[Hiring] Head of Quant Trading @Albert Bow

Role Description

I’m hiring a Head of Quant and Trading to build and run a first systematic trading book, from back-test to live capital, within 12 months.

• You own the alpha.
• You design, test and run the strategies, set risk limits with executive management, and hire the quant and trading team that follows.
• Entity, capital, ops, settlement and controls are handled for you, so you can focus on P&L.
• The desk will run as its own proprietary business line. It starts small and scales on results.

The book:

• Short term: crypto. Spot and perps across CEX and DeFi venues. This is where the book starts and earns its first returns.
• Long term: African markets. Expand into African FX, USDT corridors and local markets, then build new trading products on the continent.

Style:

• Stat arb, cross-venue arbitrage, market making and funding-rate trades.
• Not low-latency HFT. Local market plumbing does not reward it.

Capital:

• A pilot at 10% of target size, then step-ups as agreed KPIs are met.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy and research:
  • Bring, build and back-test a set of crypto strategies with clear, written logic and capacity limits.
  • Run each strategy through shadow trading before it gets live capital.
  • Keep a research pipeline so the book does not rely on one trade.
  • From year 2, lead research into African markets and help design new trading products and strategies.
• Trading and risk:
  • Run the live book day to day across venues and counterparties.
  • Set and stick to risk limits: max drawdown, gross and net exposure, venue and counterparty caps, stop rules.
  • Report daily P&L, risk and limit use to executive management.
  • Escalate any breach the same day.
• Tech and execution:
  • Own the strategy code, execution logic and back-testing stack.
  • Work with the in-house tech team to wire strategies into the group trade book, so every trade is tagged and reconciled.
• Team:
  • Hire and lead the next quants and traders as capital scales.
  • Document strategies and controls so the desk can scale.

KPIs

• Agreed in writing before start:
• Net P&L against the agreed target for each phase.
• Sharpe ratio and max drawdown inside agreed limits.
• Zero unreported limit breaches.
• Live results within an agreed band of back-test results.

Requirements

• Must have:
• 5+ years running live systematic strategies with your own P&L at a prop firm, hedge fund or market maker.
• A verifiable track record: monthly returns, Sharpe, max drawdown and capacity, backed by references.
• Strong Python and data skills. You can build and debug your own back-tests and execution code.
• Deep risk discipline. You have sized, limited and cut positions under stress.
• Nice to have:
• Digital asset market making or arbitrage across CEX and DeFi venues.
• EM FX experience, ideally African pairs or USDT corridors.
• Experience building a desk from zero, including the first hires.
• A degree in maths, physics, computer science, engineering or finance.

Hiring and Verification Process

• The track record is verified before any offer. Each stage must pass before the next starts.
• Intro call: Strategy, style and fit. 45 minutes.
• Track record pack: Monthly returns, risk stats and broker or exchange statements, under NDA.
• Reference checks with past employers.
• Independent back-test: Your core strategy is run on in-house data against your stated results.
• Final round with executive management: Risk limits, KPIs and pay agreed in writing.
• Shadow trading after start, then the pilot at 10% of target capital.

Compensation and Terms

• Pay is weighted to results. A fair base covers living costs. The upside comes from net P&L.
• Base salary: Fixed, paid monthly. Range to be agreed.
• Performance share: A % of net trading P&L after costs, paid on a high-water mark.
• Deferral: Part of each payout deferred 12 months, subject to clawback for losses.
• Scale-up: Capital and share step up as KPIs are met.
• Notice: 6 months, with garden leave at the employer’s option.