Senior Trader – ETF Desk

Hedge Fund; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 250,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Hedge Fund in Chicago seeks a senior trader to own an established ETF trading desk. The infrastructure is in place; this role focuses on running, refining, and scaling the existing book, including pricing models, fair-value engines, trading tools, and risk systems.

You will take over immediately, validate and extend models, manage daily risk and hedging, oversee create/redeem operations, and prepare clean PnL attribution for leadership as the desk expands into new markets.

Qualifications

• 5+ years trading experience with international ETFs, ADRs, or futures.
• Experience managing pricing models for closed-market components.
• Proven ability to run a book with real risk limits and PnL accountability.
• Self-sufficient with lean infra; minimal ops support required.
• Strong quantitative/technical grounding and ability to modify pricing/risk code.

Responsibilities

• Take over and run the existing book/tools immediately — minimal ramp-up tolerance
• Validate, tune, and extend current pricing/fair-value models
• Own daily risk and inventory management, including cross-product hedging
• Manage create/redeem operations and vendor/AP relationships with minimal ops hand-holding
• Identify where the current setup breaks down and course-correct without escalation
• Set the desk up to scale into Emerging/Developed Markets once sector trading is stable
• Report clean PnL attribution and risk metrics to leadership

Skills

ETF trading

ADR trading

Futures trading

Pricing models

Risk management

PnL ownership

Job description

Prop Trading firm is seeking a senior trader to take ownership of an established ETF trading desk. The infrastructure — pricing models, fair value engines, trading tools, risk systems, and create/redeem operations — is already built out. This role is about running, refining, and scaling an existing book.

What the Desk Trades

• Sector/thematic ETFs (e.g., GDX. URA, COPX, etc.) with significant foreign-component exposure (Asia, Europe)
• Related ADRs and futures used for pricing, hedging, and arbitrage
• Eventual expansion into Emerging Markets (FXI, BABA, China A50 futures) and Developed Markets (Europe, Japan, Australia, factor ETFs)

Core edge of the strategy

Pricing “closed country” components that don’t trade live during US hours, layered with discretionary judgment on customer flow, news, and market structure. Success requires being comfortable holding both a systematic pricing framework and a discretionary execution overlay at the same time.

Responsibilities

• Take over and run the existing book/tools immediately — minimal ramp-up tolerance
• Validate, tune, and extend the current pricing/fair-value models rather than treat them as static
• Own daily risk and inventory management, including cross-product hedging (ETF/ADR/futures)
• Manage create/redeem operations and vendor/AP relationships with minimal ops hand-holding
• Identify where the current setup breaks down (stale data, model drift, flow shifts) and course-correct without escalation
• Set the desk up to scale into Emerging/Developed Markets once sector trading is stable
• Report clean PnL attribution and risk metrics to leadership

Qualifications

• 5+ years trading experience, with direct experience in international ETFs, ADRs, or futures — ideally at a market maker, prop shop, or bank ETF desk
• Demonstrated experience managing pricing models for instruments with stale/closed-market components
• Track record of running a book with real risk limits and being accountable for PnL, not just executing someone else’s signals
• Comfortable operating with lean support (no dedicated sales desk currently, limited flow intel) — self-sufficient, doesn’t need heavy infrastructure support
• Strong quantitative/technical grounding — able to read, question, and modify existing pricing/risk code rather than treat it as a black box
• Prior experience with ETF create/redeem mechanics and AP relationships is a strong plus