Trading Operations Lead

Gauntlet leads the field in quantitative research and optimization of DeFi economics. We manage market risk, optimize growth, and ensure economic safety for protocols facilitating most spot trading, borrowing, and lending activity across all of DeFi, protecting and optimizing the largest protocols and networks in the industry. We build institutional-grade vaults for decentralized finance, delivering risk-adjusted onchain yields for capital at scale. Designed by the most vigilant, quantitative minds in crypto and informed by years of research. As of April 2025, Gauntlet manages risk and incentives covering over $42 billion in customer TVL.

Gauntlet continually publishes cutting-edge research that informs our risk models, alerts, and analysis, and is among the most cited institution — including academic institutions — in terms of peer-reviewed papers addressing DeFi as a subject. We’re a Series B company with around 75 employees, operating remote-first with a home base in New York City.

Our mission is to drive adoption and understanding in the financial systems of the future. The unique challenges of decentralized systems call for innovative approaches in mechanism design, smart contract development, and financial product utilization. Gauntlet leads in advancing this knowledge, ensuring safe progression through the evolving landscape of financial innovation.

The Role

As a Trading Operations Lead at Gauntlet, you will take ownership of critical operational infrastructure and strategy oversight across both centralized and decentralized trading markets. You’ll lead the monitoring and optimization of various decentralized trading operations while collaborating closely with quant researchers, engineers, and DeFi strategists to ensure effective risk management across our portfolios.

Responsibilities

• Oversee live algorithmic strategies, monitor performance versus expected risk/return, and respond to real-time market disruptions with transparent decision-making.
• Conduct in-depth post-trade and quantitative performance analysis to surface trends, inefficiencies, and actionable insights.
• Partner with quantitative researchers to iterate on strategy parameters and align execution with evolving market dynamics.
• Design, implement, and scale operational workflows, controls, and automation frameworks to improve execution quality and efficiency.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, finance, and compliance teams to ensure auditability, operational integrity, and regulatory alignment.
• Drive research into emerging protocols, derivatives, and venues to expand trading capabilities and identify high-impact opportunities.
• Maintain and enhance real-time monitoring tools, dashboards, and alert systems leveraging APIs and on-chain data.

Qualifications

• 3–7+ years in trading operations, risk, or portfolio management roles within hedge funds, crypto-native firms, or institutional trading environments.
• Proven leadership and team management experience in a fast-paced, high-stakes setting.
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Mathematics, or related field.
• Deep expertise in financial markets with strong knowledge of derivatives (futures, options, swaps), crypto markets, and DeFi protocols.
• Proficiency with trading infrastructure, including OMS/EMS platforms, blockchain explorers, and reconciliation tools.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to distill complex concepts into clear insights.
• Strong operational acumen with a track record of building scalable systems and processes in high-growth or startup environments.
• Comfort working in a decentralized, remote-first environment with a proactive and adaptable mindset.

Benefits and Perks

• Remote first.
• Competitive packages with the added opportunity for incentive-based compensation
• Regular in-person company retreats and cross-country "office visit" perk
• Laptop, monitor, keyboard and mouse setup provided
• $1,500 WFH stipend upon joining
• $100 per month reimbursement for fitness-related expenses
• Monthly reimbursement for home internet, phone, and cellular data
• Unlimited vacation policy
• 100% paid parental leave of 12 weeks

Our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for a company of our size and industry, and are one part of many compensation, benefits and other reward opportunities we provide. Individual pay rate decisions are based on a number of factors, including qualifications for the role, experience level, skill set, and balancing internal equity relative to peers at the company.  

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