Entry-level Proprietary Trading Role

Job Description

Entry Level Trader | Connect Search, LLC

The Tone:
This is an entry-level proprietary trading role at Connect Search, LLC, located in Chicago. The firm is a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm specializing in US listed equity options. This position is designed for highly analytical, competitive individuals, providing the opportunity to build a performance-based career by learning and executing firm-backed trading strategies and eventually developing their own. The environment is collaborative, casual, and offers merit-based upside, where performance directly drives compensation.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Location: In-person, Chicago, IL
• Mission: To learn and execute equity options trading strategies, manage market risk, and develop new trading approaches using firm capital.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Learn: Immerse yourself in comprehensive training to understand sophisticated equity options trading strategies directly from experienced traders, building foundational knowledge essential for market participation.
• Execute: Precisely place and manage trades utilizing significant firm capital, applying learned strategies to capitalize on market opportunities and contribute directly to firm performance.
• Monitor: Actively track and manage real-time risk exposure across all trading positions, ensuring adherence to firm-mandated risk parameters and maintaining market stability.
• Analyze: Conduct deep dives into market data to identify patterns in volatility, uncover pricing inefficiencies, and understand the underlying structure of equity options markets to inform trading decisions.
• Develop: Progressively conceptualize, design, and rigorously test proprietary trading strategies, moving towards independent strategy implementation and contributing new approaches to the firm’s trading arsenal.

The Must-Haves
• Background: A recent graduate holding a Bachelor’s Degree in a highly quantitative field such as Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, Finance, Applied Mathematics, or Economics. A strong academic record, ideally with a GPA of 3.8 or higher, is preferred.
• Experience: Prior professional trading experience is not a prerequisite for this role. Emphasis is placed on demonstrating exceptional intellectual horsepower, a proven capacity for rapid learning, and an innate competitive instinct.
• Skills: Possess a robust quantitative aptitude for complex problem-solving. Exhibit the critical ability to process vast amounts of information swiftly and render effective decisions under significant pressure. Demonstrate high personal accountability for outcomes and an entrepreneurial drive to seek and capitalize on opportunities.
• Bonus: A strong competitive mindset, evidenced by participation in collegiate athletics, competitive gaming, poker, or other similar intensely competitive activities, is considered a significant advantage.