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Quantitative Researcher, Early Career (2025)

Chicago or New York

Aquatic is a quantitative trading and investment company recently launched by Jon Graham. Prior to founding Aquatic, Jon was a Partner and Senior Managing Director at Citadel, where he worked for more than 13 years. At Citadel, Jon held numerous senior positions over the years, including head of Statistical Arbitrage and Equity High Frequency, culminating in leading the highly successful Global Quantitative Strategies business.  

Aquatic develops systematic investment strategies, enabled by a leading-edge research and development platform. The vision is simple: to build a world class, quantitative trading company with a collaborative team of highly capable researchers and engineers.

As a Quantitative Researcher, you will collaborate closely with a team to develop and implement quantitative trading signals, models, and strategies. Our role offers the opportunity to design, implement, and evaluate research systems components using rigorous statistical methodologies. As part of the team, you will gain exposure to diverse research areas, accelerating your expertise in quantitative finance. 

Requirements:

  • Candidates with up to 3 years of professional experience or active student pursuing a BS or MS in mathematics, statistics, machine learning, physics, computer science, or other scientific disciplines with the expectation of graduating in 2025
  • Demonstrated proficiency in quantitative analysis and problem-solving
  • Proficiency in Python programming 
  • Prior experience tackling data-intensive challenges, conducting and completing statistical or applied mathematical research 
  • Successful participation in mathematical competitions a plus e.g., IMO, Putnam
  • Prior experience in a quantitative role within a trading environment a plus

Desired qualities: 

  • Intellectually curious, creative, and rigorous
  • Willingness to challenge assumptions and revise opinions in the face of compelling evidence
  • Self-motivated and highly productive, with a strong sense of urgency and accountability
  • Willing to take ownership of one’s work, working both independently and within a small team
  • Meticulous attention to detail
  • Ability to manage and prioritize multiple threads of work
  • Able to work across disciplines
  • Excellent communication and collaboration skills
  • Comfortable providing and receiving actionable feedback in a collaborative team setting
The base salary for this role is anticipated to be between $150,000 and $200,000, which is based on information at the time of posting. This position may also be eligible for additional forms of compensation, such as a discretionary bonus, and benefits. Discretionary bonus can be a significant portion of total compensation. Actual compensation for successful candidates will be carefully determined based on a number of factors, including their unique skills, qualifications and relevant experience.

Benefits:

  • Benefits: Fully paid medical, dental, and vision for employees and dependents, competitive 401k plan, employer-paid life & disability insurance
  • Perks: Wellness programs, casual dress, snacks, lunch, game room, team and company events
  • Development: Open environment to maximize learning and knowledge sharing
  • Time: Generous PTO, paid holidays, competitive paid caregiver leaves

Aquatic Capital 

This role represents a unique opportunity to join a quantitative investment manager at the foundational level of building a world class operation from scratch. The firm’s culture will be shaped by collaboration, meritocracy, ambition, and calm determination. 

Aquatic is a proud equal opportunity workplace. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or any other applicable legally protected characteristics.

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