Careers at EliteAlgo

EliteAlgo is the trading brand of Excellent Securities Limited, founded in New Delhi in 2006. We began as a sub-brokerage, moved to proprietary algorithmic trading in 2018, and started running systematic strategies in client accounts in 2021. Today the desk runs fully rule-based strategies on NIFTY 50, Bank Nifty and SENSEX options — with a heavy concentration in expiry-day option selling. You can read more about how we work on our About Us page and our algorithmic trading approach.

We are a small team. That is the single most important thing to understand before applying. There is no rotation programme, no layer of managers, and nobody to hand you a spec. If you join, you will own something live within your first quarter, and the P&L will tell you within days whether you got it right.

What the desk actually does

Our work is narrow on purpose. Every strategy we run is rule-based with pre-defined entries, exits and risk limits; no position is opened on a discretionary view. The day-to-day work splits into three streams: researching and backtesting new strategy variants against tick and minute data, engineering the execution stack that places and manages those orders through broker APIs, and monitoring live positions during market hours so that a connectivity failure or a bad fill never becomes a bad day.

We publish our historical returns — FY 2024–25: 32%, FY 2023–24: 34%, FY 2022–23: 30%, FY 2021–22: 26%. We also publish what goes wrong with algo trading, because anyone joining a trading desk should have read the losing side first. Past performance does not indicate future results.

Roles we hire for

Quantitative Research

You will build and test strategy hypotheses on Indian index options — mostly short straddles, strangles and defined-risk spreads around expiry. Expect to spend most of your time on data hygiene, realistic slippage and cost modelling, and killing your own ideas before they reach live capital. Python, pandas and a genuine suspicion of your own backtests are the entry requirements. A statistics, mathematics, physics or engineering background helps; a finance degree is not required.

Execution Engineering

You will own the software that turns a signal into a filled order: broker API integrations, order and position state management, reconnection and failover logic, logging, and the alerting that wakes somebody up when a leg does not fill. Python is the working language; experience with WebSocket feeds, asyncio, and anything you have had to keep running unattended for months counts for a lot. Related reading on the problem space: our notes on broker API integration.

Dealing & Trade Operations

You will sit with the live book from pre-open to close — verifying that strategies armed correctly, watching margin and exposure, handling exchange or broker incidents, and reconciling at end of day. This role suits someone who has worked a broker terminal, knows NSE and BSE F&O order types cold, and stays calm when a system does something unexpected at 3:15 pm.

What a day looks like

Pre-open from around 8:45 am: systems check, data feed verification, strategies armed and risk limits confirmed. Market hours 9:15 am to 3:30 pm: the live book is monitored continuously, and research work is deliberately parked — nobody ships code to a production trading system while it holds a position. After the close: reconciliation, a short review of what the strategies did versus what they were supposed to do, and then the research and engineering work that makes up the rest of the afternoon. Expiry days are the busiest of the week, and the desk plans around them.

Where you would work

203, Gupta Arcade, Shrestha Vihar Market, New Delhi 110092. All roles are in-office during market hours — live capital and a distributed morning shift do not mix. Research and engineering time outside market hours is flexible.

How to apply

Email info@elitealgo.in with Careers and the role name in the subject line. Attach a CV and, more usefully, one page on something you have actually built or tested: a strategy you backtested and why you abandoned it, a system you kept running in production, or a trading process you improved. We read those before we read the CV.

Applications stay open year-round even when nothing is advertised, because on a desk this size the role is often shaped around the person. If there is no seat, we will say so rather than leave you waiting. General enquiries go through our contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Is EliteAlgo hiring right now?

We hire in small numbers and keep applications open year-round. Because the desk is small, a role is often created around a strong applicant rather than advertised first. Write in and we will tell you honestly whether there is a seat.

Do I need trading experience?

Not for the engineering roles. For quant research we expect you to have tested an idea on real historical data and to be able to explain why it failed. For dealing, familiarity with a broker terminal and F&O order types matters more than a finance degree.

Is EliteAlgo a SEBI-registered employer?

EliteAlgo is the brand of Excellent Securities Limited, registered in India and operating since 2006. It is a proprietary trading desk and builds analytical software. It is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst, and no role here involves giving investment advice to the public.

What does the hiring process look like?

A short call, then a practical task drawn from work we actually do — a data-cleaning or backtest exercise for quant roles, a small API or latency task for engineering, a mock trading-day walkthrough for dealing. Finally a conversation with the founder. Most candidates hear back within two weeks.