Head to head
Jump Trading vs Citadel / Citadel Securities
Jump Trading or Citadel / Citadel Securities?
Jump Trading is a proprietary trading headquartered in Chicago; Citadel / Citadel Securities is a multi-strategy platform headquartered in Miami. On indicative total compensation Citadel / Citadel Securities sits roughly 10 percentage points higher against the market median. The larger difference for most candidates is the work itself: high-frequency trading and latency arbitrage at Jump Trading, versus multi-strategy and market making at Citadel / Citadel Securities.
| Jump Trading | Citadel / Citadel Securities | |
|---|---|---|
| Business model | Proprietary trading | Multi-strategy platform |
| Headquarters | Chicago | Miami |
| Founded | 1999 | 1990 |
| Comp vs market median | +20% | +30% |
| Offices | Chicago, New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Sydney, Shanghai | New York, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Paris, Dubai / Abu Dhabi |
| Strategies | High-frequency trading, Latency arbitrage, Crypto, Systematic trading | Multi-strategy, Market making, Equities, Commodities, Fixed income |
| Hires for | HFT / Low-Latency Engineer, Quant Researcher, Quant Trader | Quant Researcher, Quant Developer, Quant Trader, Systematic Portfolio Manager |
| Interview stages | 3 | 4 |
| Typical backgrounds | Embedded and hardware engineering, Physics PhDs, Network engineering | PhD research, Top-tier engineering, Lateral hires from peer platforms |
Compensation by role
Indicative mid-level total compensation, US dollars, New York reference market.
| Role | Jump Trading | Citadel / Citadel Securities |
|---|---|---|
| Quant Researcher | $500k | $625k |
| Quant Trader | $550k | $600k |
| Quant Developer | - | $475k |
| HFT / Low-Latency Engineer | $520k | - |
| Systematic Portfolio Manager | - | $2.0m |
A dash means we hold no indicative figure for that role at that firm. It is recorded as unknown rather than estimated.
Jump Trading
Latency-focused firm with a heavy investment in hardware, networking and FPGA. Notably private about its operations, and a leading destination for low-latency specialists.
Interview process
- 1. ScreenTechnical recruiter and background.
- 2. Technical roundsC++ depth, computer architecture and low-level performance reasoning.
- 3. On-siteSystems design, hardware discussion and team fit.
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.
Interview process
- 1. Recruiter screenBackground, motivation and compensation expectations.
- 2. Technical screenRole-specific: statistics and modelling for research, systems and C++ for engineering.
- 3. Case / projectOften a data exercise or take-home research problem.
- 4. Super daySequential interviews with researchers, engineers and business stakeholders.
Markets where both compete for talent
Other comparisons
Methodology
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.
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