JobsAkuna Capital

Quantitative Development & Strategy Intern, Summer 2027

Akuna Capital · Chicago, IL · Quant

Posted Aug 5, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Sep 20, 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.

Behavioral

Tell me about a time you found a bug in someone else's code, or someone found one in yours. What did you do next?

how the candidate handles code review and accountability in a collaborative codebase

Describe a time you had to learn a new technical concept very quickly to finish something. How did you go about it?

speed and independence of learning, since the internship expects fast ramp-up on markets and internal systems

Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate or teacher about the right technical approach. What happened?

how the candidate collaborates with researchers, traders, and engineers who may have different priorities

What's a math or coding problem you got wrong at first, and how did you catch your mistake?

self-awareness and error-checking habits, since fast and accurate problem solving is called out as essential to the role

Technical

Walk me through a project where you wrote object-oriented Python code from scratch. What classes did you design and why did you split things up that way?

whether the candidate actually understands OOP design choices rather than just using classes because they were told to

Say you have a large array of price ticks and you need to compute a rolling statistic over it fast. How would you approach that in Python, and where would performance likely break down?

comfort with numerical computing and awareness of Python's performance limitations, since production trading code needs speed

Explain how you'd price a simple option using a basic model, and what assumptions that model relies on.

baseline grasp of derivatives pricing concepts expected for a quant strategy role

Give me a linear algebra concept you've used outside of a classroom setting. What was the problem and how did the concept actually help you solve it.

whether math knowledge is applied and internalized versus memorized for exams

Tell me about a project where you had to optimize code that was too slow. What did you profile, and what actually fixed it?

real experience with performance optimization versus theoretical knowledge of it

How would you explain the difference between a stack and a heap, or how memory is managed in a language you know well?

depth of computer science fundamentals beyond just scripting in Python

Situational

Suppose a trading strategy you're maintaining starts behaving oddly right as the market is moving fast. Walk me through how you'd figure out what's wrong.

ability to debug calmly and methodically under time pressure, which matters a lot in live trading systems

If you had a dataset of historical trades and wanted to find a signal that predicts short-term price movement, how would you start? What would make you trust or distrust a result?

statistical reasoning and skepticism about overfitting or spurious correlations

Imagine you propose a change to an existing piece of production trading code and a senior engineer pushes back, saying it's too risky right before expiration. What do you do?

judgment about risk and communication style when working in a live, high-stakes system

Practice this interview out loud.

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The full job description

As published by Akuna Capital.

<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>About Akuna:</strong></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span data-contrast="none">Akuna Capital is an innovative trading firm with a strong focus on collaboration, cutting-edge technology, data driven solutions, and automation. We specialize in providing liquidity as an options market-maker – meaning we are committed to providing competitive quotes that we are willing to both buy and sell. To do this successfully, we design and implement our own low latency technologies, trading strategies and mathematical models.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":false,"201341983":2,"335559739":300,"335559740":350}">&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span data-contrast="none">Our Founding Partners</span><em>&nbsp;</em><span data-contrast="none">first conceptualized Akuna in their hometown of Sydney. They opened the firm’s first office in 2011 in the heart of the derivatives industry and the options capital of the world – Chicago. Today, Akuna is proud to operate from additional offices in Sydney, Shanghai, London, and Singapore.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p><strong>What you’ll do as a Quantitative Development &amp; Quantitative Strategy Intern at Akuna:</strong></p> <p>Akuna’s Quant team creates trading strategies scientifically by combining its quantitative expertise with sophisticated understanding of derivatives and financial markets. The team is looking to add both Quant Development &amp; Quant Strategy Interns to our team for our 10-week Akunacademy internship program who will make a direct and measurable impact on our trading decisions and performance.</p> <p>The successful candidate will have a strong programming background, familiarity with mathematical techniques and the fluency to leverage both skills to produce trading solutions and high-performance production code. In these roles you will:</p> <ul> <li>Design and develop production code of trading strategies: pricing models, execution logic and performance optimization along with researchers, traders and system engineers</li> <li>Analyze and incorporate market signals&nbsp;in our trading systems</li> <li>Advance existing codebase and propose new solutions and improvements</li> </ul> <p><strong>Requirements for these roles:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Pursuing a bachelors, masters, or PhD in a technical field – Engineering, Computer Science, Math, Physics (or related subject)</li> <li>Strong Python programming background</li> <li>Experience in object-oriented programming</li> <li>Exposure to linear algebra and introductory statistics</li> <li>Desire and ability to learn the intricacies of financial markets</li> <li>Must graduate by August 2028</li> <li>GPA of 3.5 or above</li> <li>Legal authorization to work in the U.S. is required on the first day of employment including F-1 students using CPT, OPT or STEM</li> </ul> <p><strong>Qualities that make great candidates:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Experience with generic and/or parallel programming</li> <li>Deeper understanding of any of the following fields: Linear Algebra, Numerical Methods, Statistics, Optimization, Signal Processing, Computer Architecture, Machine Learning, Heterogeneous/High Performance computing</li> <li>The ability to react quickly and accurately to rapidly changing market conditions, including the ability to quickly and accurately respond and/or solve math and coding problems are essential functions of the role</li> <li>Exposure to financial markets and trading</li> </ul> <p>**Resumes must be submitted in PDF format.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>In addition to technical skillsets, Akuna values the unique perspectives people can bring to the table to collaboratively solve complex problems and drive Akuna forward. We want everyone to feel empowered to apply. We welcome your application and encourage you to take the first steps toward your future with us!</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Please note:</strong> By submitting an application for this role, you are indicating this is your top preference and acknowledge you will not be considered for other Quant and/or Tech roles at Akuna this recruiting season. This acknowledgement does not limit applications to Trading roles - in addition to this role, you may apply to any Trader roles of interest.&nbsp;</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><em data-stringify-type="italic">In accordance with Illinois Equal Pay Act, the minimum annualized base salary starts at $145,000. Exact compensation offered may vary based on many factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and skill set. </em><em data-stringify-type="italic">The minimum base salary herein was determined in good faith by Akuna Capital LLC.</em></p>

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