IMC

Market Structure Strategy Lead

IMC • $250K — $300K *
Chicago, IL 60629In-Person
Finance & Insurance
8 - 10 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of experience in market structure, exchange technology, or strategy roles within financial services, ideally in quantitative trading or market-making firms.
  • Deep understanding of market structure across multiple asset classes, including options, equities, and futures.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence outcomes in complex environments.
  • Strong analytical skills, capable of interpreting data and market trends for decision making.
  • Exceptional organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
  • Proven track record of building and maintaining relationships with key market stakeholders, especially in options trading.
  • Comprehensive understanding of global financial regulations and their implications for market structure.

Responsibilities

  • Stay updated on market structure changes across asset classes and assess their impact on trading operations.
  • Maintain technical knowledge of exchange architecture and matching engine mechanics.
  • Collaborate with trading, technology, legal, and compliance teams to align initiatives with regulatory and market trends.
  • Build and nurture relationships with exchanges, brokers, and liquidity providers to enhance trading conditions.
  • Conduct analysis of emerging trends to identify competitive differentiation opportunities.
  • Engage with regulatory bodies to advocate for the firm's interests in market structure discussions.
  • Support identification of new business opportunities related to market structure strategy.

Benefits

  • Discretionary bonus eligibility.
  • Paid leave.
  • Comprehensive insurance package.
Full Job Description
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced professional to lead our Market Structure Strategy at IMC US, a cutting-edge quantitative trading firm. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in deepening relationships with key market participants and enhancing our market presence, while ensuring IMC stays ahead of the structural, technological, and regulatory shifts that shape our trading environment. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the strategic direction of the firm by influencing market structure evolution and collaborating with internal teams to ensure optimal trading and business outcomes.

Your Core Responsibilities:
  • Market Structure Strategy: Stay at the forefront of market structure changes across asset classes, providing insights into how regulatory, technological, and competitive developments impact the firm's trading operations and business.
  • Exchange Architecture & Technical Analysis: Maintain a technical understanding of exchange architecture and matching engine mechanics across relevant venues, and work with IMC experts to translate incoming changes-technological, structural, or procedural-into clear assessments of how they will impact IMC's trading operations, systems, and strategy.
  • Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborate with trading, technology, legal, and compliance teams to align business initiatives with regulatory requirements and market trends.
  • Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with external stakeholders, including exchanges, brokers, clearinghouses, and liquidity providers, to optimize trading conditions and market access. In addition to managing these relationships directly, collaborate with the right internal IMC experts to bring into key conversations, fostering stronger, more technically grounded relationships across the firm.
  • Competitive Analysis: Conduct ongoing analysis of emerging trends to identify opportunities for competitive differentiation and advantage.
  • Regulatory Advocacy: Work closely with legal and compliance teams regarding market structure advocacy; engage with regulatory bodies and industry groups to represent the firm's interests in shaping policy developments that impact market structure.
  • Business Development: Support identification of new business opportunities, including partnerships and expansion into new markets or asset classes, where they intersect with market structure strategy.


Your Skills and Experience:
  • Industry Experience: 8+ years of experience in market structure, exchange technology, or strategy roles within financial services, ideally within a quantitative trading, proprietary trading, or market-making firm. Options market experience is critical.
  • Market Structure & Technical Knowledge: Deep understanding of market structure across multiple asset classes (e.g., options, equities, futures, fixed income), including exchange architecture, matching engine mechanics, exchange mechanics, liquidity dynamics, and regulatory environments. Ability to quickly assess the technical and operational implications of exchange or infrastructure changes on IMC's business.
  • Proven Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence outcomes in complex, fast-paced environments.
  • Analytical Mindset: Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with the ability to interpret data and market trends to drive decision-making.
  • Organization & Prioritization: Highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams and prioritize based on IMC's top strategic priorities.
  • Relationship-Building: Proven track record of developing and maintaining strong relationships with key market participants, particularly in options trading. Skilled at knowing when to loop in the right internal subject-matter experts to deepen or extend those relationships.
  • Regulatory Acumen: Deep understanding of global financial regulations and how they impact market structure, trading, and compliance.
  • Communication Skills: Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly to both internal teams and external stakeholders.


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-$300,000 USD

About IMC

IMC Financial Markets, sometimes referred to as IMC Trading, is a proprietary trading firm and market maker for various financial instruments listed on exchanges throughout the world. Founded in 1989 as International Market makers Combination, the company employs over 1100 people and has offices in Amsterdam, Chicago, Sydney, Hong Kong and Mumbai. IMC is a technology-driven trading firm active in over 100 trading venues throughout the world and offering liquidity to over 200,000 securities. IMC makes markets in the major exchange-traded instruments – equities, bonds, commodities, and currencies – on 100 exchanges worldwide and is a significant liquidity provider on the NYSE Arca, NASDAQ, CBOE, BATS, and CME exchanges.
Learn more about IMC
Industry
Finance & Insurance
* Ladders Estimates

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