Execution

Execution — Execution Developer

Applications open

Build your desk's execution algorithms and work directly with four Execution Analysts and the Head of Execution. Technology supplies the exchange framework, shared blotter and standard schedulers. You will develop and evaluate the team's own scheduling and order-placement strategies on that foundation.

What you'll do

Arm: Execution · Places: 1 per team · Team size: 6

About QTE

Queen's Tower Exchange is a financial-markets simulation for Imperial College London students. Teams learn through practical decisions on a shared exchange using live market data and simulated capital.

Responsibilities

Use the provided time-weighted and percentage-of-volume schedulers as baselines.
Build strategies for splitting, timing and pricing child orders.
Test quantity reservations across simultaneous orders, partial fills and participation cancellations.
Handle parent cancellation or expiry and recovery after session-close child cancellations.
Record strategy versions and configurations, and turn analysts' observations into tested improvements.

What success looks like

Algorithms that respect parent instructions, avoid over-ordering and improve execution outcomes. Your desk holds no proprietary book; fills belong to the originating team or house. Its score combines delivery-adjusted cost savings and delivery.

Prerequisite knowledge

Confidence programming and debugging in Python or another general-purpose language.
Basic knowledge of data structures, version control and testing.
Experience completing a software project and taking responsibility for its behaviour.
Ability to discuss requirements clearly with teammates using your software.

Industry experience and prior knowledge of trading algorithms are not required.

Useful, but not required

APIs, event-driven programming, simulation, optimisation or data analysis.

What you'll be taught

Much of your learning will take place during a dedicated training week, held after teams are selected and before trading begins. Your Head of Arm will deliver lectures exclusively for the teams in your arm, giving you a strong grounding in the concepts and tools you will use in your role.

How execution algorithms balance price, urgency, liquidity and completion.
QTE's runtime, parent-and-child order model and participation controls.
How to test blocked remainders, cancelled orders and fresh submissions correctly.
How execution costs and delivery are measured against the observed-liquidity benchmark.
How to compare an algorithm with a baseline using reproducible evidence.

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