Full-Time

Senior Options Quantitative Researcher

Tower Research Capital

Tower Research Capital

1,001-5,000 employees

High-frequency trading firm executing rapid trades

Compensation Overview

$120k - $180k/yr

+ Discretionary Bonus

Company Historically Provides H1B Sponsorship

Chicago, IL, USA + 1 more

More locations: New York, NY, USA

Hybrid

Hybrid work model; offices in New York and Chicago.

Category
Quantitative Finance (1)
Required Skills
Python
Quantitative Research
Risk Management
C/C++
Data Analysis
Requirements
  • 3+ years of experience in a quantitative research role with a focus on options pricing, volatility surfaces, and risk management
  • Experience in researching predictive volatility alphas over various time horizons
  • Understanding of the practical considerations required in implementing and executing trading signals
  • Expertise in detailed implementations of numerical pricing for American options
  • Ability to work with large multi-faceted datasets
  • Passion and drive to take a leading role in a growing options business
  • Relevant programming experience, preferably in Python and/or C++
  • Excellent attention to detail
Responsibilities
  • Developing options pricing and risk models
  • Improving real-time volatility valuation and fitting
  • Researching short to mid frequency volatility alphas
  • Collaborating with other traders and quantitative researchers to optimize existing strategies
  • Mentoring junior traders and/or quantitative researchers
Tower Research Capital

Tower Research Capital

View

Tower Research Capital is a trading and technology firm that uses fast computers and algorithms to buy and sell financial securities in the markets. Its main service is high-speed electronic trading for institutional clients like hedge funds and banks. The product is a set of trading systems: software that processes market data, places orders, and manages risk with minimal delay. They operate by running proprietary trading strategies on their own technology, aiming to profit from small price differences by executing many trades quickly. They differentiate themselves through speed, scale, and ongoing development of trading tech and strategies, serving large financial organizations with reliable, fast execution. The goal is to earn profits from market movements by trading a high volume of orders with very low latency while maintaining competitive edge through research and development.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

$110M

Headquarters

New York City, New York

Founded

1998

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Drew Lee joined as head of data strategy from DE Shaw in February 2025.
  • Tower Ventures led $3M seed for Guard Owl AI security in 2026.
  • Limestone Trading expanded crypto arbitrage with machine learning infrastructure.

What critics are saying

  • Citadel's Alternative Data Observatory outpaces Tower's data sourcing, eroding HFT edge.
  • Balyasny's 2025 alt data team under Jeremy Ridder Brunelli steals geospatial market share.
  • SEC probes into HFT manipulation target Tower's low-latency execution within 18-36 months.

What makes Tower Research Capital unique

  • Tower Research Capital pioneered automated trading since 1998 with proprietary low-latency platforms.
  • Independent trading teams like Latour and Limestone access shared high-performance technology resources.
  • Tower connects to over 150 global venues, enabling mid-frequency trading at 25-30% of business.

Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?

Benefits

5 weeks of paid vacation per year

401(k) with company matching

Free meals and snacks

Reimbursement for health and wellness expenses

Company News

eFinancialCareers
Mar 17th, 2026
Hedge funds and market makers need data strategists as war heats up.

Hedge funds and market makers need data strategists as war heats up. 6 hours ago How can you achieve a trading advantage in the fog of war? How about satellite imagery of damage to oil refineries, data on tanker movements, or movements of troops? Business Insider reported last week that hedge funds are turning to this kind of data amidst war in the Middle East. And there were already signs that data strategists and sourcing experts are on the move. In February 2025, Drew Lee, the VP of financial data at DE Shaw disappeared on gardening leave after 20 years with the fund. Last week, Lee announced that he's joined proprietary trading firm Tower Research as head of data strategy and and sourcing. Lee is not the only senior person moving in the space. Evan Reich, the former head of data strategy and sourcing at Verition recently moved to intelligence firm BWG Global. Tony Berkman, a Two Sigma managing director who specialises in large empirical data sets, has been on gardening leave for the past year and is due to resurface. Most funds already have large data sourcing teams and those that don't have been building them. Balyasny Asset Management for example spent 2025 adding to its data team under Jeremy Ridder Brunelli, the head of alt data and geospatial research who joined from UBS in 2022. For those who want to get in at the bottom, Verition is currently hiring data sourcing associates in New York. The roles reportedly involve sourcing the data, negotiating its price, onboarding, ensuring it's legitimate (governance) and analysing how portfolio managers use it. Alt data specialists work on data that delivers investible narratives in real time. Citadel has one of the largest teams within its data strategies group. Since November, this has been run by Jian Xu, a Citadel data scientise who launched the firm's "Alternative Data Observatory." Xu says this is now used by over 30% of Citadel's investment professionals. Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you'd like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Signal: sarahbutcher.22 Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email [email protected]. Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: comments are moderated intermittently by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You must take sole responsibility for comments you post on this site. We will take reasonable steps to weed out anything that we consider to be offensive or inappropriate. The essential daily roundup of news and analysis read by everyone from senior bankers and traders to new recruits. Boost your career. Find thousands of job opportunities by signing up to eFinancialCareers today.

Business Insider
Feb 9th, 2026
Former SpaceX engineer's AI security startup Guard Owl raises $3M to automate private security

Guard Owl, a security management platform bringing agentic AI to the private security industry, has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Tower Research Capital. The startup was founded by former SpaceX engineer Narek Kajikian alongside Edrees Tabibzada and Sam Abelyan. The company offers real-time GPS tracking to monitor security guards and aims to automate 50% of back-office workflows, including payroll, billing and compliance, by year-end. Current clients include Aldi, Alexander Wang and real estate firm Greystar. Future plans include integrating security cameras and developing an Uber-style feature allowing guards to find local jobs and receive performance reviews. Kajikian envisions Guard Owl becoming "the security system of America", comparing its potential market position to Palantir's role in intelligence and Anduril's in defence.

PR Newswire
Nov 5th, 2025
Procurement Sciences Secures $30M Series B

Procurement Sciences has secured $30 million in Series B funding led by Catalyst Investors, with participation from Battery Ventures and others. The funding will enhance their AI-native platform, Awarded AI, which streamlines government contracting processes. The company has achieved over 10x revenue growth and enabled $3 billion in customer contract wins. The investment will support product expansion, strategic hiring, and market growth.

Latin Business Today
Oct 24th, 2025
Mentium Raises $3.2M for AI Workers

Mentium, an AI-native platform for freight brokerages, raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau. The platform automates manual tasks, integrating systems like TMS and ERP, and focuses on accounts payable automation. Early customers report up to 70% task automation. The funding will enhance product development and expand operations. Mentium partners with Google, AWS, and NVIDIA for scalability.

TechBuzz News
Aug 18th, 2025
SalesDraft Raises $3 Million after Pivotal Leadership Change Sparks Rapid Growth

SalesDraft (Lindon, Ut), an AI-based recruiting automation startup, raised $3 million in just three weeks, rebounding from early setbacks to rapid growth serving direct-to-consumer home services. The round was led by Tower Research Capital. FrazierVC and Marc Jones participated.