Quantitative Trading Strategist - Equity Options

IMC; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 225,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Job summary

IMC is seeking a quantitative researcher in Chicago to develop and refine models that enhance pricing, execution, and risk management. You will analyze large datasets and collaborate with traders, researchers, and engineers to deploy strategy improvements into live trading systems.

The role requires 3+ years in quant research or related fields, with strong Python skills and a preference for C++ knowledge. Candidates should understand market structure and production-ready research practices

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in quantitative research, systematic trading, or market microstructure roles.
• Experience with exchange-traded products, ideally equity options.
• Strong understanding of market structure and trading system behavior.
• Rigorous analysis on large, real-world datasets.
• Strong programming skills (Python required; C++ or similar preferred).
• Experience integrating research into production trading systems.
• Background in statistics, probability, time series analysis, or optimization is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine quantitative models that improve pricing, execution, and risk management.
• Analyze large-scale market and trading datasets to identify structural improvements.
• Design, test, and deploy strategy enhancements into production systems.
• Collaborate with traders, researchers, and engineers to iterate on live trading logic.
• Contribute to scalable solutions that impact a broad universe of equity options products.
• Drive research from idea generation through backtesting, implementation, and real-time monitoring.

Skills

Quantitative Research

Equity Options

Python

C++

Data Analysis

Production Deployment

Team Collaboration

Statistics

Time Series

Job description

Your Core Responsibilities:

• Develop and refine quantitative models that improve pricing, execution, and risk management.
• Analyze large-scale market and trading datasets to identify structural improvements.
• Design, test, and deploy strategy enhancements into production systems.
• Collaborate closely with traders, researchers, and engineers to iterate on live trading logic.
• Contribute to scalable solutions that impact a broad universe of equity options products.
• Drive research from idea generation through backtesting, implementation, and real-time monitoring.

Your Skills and Experience:

• 3+ years of experience in quantitative research, systematic trading, or market microstructure-focused roles.
• Experience working with exchange-traded products, ideally equity options.
• Strong understanding of market structure and trading system behavior.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct rigorous analysis on large, real-world datasets.
• Strong programming skills (Python required; C++ or similar preferred).
• Experience integrating research into production trading systems.
• Background in statistics, probability, time series analysis, or optimization is strongly preferred.

The Base Salary 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

$250,000

About Us

IMC is a global trading firm powered by a cutting-edge research environment and a world-class technology backbone. Since 1989, we're 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.