Jobs › IMC Trading

Chief of Staff

IMC Trading · Chicago, IL · Operations

Posted Sep 30, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a project you owned that fell between departments. How did you get it done?

What they are checking: Whether they can lead work that doesn't fit the org chart, which is the core of this role.

Tell me about a process you redesigned that made a team more effective.

What they are checking: Whether they improve team effectiveness through better processes and structure.

Tell me about a time you had to balance short-term firefighting with a long-term goal.

What they are checking: Whether they keep the desk focused on both short and long-term goals.

What would you do

A cross-functional initiative is slipping because one team keeps missing deadlines. What do you do?

What they are checking: How they manage dependencies and escalations without damaging relationships.

How do you earn the trust of senior traders who don't see why they need a chief of staff?

What they are checking: Whether they can build credibility with trading leadership in a high-visibility seat.

How do you decide what to escalate to desk leadership and what to handle yourself?

What they are checking: Judgment about leadership's time and when a decision needs their input.

How would you coordinate resourcing when several projects need the same people?

What they are checking: Ability to manage desk resourcing and make tradeoffs visible.

About the work

How would you build the analysis behind a decision to expand the desk into a new product?

What they are checking: Whether they can build a clear analytical basis for desk decisions.

How would you run a cost review of the desk's data vendors?

What they are checking: Practical experience with vendor management and cost and performance reviews.

Walk me through how you'd support budget planning for a trading desk.

What they are checking: Understanding of budget planning and cost allocation that the role supports.

What do you understand about how a trading desk makes and loses money?

What they are checking: Business understanding needed to grow toward broader operating responsibility.

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The full job description

As published by IMC Trading.

The Chief of Staff is a high-visibility strategic partner that leads the coordination and strategic alignment of the Desk. Acting as a connector between trading and business support teams, this person ensures that the desk runs efficiently, communicates effectively, and stays focused on both short- and long-term goals. The Chief of Staff is responsible for owning crossfunctional initiatives, building the analytical basis for desk decisions, and enhancing the team’s effectiveness through better processes and structure. This is an operating seat with direct exposure to trading leadership and a path toward broader business and operating responsibility as the desk grows.    Your Core Responsibilities:  • Operate at a tactical, strategic and operational level, handling the oversight of projects that do not neatly fit within the organizational chart or that fall between departments or leadership areas of responsibility. • Drive cross-functional desk initiatives and buildouts from initiation through delivery, managing scope, milestones, dependencies, and escalations. • Co-ordinate business development for the desk. • Support budget planning, cost allocation reviews, and cost approval processes for the desk. • Support evaluation, onboarding, and ongoing management of vendors and external data providers, including cost and performance reviews. • Coordinate desk resourcing and staffing needs with recruiting and training teams. • Contribute to long-range strategic planning and cascade firm strategy into desk-level goals and deliverables.  • Own goal tracking and milestones; ensure communication processes are completed when goals are achieved. • Coordinate, and lead desk meetings and follow up on action items. • Promote information flow and knowledge sharing across teams working on similar initiatives.  • Serve as owner/main point of contact for all stakeholders in onboarding and transfer processes.  • Drive continuous improvement of desk processes, tooling, and communication. • Working closely with trading leads, proactively spot opportunities to improve efficiency of desk operations. • Support team culture and engagement by fostering connection, recognition, and collaboration. • Own the desk's internal communication cadence, including planning and coordinating desk celebrations, offsites, and the holiday coverage calendar. • Perform daily reconciliation checks on PnL and support outputs; identify and flag discrepancies directly to the relevant support teams before they escalate.   Your Skills and Experience:  • MBA or equivalent advanced degree. • 2+ years of post-MBA experience in top-tier management consulting or a comparable structured problem-solving environment. • Demonstrated ability to influence and align senior stakeholders across multiple levels, including executive leadership, without formal authority. • Proven track record of owning complex, cross-functional projects and delivering results in unstructured and ambiguous environments. • Strong knowledge of business, finance and analytics; strong quantitative skills and comfort working directly with financial and operational data. • Proven track record of identifying and driving process improvements that enhance efficiency and communication. • Outstanding communication and presentation skills, with the ability to craft compelling narratives and build supporting materials (decks, briefings, and reports). • Strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative approach to building relationships across teams and levels.  • Excellent organizational, verbal, analytical, and written skills with attention to detail. • Interest in financial markets and a desire to build domain expertise in trading. While this is a hybrid position, we expect an in-office presence in our Chicago office 4 times per week. Please note that immigration sponsorship is not offered for this specific opening. # LI-DNI 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 $150,000 — $200,000 USD About Us IMC is a research-driven trading firm where quantitative modeling, machine learning, and engineering shape how modern markets are traded. A stabilizing force in markets since 1989, we provide liquidity across trading venues, delivering the best outcome in value and risk management to investors. Using our own technology and capital, we build proprietary systems and algorithms that operate across global markets. Our researchers, traders, and engineers work as a collective, combining rapid experimentation, advanced infrastructure, and real-time feedback to turn insight into execution and execution into advantage.  

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