Senior Quantitative Trader - Delta One

CTC•Chicago, IL

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

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.

Requirements

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 Haves

Experience with delta-one products (futures, ETFs, equities, rates, commodities) and systematic strategies across various frequencies, with familiarity in areas like 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

Responsibilities

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