Index Options volatility Trader

Our Index Options desk focuses on monetizing flow and capitalizing on short-term mispricings. We are a highly collaborative group that combines strong market intuition with analytical rigor, working closely with dedicated quants and researchers to sharpen our edge. Together, we strive to develop deep expertise, ownership, and innovation in understanding counterparty behavior, flow dynamics, and volatility pricing. YOUR CORE RESPONSIBILITIES * Maximize revenue by identifying and capitalizing on short-term mispricings in index options * Monitor and react to flow patterns, volatility shifts, and liquidity changes across index products * Collaborate with traders to manage the risk of a large book as a team * Work closely with our best-in-class research and quant teams to analyze results and improve your approach * Identify and analyze counterparty behavior and repetitive flow patterns to inform positioning and execution * Provide feedback to enhance pricing models, risk systems, and execution tools * Perform post-trade reviews to continuously improve execution and hedging * Take on significant responsibility and ownership early in your time here to help drive strategies forward and succeed YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE * 2+ years of index options volatility trading experience * BS, MS, or PhD, preferably in business, economics, or a STEM field * Ability to identify flow patterns and describe them analytically, with strong knowledge of repetitive market flows * Passionate about understanding volatility dynamics and willing to act quickly on your views to capture market opportunities * Entrepreneurial mindset with a healthy risk appetite; competitive by nature and a fast decision-maker * Analytical, reflective about past trades, and always seeking to improve 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 $250,000—$250,000 USD About Us IMC is a global trading firm powered by a cutting-edge research environment and a world-class technology backbone. Since 1989, we’ve been a stabilizing force in financial markets, providing essential liquidity upon which market participants depend. Across our offices in the US, Europe, Asia Pacific, and India, our talented quant researchers, engineers, traders, and business operations professionals are united by our uniquely collaborative, high-performance culture, and our commitment to giving back. From entering dynamic new markets to embracing disruptive technologies, and from developing an innovative research environment to diversifying our trading strategies, we dare to continuously innovate and collaborate to succeed.

DRW is a diversified trading firm with over 3 decades of experience bringing sophisticated technology and exceptional people together to operate in markets around the world. We value autonomy and the ability to quickly pivot to capture opportunities, so we operate using our own capital and trading at our own risk. Headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia, we trade a variety of asset classes including Fixed Income, ETFs, Equities, FX, Commodities and Energy across all major global markets. We have also leveraged our expertise and technology to expand into three non-traditional strategies: real estate, venture capital and cryptoassets. We operate with respect, curiosity and open minds. The people who thrive here share our belief that it’s not just what we do that matters–it's how we do it. DRW is a place of high expectations, integrity, innovation and a willingness to challenge consensus. We are seeking a Quantitative Trading Analyst to join our European Equity Index Options desk. This role sits at the intersection of quantitative research, trading, and technology, supporting a high-performance options market-making business. You will work closely with traders, quantitative researchers, and software engineers to develop analytical tools, improve pricing models, analyze market dynamics, and optimize trading performance. This is an excellent opportunity for a highly analytical individual with strong quantitative and programming skills who is excited by fast-moving markets and enjoys solving challenging problems using data. What You'll Do * Partner with traders to analyze market behavior, volatility dynamics, and trading performance across European equity index options. * Develop quantitative models and analytical tools to improve pricing, risk management, and execution. * Analyze large datasets to identify trading opportunities, market inefficiencies, and performance drivers. * Build dashboards and visualizations that provide actionable insights into desk performance and market conditions. * Design and maintain research pipelines for testing new trading ideas and strategies. * Monitor live trading metrics and investigate anomalies or unexpected market behavior. * Collaborate with software engineers to automate workflows and improve trading infrastructure. * Assist in the evaluation and deployment of new quantitative models into production. * Conduct post-trade analysis and contribute to continuous improvement of the desk's trading strategies. What We're Looking For * Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, Economics, or a related quantitative discipline. * Familiarity with European equity index products or similar markets. * Strong programming skills in Python; experience with C++, Java, or other high-performance languages is a plus. * Knowledge of derivatives, options pricing, volatility modeling, or quantitative finance. * Solid understanding of probability, statistics, linear algebra, and optimization. * Experience working with large datasets and writing efficient data analysis code. * Strong problem-solving skills with exceptional attention to detail. * Excellent communication skills and the ability to explain quantitative concepts to both technical and non-technical colleagues. For more information about DRW's processing activities and our use of job applicants' data, please view our Privacy Notice at https://drw.com/privacy-notice [https://drw.com/privacy-notice]. California residents, please review the California Privacy Notice for information about certain legal rights at https://drw.com/california-privacy-notice [https://drw.com/california-privacy-notice]. #LI-JW1