Head of Market Risk

About PolymarketPolymarket is the world's largest prediction market platform. We enable individuals to express views on real-world events by trading on outcomes across politics, economics, sports, culture, and current affairs. Built as a peer-to-peer marketplace with no centralized "house," Polymarket aggregates diverse opinions into transparent, market-based probabilities that reflect collective expectations about the future.We're growing fast — both in terms of volume ($21B traded in 2025) and adoption as an alternative news source. Our ambition is to become a ubiquitous beacon of truth in global media and we need your help adding fuel to the fire.About the RolePolymarket is looking for a Head of Market Risk to own the firm's market risk framework across both our Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO). This is a senior, hands-on leadership role responsible for identifying, measuring, monitoring, and controlling the market risks arising from cleared member portfolios and the risks the clearinghouse mutualizes as a central counterparty.The ideal candidate has direct trading and risk management experience and understands how markets behave under stress — how liquidity evaporates, how volatility regimes shift, and how macro events move prices. That intuition must be paired with the rigor to set, calibrate, and defend the margin and risk parameters that keep the FCM and clearinghouse safe, and the communication skills to translate complex exposures into clear, decision-ready terms for the Risk Committee, Board, regulators, and clearing members.What You'll DoOwn the end-to-end market risk framework for the FCM and DCO, including risk appetite, limit structures, escalation triggers, and the policies that govern themServe as the primary market-risk voice to the Risk Committee and Board, presenting exposures, limit utilization, stress results, and emerging risks in clear, actionable termsEnsure the framework meets CFTC requirements and DCO Core Principles and stands up to regulatory and internal-audit scrutinyPartner with the CRO/CEO on risk appetite calibration and ensure alignment between the FCM's proprietary and client-facing risk and the DCO's mutualized riskSet, monitor, and tune initial and variation margin, add-ons, and concentration and liquidity charges across cleared products, calibrating parameters to prevailing and anticipated market conditionsWork closely with quants and developers to build an end-to-end risk platform implementing the DCO's risk methodologyReact decisively to changing market dynamics — widening spreads, volatility spikes, gap risk around scheduled and unscheduled events — by adjusting parameters ahead of the riskOversee daily monitoring of house and member exposures, margin coverage, and limit breaches, and lead the response to intraday movesDesign and run stress tests, reverse stress tests, and scenario analysis — including extreme-but-plausible macro shocks — and size the guaranty/default fund and other financial resources accordinglyContribute market-risk expertise to default management, including auction and liquidation of a defaulting member's portfolio, and participate in fire-drills and default simulationsMonitor macro and market events — central-bank decisions, economic releases, geopolitical shocks, expiries — and assess their impact on cleared portfolios and the FCMBuild and lead the market risk team, setting standards for analytics, monitoring, and reportingWork closely with Clearing Operations, Membership, Compliance, Finance/Treasury, and Technology to embed risk controls into daily operations and system designEngage directly with clearing members and large clients on their risk profile, margin requirements, and exposure concentrationsWhat We're Looking ForPrior trading experience — direct experience trading and managing risk on a desk (derivatives, futures, options, fixed income, commodities, or equities), with an intuitive grasp of market microstructure, liquidity, and volatility dynamicsExpertise in managing risk at a DCO, FCM, or trading deskHands-on experience calibrating market-risk methodologies: VaR, Expected Shortfall, stress testing, scenario analysis, SPAN, or portfolio marginingWorking knowledge of the regulatory landscape for FCMs and DCOs — CFTC regulations, DCO Core Principles, customer fund segregation, and related requirementsExceptional communication skills — proven ability to present exposures, model results, and risk trade-offs clearly and credibly to a Risk Committee, Board, and regulators10+ years in market or clearing risk, trading, or a closely related discipline, including time in a leadership or senior individual-contributor capacityBachelor's degree in a quantitative field (finance, economics, mathematics, engineering, or similar)(Plus) Experience at a clearinghouse (CCP), FCM, IB, or similar environment(Plus) Advanced degree (MBA, MFE, or graduate degree in a quantitative discipline) and/or FRM/CFA/PRM(Plus) Direct participation in a default-management event or industry default simulationBenefitsCompetitive salary & equityUnlimited PTOFull Health, Vision, & Dental coverage401k matchHardware setup: new MacBook Pro, big display, & accessoriesLocationNew YorkEmployment TypeFull timeLocation TypeOn-siteDepartmentDerivatives Risk Management