What's your job about?
As a leading global market-maker, we provide liquidity to our clients in global financial markets. I’m working as a quantitative researcher in the option market-making business where we trade listed options in public exchanges across the world.
On a daily basis, I work together with the team members from different offices to use mathematical tools to study large data sets from the option markets, build and refine models to price options in a more accurate/efficient way, write code to implement the mathematical models, and develop new trading strategies.
What's your background?
I grew up in China and studied Physics at Peking University. In 2008, I moved to Paris and completed my bachelor and master’s degrees in theoretical physics at Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. After a half-year research internship at M.I.T in 2010, I moved back to Europe and finished my Ph.D. study at Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Munich, Germany. My Ph.D. study was in the field of quantum physics, where lasers are used to cool down atoms/molecules to nano-Kelvin regimes. Interesting quantum phenomena started to appear and these quantum systems are used to demonstrate quantum computation algorithms in laboratories.
At the late stage of my Ph.D., I wanted to pursue a more practical area rather than academia. I started to pursue basic financial knowledge on my own. After my internships at Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan in London, I joined Citadel Securities at the beginning of 2017 as my first full-time job and have stayed with the firm since then.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes. The quantitative research teams in the firm consist of people from different backgrounds all over the world. We have team members from mathematics, statistics, physics, computer science and engineering backgrounds. It is key to stay curious, be motivated to challenges, and be willing to learn new things.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
We face new challenging problems on a daily basis: solving mathematical problems, making codes more efficient, or developing new methods to deal with large data sets. This keeps me motivated to learn new things and apply various methods to solve problems. More importantly, I receive very quick feedback and response on my input in real-time.
What are the limitations of your job?
Sometimes work can be demanding and may require additional working hours to meet deadlines.
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