Macro Research Analyst

About the role

As a Macro Analyst at IMC in Amsterdam, you will build the quantitative tools and analysis behind the team’s macro research. Your work will focus on Python, data, maintaining the scenario record and backtesting research ideas, helping translate macro-event scenarios into inputs for the European equity index volatility curve.

Working closely with traders, senior analysts and the Lead Macro Analyst, you will connect your analysis to the desk’s exposure and evaluate your calls against market outcomes. Alongside building and testing, you will contribute to event coverage during European trading hours and relevant out-of-hours futures sessions.

As you demonstrate an edge through your work, there is scope to develop into position taking and longer-horizon research.

Your Core Responsibilities

• Build and own Python tools and data workflows for macro research, scenario analysis and backtesting;
• Maintain a structured record of event scenarios, their underlying assumptions and subsequent outcomes, making the research available for testing and review;
• Backtest research ideas, signals and models, using statistical analysis to assess their performance and identify areas for improvement;
• Develop and update quantitative analysis for macro-event scenarios, working with traders and senior analysts to translate the results into inputs for the volatility curve;
• Understand the desk’s exposure to the events you cover, including whether it is long or short an event, and use that context when discussing the implications of your analysis;
• Score your own calls against actual outcomes and use the findings to improve the tools, models and scenario analysis you contribute.

Your Skills and Experience

• 2–4 years of experience in quantitative research or a trading-focused analytical role, ideally within a macro hedge fund pod or at a competing trading firm;
• Hands-on Python skills, with experience preparing and analyzing data and applying statistics to research questions;
• Experience building analytical tools and backtesting research ideas; having built signals or models used in live trading is an advantage;
• Good understanding of macroeconomic drivers and equity index markets, including familiarity with options and volatility;
• A disciplined approach to recording assumptions and evaluating results, with the ability to connect your analysis to trading exposure and refine your views through evidence and feedback.