Discretionary Trader

About Par Trading

Par Trading is a Hong Kong–based proprietary trading firm. We trade our own capital across traditional and digital markets, combining proprietary and systematic trading. We believe the next decade of trading opportunity lies where market boundaries are dissolving: assets trade around the clock, and traditional and digital markets increasingly price each other. Par Trading is built from day one to operate across markets — one research process, one risk framework, one execution stack — and runs as three layers working together: people, systems and agents, so a lean team can capture durable returns at that frontier.

The role

We are looking for discretionary traders with real live-trading experience and independent judgment.

After passing our selection test and formally joining, you will trade a clear capital mandate with your own judgment, inside a defined risk framework: forming views from market structure, flows, events and price action, executing trades, managing position risk, and owning both process and outcome.

All trading is executed through the digital-asset venues Par Trading designates; instruments cover digital assets and the traditional-asset derivatives available on those venues. Our researchers provide market briefs and signals; whether to act on them is your call.

What you will own

• Trade decisions
  Decide timing, direction and sizing within your allocation, and execute through our systems.
• Trade management
  Manage the full lifecycle: track and adjust plans against positions, liquidity and capital conditions.
• Risk execution
  Operate within budget, leverage, drawdown and position limits, and control real risk across liquidity, slippage and margin.
• Trade journaling
  Log every trade in our dedicated journaling system — entry rationale, exit conditions, post-trade attribution. This is part of the job and the primary basis on which traders are evaluated.
• Method building
  Work with researchers and risk to turn what proves out in live trading into desk-level method.
• Coverage
  Take part in the desk’s coverage rota and incident response for a 24/7 market.

How we select

We don’t judge traders by résumés and interviews alone. Every trader joins by the same ladder:

• A four-week structured test: a replay task on public historical data, scenario questions, and a short period of live trading on real capital
• An allocation ladder: after the test, you start at an entry allocation and grow by published criteria
• Criteria published on day one: you see the full standards before the test begins; behavior is weighted above short-term returns

What we look for

• No personal trading while employed, and full disclosure of personal trading accounts for monitoring
• Real discretionary live-trading experience with a verifiable record (verification method explained once you enter the process)
• A clear trading method: you can explain where your returns come from, when it works, when it fails, and what you would do at any given point on a chart
• Working familiarity with spot, perpetuals, leverage, margin, funding rates and basic market microstructure
• Sound position and risk management; calm P&L arithmetic and stop discipline in high-volatility conditions
• Honesty and discipline: no polished track records, problems surfaced early, plans executed as written, mandate, risk and confidentiality respected
• A habit of recording and reviewing; you test views with data and can tell a repeatable method from a lucky outcome

Nice to have

• Strong interest and curiosity in blockchain, crypto and DeFi; you follow the major news and developments in the space
• Sustained live trading across multiple market regimes
• Proprietary trading, active strategy management, hedging or liquidity experience
• Familiarity with order flow, cross-venue spreads or on-chain data
• Python, SQL or similar for research and review
• Experience turning a personal method into team rules
• Some understanding of, or hands-on experience with, algorithmic trading

What you get

• Faster ownership and autonomy than traditional finance offers
• Live trading with the firm’s own capital, without the burden of funding it yourself
• Highly competitive compensation and performance-linked payout
• A transparent allocation ladder and promotion path
• Direct work with the head of desk, researchers and risk — no layers in between
• A trade-management and journaling system built for discretionary traders, so your judgment is traceable and improvable
• Ambitious, diverse, highly professional and entrepreneurial colleagues
• An energetic culture: team dinners, games and team offsites

Location

Hong Kong. Shenzhen is available as a transitional office initially; after formal onboarding, the Hong Kong office is the primary place of trading and work.

How to apply

Please send your CV to careers@par.ai. A traditional cover letter is not required.

If convenient, we welcome material that helps us understand how you trade, for example:

• a review of a trade log;
• a trading plan you wrote;
• a review of a major loss or drawdown;
• how you record and review your trades day to day.

We care about your thinking, judgment and trading logic. Please do not share any confidential or sensitive material belonging to a current or former employer.