Quantitative Researcher / Trader - Systematic Global Macro & Commodity Futures

Locations: London / Paris / New York

The Mandate

We are partnering with a confidential proprietary trading firm to place Quantitative Researchers and Traders across London, Paris, and New York.

The mandate spans systematic global macro and commodity futures - rates, FX, equity index, energy, metals, and agriculturals - at horizons from intraday to several days holding periods. You will own the research and live execution of systematic strategies on proprietary capital. No external AUM. No client mandates. The feedback mechanism is purely P&L.

This is not a discretionary macro seat with a systematic wrapper. Process is codified. Sizing is rule-based. If your edge is a Fed view, this is the wrong seat.

The Hard Questions (What You Will Solve)

Signal Orthogonality in a Crowded Factor Universe: CTAs have strip-mined canonical trend and carry in global futures. How do you construct a signal library that is genuinely orthogonal to the existing factor zoo - and validate that orthogonality out-of-sample rather than in the window you optimised over?

Commodity Structural Complexity: Seasonality, storage costs, physical supply shocks, and non-stationary roll dynamics make naive financial factor models unreliable on commodity underlyings. How do you capture commodity-specific structure without sacrificing the cross-asset generalisability that makes a systematic macro book scalable?

Regime Conditioning Without Overfitting: Global macro strategies are acutely sensitive to macro regimes. How do you build a regime-conditioning framework that improves out-of-sample Sharpe without introducing parameter instability that turns it into an in-sample artefact?

The Structural Edge

Proprietary capital, no AUM ceiling. Position sizing is driven by signal conviction and risk budget, not fund size or redemption pressure. Capacity-constrained strategies get the capital they warrant.

Multi-asset futures infrastructure across all major venues. CME, ICE, Eurex, LME. Full tick history. You are using the plumbing, not building it.

Cross-geography research collaboration. London, Paris, and New York teams operate on shared infrastructure with a collaborative signal review process.

Ideal Profile

The Metric: 4-8 years in systematic futures trading, quantitative macro research and strategy development. Live P&L track record in systematic global macro or commodity futures is the primary filter. Annualised Sharpe above 3.0 on a risk-adjusted, capacity-aware basis is the baseline expectation.

The Tech: Python for signal research, portfolio construction, and backtesting. Futures data infrastructure fluency - continuous contract construction, roll adjustment, point-in-time handling. Walk-forward testing and transaction cost sensitivity analysis as standard. C++ a plus for production-adjacent roles.

Compensation & Preferences

Non-compete: Preference for 18 months availability; structured buyouts considered.

£160,000 - £220,000 Base + P&L-linked Bonus

$215,000-$300,000 Base + P&L-linked Bonus

This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary; a final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to experience, domain expertise, and geographic location.

Apply Now

At Onyx Alpha Partners, we are committed to connecting the most sought after talent in the financial world, to opportunities that expand the universe of unconstrained performance within their chosen discipline. If this opportunity aligns with your career aspirations, we encourage you to apply and explore the potential for growth and unparalleled success.

#s1-Gen

The MandateWe are partnering with a confidential proprietary trading firm to place Quantitative Researchers and Traders across London, Paris, and New York.
The mandate spans systematic global macro and commodity futures - rates, FX, equity index, energy, metals, and agriculturals - at horizons from intraday to several days holding periods. You will own the research and live execution of systematic strategies on proprietary capital. No external AUM. No client mandates. The feedback mechanism is purely P&L.
This is not a discretionary macro seat with a systematic wrapper. Process is codified. Sizing is rule-based. If your edge is a Fed view, this is the wrong seat.
The Hard Questions (What You Will Solve)
Signal Orthogonality in a Crowded Factor Universe: CTAs have strip-mined canonical trend and carry in global futures. How do you construct a signal library that is genuinely orthogonal to the existing factor zoo - and validate that orthogonality out-of-sample rather than in the window you optimised over?Commodity Structural Complexity: Seasonality, storage costs, physical supply shocks, and non-stationary roll dynamics make naive financial factor models unreliable on commodity underlyings. How do you capture commodity-specific structure without sacrificing the cross-asset generalisability that makes a systematic macro book scalable?Regime Conditioning Without Overfitting: Global macro strategies are acutely sensitive to macro regimes. How do you build a regime-conditioning framework that improves out-of-sample Sharpe without introducing parameter instability that turns it into an in-sample artefact?
The Structural Edge
Proprietary capital, no AUM ceiling. Position sizing is driven by signal conviction and risk budget, not fund size or redemption pressure. Capacity-constrained strategies get the capital they warrant.Multi-asset futures infrastructure across all major venues. CME, ICE, Eurex, LME. Full tick history. You are using the plumbing, not building it.Cross-geography research collaboration. London, Paris, and New York teams operate on shared infrastructure with a collaborative signal review process.
Ideal ProfileThe Metric: 4-8 years in systematic futures trading, quantitative macro research and strategy development. Live P&L track record in systematic global macro or commodity futures is the primary filter. Annualised Sharpe above 3.0 on a risk-adjusted, capacity-aware basis is the baseline expectation.
The Tech: Python for signal research, portfolio construction, and backtesting. Futures data infrastructure fluency - continuous contract construction, roll adjustment, point-in-time handling. Walk-forward testing and transaction cost sensitivity analysis as standard. C++ a plus for production-adjacent roles.
Compensation & Preferences
Non-compete: Preference for 18 months availability; structured buyouts considered.
£160,000 - £220,000 Base + P&L-linked Bonus$215,000-$300,000 Base + P&L-linked Bonus
This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary; a final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to experience, domain expertise, and geographic location.
Apply NowAt Onyx Alpha Partners, we are committed to connecting the most sought after talent in the financial world, to opportunities that expand the universe of unconstrained performance within their chosen discipline. If this opportunity aligns with your career aspirations, we encourage you to apply and explore the potential for growth and unparalleled success.

1 Systematic Global Macro & Commodity Futures jobs in England & Wales