About Akuna:
Akuna Capital is an innovative trading firm with a strong focus on collaboration, cutting-edge technology, data driven solutions and automation. We specialise in providing liquidity as an options market maker – meaning we are committed to providing competitive quotes that we are willing to both buy and sell. To do this successfully we design and implement our own low latency technologies, trading strategies and mathematical models. At Akuna we have a flat structure, where the best idea wins.
Our Founding Partners, including Andrew Killion, first conceptualized Akuna in their hometown of Sydney. They opened the firm’s first office in 2011 in the heart of the derivatives industry and the options capital of the world – Chicago. Today, Akuna is proud to operate from additional offices in Sydney, Shanghai, Singapore and London.
What you’ll do as a Quantitative Researcher at Akuna:
Akuna’s Quantitative Trading and Research team is looking to add Quant Researchers to a team of mathematicians, statisticians and technologists. This team creates trading strategies scientifically by combining its quantitative expertise with a sophisticated understanding of derivatives and financial markets. We are looking for talented researchers who can apply and develop machine learning algorithms to contribute to Akuna’s strategy portfolio. In this role, you will:
- Develop trading strategies using statistical and machine learning algorithms
- Help identify, design, backtest and optimize low latency strategies using big data
- Build metrics to evaluate strategy execution and perform post trade analysis
- Design and implement optimization algorithms for portfolio construction
- Develop quantitative models describing market behavior
- Advance existing initiatives and explore opportunities for new research topics
Requirements:
- Strong professional work experience in statistics, machine learning, option trading or related area
- Graduated before August 2025 with a BS/MS/PhD degree in a technical field – Engineering, Computer Science, Maths, Physics, or similar
- Proven research background in academic or professional environment
- Experience building mathematical models for complex real-world problems
- Expertise in statistics
- Programming skills in Python
Qualities that make great candidates:
- Collaboration, teamwork, and excellent communication skills
- Strong drive to deliver meaningful results
- Financial experience or knowledge of trading is a plus
Skills Required
- Strong professional work experience in statistics, machine learning, option trading or related area
- Graduated before August 2025 with a BS/MS/PhD degree in a technical field
- Proven research background in academic or professional environment
- Experience building mathematical models for complex real-world problems
- Expertise in statistics
- Programming skills in Python
What We Do
Akuna Capital is an innovative trading firm with a strong focus on cutting-edge technology, data driven decisions and automation. Our core competency is providing liquidity as an options market-maker – meaning we provide competitive quotes that we are willing to both buy and sell. To do this successfully we design and implement our own low latency technologies, trading strategies and mathematical models. Our Founding Partners first conceptualized Akuna in their hometown of Sydney. They opened the firm’s first office in 2011 in the heart of the derivatives industry and the options capital of the world – Chicago. Today, Akuna is proud to operate from additional offices in Sydney, Shanghai, and London. We are the leading options market-maker to successfully enter the industry in recent years with sustainable growth. By providing more liquidity to the markets through rapid innovation, we have the advantage of youth in remaining nimble and agile in an ever-changing competitive landscape. Akuna has no clients or external investors, we trade only with the company’s capital. We have dozens of employee-shareholders and this number continues to grow. We are really proud of what we have accomplished since inception, but even more excited for all that lies ahead of us. We are still building, accessing new markets, trading new products, and creating new strategies, giving you the opportunity to be involved in shaping the future of Akuna. Indeed, the great majority of Akuna’s growth profile is ahead of us. Visit Us: A 360 Virtual Reality Experience: https://vr.akunacapital.com
