Platinum & Partners is retained by a top-tier global hedge fund to identify a Quantitative Specialist for their Execution Services team in New York. This is a rare and broad mandate sitting at the intersection of futures market structure expertise, transaction cost analysis and direct PM consulting — a role that combines deep quantitative rigour with significant internal influence.
The Execution Services team is responsible for trade execution across a wide range of products and geographies, focused on minimising trading costs and execution risk. The successful candidate will be the firm's futures market structure expert — shaping electronic trading capabilities, building TCA infrastructure and advising Portfolio Managers on execution quality across futures, equities and FX.
THE ROLE
- Develop the firm's central futures electronic trading capabilities — partnering with trading technology, the trading desk, the volatility business and Portfolio Managers
- Create a strategic roadmap for the futures central trading product, determining prioritisation with the business and implementation timelines with technology
- Design and maintain the TCA system as it applies to futures — and contribute to cross-asset TCA enhancements across equities, FX and options
- Act as the firm's internal expert on futures market structure: execution mechanics, contract types, booking, clearing, give-ups, margin requirements and position limits
- Consult directly with Portfolio Managers on futures, equities and FX trading — including deep-dive reviews of PM trading performance and slippage
- Help Portfolio Managers identify the best match between the firm's execution infrastructure and their trading style
- Design and implement a process that drills into trading costs across PM groups — identifying and recommending improvements to execution quality
- Develop futures trading data metrics, management reporting and visual analysis tools
- Conduct research, identify patterns and evaluate trends in execution and market structure
WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR
- 5+ years of experience in futures systematic execution, trading or futures quantitative research
- Deep understanding of futures market structure and execution mechanics — outrights, calendar spreads, TAS, BTIC and related contract types; booking, clearing, give-ups, margin and position limits
- Significant experience in TCA and its integration into optimal trading and portfolio construction — cross-asset experience across futures, equities, FX and/or options preferred
- Experience fitting transaction cost and market impact models, including futures-specific nuances
- Familiarity with futures brokers, execution algos and the technical stacks required for different styles of trading
- 5+ years of KDB and Python programming in a quantitative finance setting
- Proficiency in Python data analysis: Pandas, matplotlib and relevant statistical and data science libraries
- Comfortable in Linux environments and with modern development tools including coding agents
- Scientific degree in Mathematics, Computer Science or a related quantitative field
- Exceptional communication skills — the ability to distil complex execution nuances into clear, actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders is critical to this role
WHY THIS ROLE
- A top-tier global hedge fund with the scale, data and trading infrastructure to make this role genuinely impactful
- Rare combination of quantitative depth and internal influence — you are not just building models, you are shaping how the firm's Portfolio Managers trade
- Futures market structure expert for the entire firm — a position with breadth, visibility and direct access to senior stakeholders
- Cross-asset mandate spanning futures, equities and FX — intellectually varied and commercially significant
- New York City — working at the centre of one of the world's leading systematic investment platforms
ABOUT PLATINUM & PARTNERS
Platinum & Partners is the specialist quant and systematic executive search firm.