Senior Derivatives Pricing Engineer: Real-Time Quant Tech

IMC Trading; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 175,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

A global trading firm is seeking an experienced Senior Derivatives Pricing Developer to join their Chicago office. This role involves developing and maintaining high-performance numerical algorithms for pricing and risk management across various financial products. The ideal candidate should have at least 5 years of experience, a strong background in options pricing theory, and proficiency in C++ and Java. This position emphasizes collaboration with multidisciplinary teams and delivers critical support to trading operations.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of experience in a trading or finance environment.
• Strong knowledge of options pricing theory or other derivatives modeling.
• Proficiency in C++ and/or Java, focused on production-quality code.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain high-performance numerical algorithms for pricing and risk management.
• Implement and refine models that capture instrument value and risk.
• Write reliable, scalable, and maintainable code in C++ and Java.

Skills

C++

Java

Options pricing theory

Problem-solving

Numerical algorithms

Education

Mathematics or Computer Science background

Job description

We’re looking for a Quantitative Developer - Derivatives to join our Chicago office.

At IMC, the Pricing and Risk (PAR) team owns the firm’s core quantitative library for live derivatives pricing and risk. This library sits directly in the critical path of our HFT market making systems and serves as the real-time source of truth for valuation across all strategies. It is both foundational and constantly evolving, with extremely high expectations for performance and correctness.

The platform runs at scale across thousands of servers and is developed collaboratively across desks and regions. The team works closely with global counterparts to ensure consistency in how derivatives are modeled and priced across the firm.

Our primary focus is options and volatility modeling, alongside support for a broader set of asset classes including fixed income, ETFs, and FX.

This role sits at the intersection of quantitative modeling and high-performance engineering, similar to roles often titled Quant Developer or Strategist.

Your Core Responsibilities

• Design and implement high-performance numerical algorithms for pricing and risk
• Build and improve models that reflect real market behavior, balancing accuracy, stability, and latency
• Own core components of the firm’s pricing library, from models to calculation graphs to central infrastructure
• Work closely with quants and engineers to ensure models are robust, explainable, and production-ready
• Contribute across the full lifecycle: research, implementation, validation, and performance optimization
• Write clean, maintainable production code in C++ and Java
  
  

Your Skills And Experience

• 5+ years of experience in a trading or financial environment working on pricing or risk systems
• Strong understanding of derivatives pricing, especially options and volatility
• Solid background in mathematics, physics, computer science, or a related quantitative field
• Extensive C++ and/or Java skills, with experience building production systems
• Experience working closely with quants, traders, or similarly technical stakeholders
• Ability to translate quantitative models into reliable, scalable systems
• Experience with PDE methods or other advanced numerical techniques is a strong plus
• Familiarity with numerical analysis (stability, convergence, error propagation) is a plus
  
  

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

$175,000 - $250,000 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.