Multi-strategy platform · Founded 1990 · Miami
Two connected businesses - the hedge fund and the market-making arm - that between them cover almost every quantitative discipline. Compensation is top of market and the performance bar is correspondingly high. The most common destination for senior researchers and portfolio managers changing platform.
How much does Citadel / Citadel Securities pay?
Modelled mid-level total compensation at Citadel / Citadel Securities runs to about $2.0m for a systematic portfolio manager, about 30% above the modelled market reference for the same role and seniority. These are modelled bands, not verified pay.
What is it like to work at Citadel / Citadel Securities?
Two connected businesses - the hedge fund and the market-making arm - that between them cover almost every quantitative discipline. Compensation is top of market and the performance bar is correspondingly high. The most common destination for senior researchers and portfolio managers changing platform.
KnowQuant research deskUpdated 1 September 20267 offices trackedMethod 2026.1
Citadel / Citadel Securities does not publish vacancies on a source we currently read, so we show no live count rather than guess one. Everything below is editorial market context, clearly labelled as such.
Indicative mid-level total compensation, US dollars.
| Role | Total comp |
|---|---|
| Quant Researcher | $625k |
| Quant Developer | $475k |
| Quant Trader | $600k |
| Systematic Portfolio Manager | $2.0m |
Background, motivation and compensation expectations.
Role-specific: statistics and modelling for research, systems and C++ for engineering.
Often a data exercise or take-home research problem.
Sequential interviews with researchers, engineers and business stakeholders.
Rehearse the reasoning these stages test in the practice bank: probability, expected value, market making and coding problems with worked solutions.
Sourced answers to the questions candidates ask about pay, the loop and where the firm hires.
Indicative mid-level total compensation at Citadel / Citadel Securities: Quant Researcher $625k, Quant Developer $475k, Quant Trader $600k, Systematic Portfolio Manager $2.0m. That sits roughly 30% above the modelled market reference estimate for the same role and seniority. Figures are annual base plus expected bonus, in US dollars.
4 stages: Recruiter screen (background, motivation and compensation expectations); Technical screen (role-specific: statistics and modelling for research, systems and c++ for engineering); Case / project (often a data exercise or take-home research problem); Super day (sequential interviews with researchers, engineers and business stakeholders).
Citadel / Citadel Securities is headquartered in Miami and hires into New York, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Paris, Dubai / Abu Dhabi.
Quant Researcher, Quant Developer, Quant Trader, Systematic Portfolio Manager. The firm runs multi-strategy, market making, equities, commodities, fixed income and hires backgrounds such as phd research, top-tier engineering, lateral hires from peer platforms.
Two connected businesses - the hedge fund and the market-making arm - that between them cover almost every quantitative discipline. Compensation is top of market and the performance bar is correspondingly high. The most common destination for senior researchers and portfolio managers changing platform.
Vacancy counts are rebuilt from the firm's own career pages, classified and de-duplicated by the KnowQuant research desk. Pay figures are modelled market bands for the role and seniority, adjusted for the firm's observed premium, and labelled as modelled. Method 2026.1, last reviewed September 2026.
KnowQuant Quant Compensation Benchmark, Q3 2026 edition, method 2026.1. https://www.know-quant.com/firms/citadel
Free to quote and republish with attribution and a link to the source page, under our terms. Method 2026.1, last reviewed 1 September 2026. The methodology sets out how each band is built and what it excludes.
Candidates
Two minutes, no account, nothing public. When a role matches your profile, the desk reaches out directly and only with your permission.
Speak to the desk
Step 1 of 1Ask the research desk where this firm sits on pay, hiring pace and the candidate pool before you brief the market.
Request a slot in the next two weeks. The desk comes back to you to confirm it. No obligation.
Weekly market movements
The dated market call: which desks opened seats, where pay shifted, and which markets tightened. Written by the research desk, sent Monday, and nothing else.
Research desk
Ask what a firm really pays, how a desk hires, or where your profile sits. One reply from the research desk, in confidence, no obligation.
Side by side on modelled pay, interview stages, offices and the roles each firm hires for.
Figures are expressed as annual total compensation (base salary plus expected performance bonus) in the reference market's local currency, converted from a US dollar base. They describe typical market ranges rather than any individual offer, and exclude sign-on payments, deferred equity and carried interest. Portfolio-manager figures reflect formulaic profit-share arrangements and are therefore far more dispersed than any other role.
KnowQuantIndex 2026.1 · Updated September 2026
Modelled bands describe the market, not an individual offer. Where an employer states pay, the stated figure is used and labelled as such.
Citadel / Citadel Securities profile · KnowQuant 2026.1