Machine Learning Research Lead

Chicago, US New York, US Until 8/22/2026 H-1B sponsor history First posted April 16, 2025 Last posted April 16, 2025
Job description

IMC Trading is seeking a Machine Learning Research Lead with proven experience applying state-of-the-art machine learning to solve challenging trading problems.  This role will drive the development of a centralized ML environment to be used across all areas of trading at IMC.  The ideal candidate will have experience working with other researchers, traders, and engineers to build and continuously improve a research platform to drive innovation via ML. We firmly believe that success for research-driven efforts lies in bringing together skills in ML, statistics and trading intuition as well as a problem-solving mindset and pragmatism.  This is an opportunity to dive deep into feature engineering and focus on applying a wide range of ML models as well as to perform research on building custom models.

Your Core Responsibilities:

  • Lead the design, development, and deployment of machine learning models to enhance trading performance across various asset classes
  • Research, test and prototype new algorithmic ideas; deploy advanced ML techniques applicable to market prediction, signal generation, and portfolio optimization
  • Collaborate with quantitative traders, researchers and developers to translate market insights into data-driven features and models
  • Oversee data acquisition, preprocessing, and feature engineering for structured and unstructured data sources
  • Mentor junior researchers and contribute to a culture of research excellence and experimentation
  • Drive strategic decisions on model architecture, experimentation pipelines, and infrastructure for scalable research

Your Skills and Experience:

  • PhD or Master’s in Engineering, Math, Statistics, Computer Science, or related quantitative field
  • 4+ years of experience building applied ML models; previous experience in trading environment preferred
  • Proven expertise in developing and deploying predictive models in low-latency environments
  • Strong programming skills in Python; proficiency in ML libraries such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, and/or high-performance libraries like Jax
  • Strong understanding of theoretical foundations of state-of-the-art ML models
  • Prior people management experience preferred
  • Ability and desire to work in a collaborative team environment
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills

 

#LI-DNP

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 Us

IMC is a global trading firm powered by a cutting-edge research environment and a world-class technology backbone. Since 1989, we’ve been a stabilizing force in financial markets, providing essential liquidity upon which market participants depend. Across our offices in the US, Europe, Asia Pacific, and India, our talented quant researchers, engineers, traders, and business operations professionals are united by our uniquely collaborative, high-performance culture, and our commitment to giving back. From entering dynamic new markets to embracing disruptive technologies, and from developing an innovative research environment to diversifying our trading strategies, we dare to continuously innovate and collaborate to succeed.

 

Compensation (from employer):
Salary Range — 250,000 – 300,000 USD — (<p>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.&nbsp;Please visit <a href="https://www.imc.com/us/careers/benefits">Benefits - US | IMC Trading</a> for more comprehensive information.</p>)

About this role

Summary

Lead ML development for trading, research, data analysis, and team mentorship.

Job title

Machine Learning Research Lead

Experience level

4+ years

Industry

financial markets

Location requirements

Chicago or New York, remote work not specified

Salary

$250,000—$300,000 USD

Visa sponsorship

H-1B sponsor history

Management role

Yes

Skills & keywords

Required skills

pythonml librariesstatisticsresearchmodel deployment

Preferred skills

researchteam collaboration

Specializations

machine learningtradingfeature engineeringmodel deployment
Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

Chicago, IL, USA

Work arrangement unknown City

New York, NY, USA

Work arrangement unknown City