JobsChicago Trading Company

Senior Quantitative Researcher - Delta One

Chicago Trading Company · Chicago, IL · Trading & Quant

Posted Sep 11, 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

Walk me through a signal you built from scratch, from initial hypothesis to something that actually got traded. What was the idea, and where did it come from?

whether the candidate can originate independent hypotheses rather than just implementing others' ideas

Tell me about a time your backtest looked great but the strategy didn't hold up once it hit production or live markets. What went wrong and how did you find out?

self-awareness about overfitting and the gap between simulation and reality

Tell me about a disagreement you had with a trader over whether a strategy was ready to go live. How did you resolve it?

collaboration style and how they handle pushback from non-researchers with skin in the game

How do you decide when a research idea has been explored enough to abandon, versus when it just needs more iteration?

judgment and efficient use of research time, not just persistence

Tell me about a time you mentored or worked closely with a junior researcher on their project. What did you focus on improving?

whether they can raise the rigor of others' work, given the mentoring expectation in this role

Technical

Suppose you have a signal that predicts short-term price moves in a liquid futures contract. Walk me through how you'd design the backtest, including what you'd worry about getting wrong.

rigor in backtest design, awareness of look-ahead bias, transaction costs, and data snooping

How would you go about separating a genuine microstructure edge from something that's really just latency or queue position that you can't actually capture in practice?

depth of market microstructure knowledge and honesty about what's tradeable versus theoretical

Describe the delta hedging or execution research you've done. What was the tradeoff you were optimizing and how did you measure success?

practical grasp of hedging costs and execution quality, not just signal generation

Walk me through how you'd structure a simulation environment for testing signals across multiple futures products with different liquidity profiles and tick sizes.

hands-on experience with infrastructure and data pipeline design, not just modeling in isolation

What large market datasets have you worked with, and what's the messiest data problem you've had to solve before you could trust your results?

real hands-on experience with data quality issues at scale versus theoretical knowledge

Situational

Say you've got a medium-frequency cross-product alpha and a high-frequency microstructure signal on the same underlying. How do you think about combining them without one cannibalizing the other's risk budget or fills?

ability to reason about portfolio construction and interaction effects across time horizons

A signal that's been working well for six months suddenly degrades. Walk me through how you'd diagnose whether that's noise, regime change, or something structurally wrong with the model.

systematic approach to monitoring and attribution rather than jumping to conclusions

If a strategy's live PnL doesn't match what your attribution model predicted, what's your process for figuring out where the discrepancy is coming from?

discipline in strategy attribution and comfort reconciling model output with real trading results

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The full job description

As published by Chicago Trading Company.

<div class="content-intro"><p>Chicago Trading Company (CTC) is a premier proprietary trading firm specializing in options market making. &nbsp;Our collaborative culture fuels innovation in quantitative research, systematic trading strategies, and cutting-edge trading technology. &nbsp;For over three decades CTC has provided critical liquidity across derivatives exchanges worldwide - making them fairer, more transparent, and more efficient.</p> <p>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.</p></div><p>We are seeking a Senior Quantitative Researcher to join a growing delta-one systematic trading team. This role is focused on alpha research, signal development, and model building across liquid futures and related products, spanning time horizons from high-frequency microstructure to medium-frequency cross-product alpha. The ideal candidate brings deep statistical and empirical research skills with a demonstrated ability to develop, evaluate, and deploy systematic signals and models that generate durable trading edge.<br><br>This is an opportunity to work directly on high-impact research problems across multiple products and time horizons, partnering closely with traders, researchers, and engineers to translate research into live trading impact.</p> <p><strong>WHAT YOU'LL DO</strong></p> <ul> <li>Lead alpha research across delta-one products — from signal ideation and backtesting through strategy iteration, production handoff, and ongoing monitoring</li> <li>Develop predictive signals and models spanning high-frequency microstructure, intraday, and medium-frequency opportunities</li> <li>Analyze signal performance, strategy attribution, and model behavior to identify improvements as market conditions evolve</li> <li>Contribute to delta hedging, execution, and pricing research that improves trading performance across the firm</li> <li>Collaborate with traders and engineers to improve research infrastructure, simulation quality, and data pipelines</li> <li>Mentor junior researchers and help raise the quality and rigor of the research process</li> </ul> <p><strong>WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR</strong></p> <ul> <li>5+ years of experience in quantitative research, systematic trading, market making, or a closely related environment, with a demonstrated track record of developing signals, models, or analytics with measurable trading impact</li> <li>Strong statistical intuition and advanced Python proficiency, with hands-on experience working with large market datasets and designing rigorous backtests and simulations</li> <li>Deep understanding of market microstructure, execution, risk, and the practical challenges of moving research into production</li> <li>Ability to generate independent hypotheses and collaborate effectively with traders, researchers, and engineers</li> <li>Clear communicator with high ownership, intellectual curiosity, and a bias toward thorough, repeatable research</li> <li>Advanced degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field preferred</li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description"><p><strong>Compensation</strong></p> <p>The salary range for this role is listed below. This role is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. The discretionary bonus will be dependent upon the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, and firm performance.&nbsp;</p></div><div class="title">Salary Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$225,000</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$250,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p>Most teams at CTC, with the exception of Trading, follow a hybrid workplace model, subject to change based on business need.</p> <p><strong>Our Benefits&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>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 (plus healthy snacks, of course), wellness reimbursement, and a variety of other benefits focused on providing the best employee experience.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>(Disclaimer: interns and contractors are not eligible for benefits at CTC)&nbsp;</em></p> <p><strong>Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion</strong></p> <p>At CTC, we aim to cultivate a workplace that celebrates diversity and each person feels included, engaged and empowered. Where each of us feels we belong. We are committed to having a diverse workforce and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. CTC does 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.&nbsp;</p> <p>If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or to apply for a position, please contact us at info@chicagotrading.com. Note that emails sent to this email account for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.</p> <p><strong>Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)</strong></p> <p>Information submitted by job applicants may be subject to review and analysis by automated systems, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), as part of the recruitment process. Such systems are utilized to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our hiring procedures. Applicants are advised that any information provided may be evaluated by AI tools to ensure an equitable and thorough assessment.</p></div>

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