
Head Trader
Talisman Corporation, Chicago, IL, United States
Algorithmic Traders
Primary Responsibilities:
• Operate and oversee algorithmic trading strategies, ensuring alignment with the trading desk’s performance objectives, execution standards, and risk parameters.
• Maintain continuous oversight of trading activity, positions, and market exposure, proactively identifying anomalies, inefficiencies, or opportunities for optimization throughout the trading day.
• Conduct advanced research and post-trade analysis utilizing the firm’s proprietary research infrastructure to evaluate strategy performance and identify opportunities to enhance profitability and execution quality.
• Leverage expertise in market microstructure, historical tick data, and quantitative modeling to generate new sources of alpha and refine existing trading models.
• Collaborate closely with quantitative researchers and strategy developers to propose, test, and implement improvements to strategy logic, including execution, pricing, and risk management components.
• Serve as a key point of coordination between trading, risk management, and technology teams to address production issues and ensure the stability and integrity of trading systems.
• Design, build, and maintain quantitative analytics and modeling tools to support strategy evaluation, monitoring, and research initiatives.
• Partner with operations and back-office teams to resolve trade breaks, reconcile positions, and ensure accurate reporting of trading activity.
Skills and Experience:
• Bachelor’s degree in statistics, mathematics, engineering, finance, or a related quantitative discipline.
• 4–6+ years of experience trading financial products, including derivatives such as options or futures.
• Strong quantitative, analytical, and mathematical skill set with the ability to interpret complex market data and trading behavior.
• Experience with Python for data analysis, research, or trading infrastructure.
• Ability to operate independently while managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced, high-performance trading environment.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and problem-solving ability.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate across trading, technology, and risk teams.
• Demonstrated strong work ethic and a team-oriented mindset focused on contributing to the overall performance and success of the trading desk.