Senior Quantitative Trader - Delta One

CTC Lateral - Website & LinkedIn; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 225,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous time off

Insurance coverage

Paid parental leave

Free breakfast and lunch

Wellness reimbursement

Job summary

Chicago Trading Company (CTC) is looking for a Senior Quantitative Trader to join their delta-one systematic trading team in Chicago. This role involves hands-on alpha research and strategy development across futures and related products.

The ideal candidate has strong quantitative skills, market intuition, and programming ability, with over 5 years of relevant experience. CTC offers a competitive salary and great benefits, contributing to a collaborative and innovative work environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in quantitative trading or closely related environment.
• Hands-on experience with large market datasets and developing trading strategies.
• Deep understanding of market structure and production trading.

Responsibilities

• Lead the research lifecycle across liquid delta-one products.
• Analyze strategy performance and refine models.
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers to improve tools.

Skills

Quantitative research skills

Statistical intuition

Programming skills (Python)

Strong communication

Education

Advanced degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, or a related field

Tools

C++

Job description

Chicago Trading Company (CTC) is a premier proprietary trading firm specializing in options market making. Our collaborative culture fuels innovation in quantitative research, systematic trading strategies, and cutting‑edge trading technology. For over three decades CTC has provided critical liquidity across derivatives exchanges worldwide - making them fairer, more transparent, and more efficient.

We strive to be the most innovative firm in the industry today, tomorrow, and long into the future while upholding ethical excellence. We believe that CTC makes a positive impact on the markets, the lives of our employees, and all the communities to which we belong. Started in 1995 by a team of forward‑thinking traders, we are proud to call ourselves an industry leader that keeps making markets and each other better.

We are seeking a Senior Quantitative Trader to join a growing delta‑one systematic trading team. This role is focused on hands‑on alpha research, strategy development, and production trading across liquid futures and related delta‑one products.

The ideal candidate combines strong market intuition with rigorous quantitative research skills and has a demonstrated ability to develop, evaluate, and deploy systematic trading strategies.

This is an opportunity to contribute directly to a high‑impact trading business, working across multiple products, time horizons, and research problems. You will partner closely with quantitative researchers, traders, and engineers to identify tradable opportunities, improve strategy performance, and expand the team’s systematic trading capabilities.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead the full research lifecycle — from alpha ideation, data analysis, and backtesting through strategy iteration, production deployment, and ongoing monitoring — primarily across liquid delta‑one products like futures and related markets
• Analyze strategy performance, execution quality, and production behavior to identify improvements, and refine models as market conditions evolve
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers to improve research tools, simulation quality, and trading infrastructure, including cross‑product signals that leverage relationships across related markets and asset classes
• Mentor less experienced team members and help raise the overall quality of research and trading decision‑making across the team

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• 5+ years of experience in quantitative or systematic trading, quantitative research, market making, or a closely related environment, with a proven track record of developing or materially improving trading strategies, signals, models, or analytics
• Strong statistical intuition and programming skills (Python or similar), with hands‑on experience working with large market datasets, designing simulations and backtests, and reasoning carefully about strategy robustness, transaction costs, and execution realities
• Deep understanding of market structure, risk, and the practical realities of production trading, combined with the ability to generate independent ideas and collaborate effectively with researchers, traders, and engineers
• Clear communicator with a high‑ownership attitude, intellectual curiosity, and a bias toward thorough, repeatable research

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience with delta‑one products (futures, ETFs, equities, rates, commodities) and systematic strategies across various frequencies, with familiarity in areas such as fixed income, term structure, relative value, options, or market making
• Contributions to research pipelines, backtesting frameworks, alpha attribution, or production monitoring tools; proficiency in C++ or experience with latency‑sensitive systems
• Advanced degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, Computer Science, Operations Research, or a related field

Compensation

The salary range for this role is $225,000 – $250,000 USD. This role is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus dependent upon the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, and firm performance. Most teams at CTC, with the exception of Trading, follow a hybrid workplace model subject to change based on business need.

Benefits

We strongly believe in the well‑being of our employees and their families so we offer outstanding benefits to support you both professionally and personally. These benefits include generous time off, insurance coverage, paid parental leave, free breakfast and lunch, wellness reimbursement, and a variety of other benefits focused on providing the best employee experience.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

At CTC, we aim to cultivate a workplace that celebrates diversity and that each person feels included, engaged and empowered. We are an equal‑opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.