options market microstructure
• Experience applying machine learning to options or volatility markets
• Experience within a high-performing options or volatility trading team

What We Value

• Research Ownership: Take ideas from initial hypothesis through live implementation
• Trading Mindset: Focus on identifying genuine trading edge rather than optimizing backtests
• Analytical Rigor: Understand statistical validity, execution costs, market impact, and changing market conditions
• Collaboration: Work effectively with traders, researchers, and engineers
• Intellectual Curiosity: Challenge assumptions and investigate why a strategy works

Why Join Us?

• High Ownership: Direct responsibility for researching and developing strategies within our SPX and VIX options business
• Established Infrastructure: Access to market data, pricing models, risk systems, and execution infrastructure
• Research to Production: Opportunity to take strategies from initial research through live deployment and trading
• Global Platform: Work within a multi-region trading environment with co-location and global market connectivity
• Collaborative Environment: Work closely with experienced traders and engineers in a highly technical setting
• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision insurance