Quantitative Risk Analyst — Derivatives & Clearing

Polymarket is hiring a Quantitative Risk Analyst to design and implement enterprise-scale risk models at the heart of our clearing operation. You'll own models for market risk, volatility and correlation of derivatives, stress testing, and automated liquidation — the systems that keep the platform solvent and users protected in fast-moving markets. This is a hands-on role: you'll be building models in production code, not just specifying them. We expect you to work fluently with AI tools for development and research — and to be the skeptic in the room, pressure-testing AI-generated models and code against well-established risk frameworks before anything ships.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and maintain enterprise-scale risk models covering market risk, margin, and counterparty exposure for a clearing organization; Build volatility and correlation models for derivatives, including calibration, backtesting, and ongoing model validation; Develop and run stress-testing frameworks: historical scenarios, hypothetical shocks, and reverse stress tests; Design and tune auto-liquidation logic — trigger thresholds, liquidation waterfalls, and safeguards against cascading liquidations; Use AI tools extensively to accelerate model development, coding, and research — and rigorously validate AI outputs against established risk models before deployment; Monitor model performance in production, investigate breaks, and iterate quickly; Partner with engineering, trading, and product teams to embed risk controls into platform architecture; Document model assumptions, limitations, and validation results to an audit-ready standard

Requirements

5–7 years of quantitative risk experience at a clearinghouse, exchange, prime broker, trading firm, or similar; Proven expertise designing and implementing risk models at enterprise scale — production systems, not just research prototypes; Deep experience modeling volatility, correlation, option skews, and option pricing at scale for trad-fi derivatives, perpetuals, and fully collateralized event contracts; Hands-on experience with market risk modeling, stress testing, and auto-liquidation mechanics in a clearing context; Strong fluency with AI-assisted development and coding, paired with the judgment to pressure-test AI outputs against well-established risk models and catch what looks plausible but is wrong; Expert-level Python (NumPy, pandas, SciPy; solid software engineering practices); Advanced degree in a quantitative field (math, statistics, physics, financial engineering, CS) or equivalent experience; Strong mathematical foundation in stochastic calculus and linear algebra

Nice to have

C# and/or C++ for performance-critical or production systems; Familiarity with crypto market structure, perpetuals, or prediction markets; Experience with CCP risk frameworks (CPMI-IOSCO PFMI, default management, margin methodology); Experience building real-time risk systems

Benefits

Competitive salary & equity; Unlimited PTO; Full Health, Vision, & Dental coverage; 401k match; Hardware setup: new MacBook Pro, big display, & accessories