Head of Trading Operations/COO – Sports betting Startup – London
Overview
Job Summary
Head of Operations/COO is required for a successful proprietary trading firm and alternative investment manager startup focused on quantitative and fundamental sports trading.
This role is designed for a hands-on operator who wants to work close to the engine room of a trading business. The successful candidate will take ownership of day-to-day operational execution across trading operations, risk processes, capital flows, and cross-team coordination. The focus is not on corporate overhead, but on ensuring the machine runs cleanly, predictably, and safely as trading activity scales. This is a build-and-own position, not simply a maintenance role. Sitting close to the CEO, the role acts as the operational backbone of the business. It requires strong judgment in high-pressure environments, the ability to translate strategy into execution, and comfort operating across trading operations, process design, risk coordination, and cross-functional delivery. You need to be a hands-on operator who can bring clarity, cadence, and accountability to a performance-driven organisation without imposing unnecessary bureaucracy. This position is suited to someone with experience building operational infrastructure in live, high-stakes environments, who is motivated by ownership, impact, and long term platform quality rather than the maintenance of legacy systems.
Background and Experience
The ideal candidate will have held operational or leadership responsibility within a performance-driven, trading-focused environment. Relevant backgrounds may include:
* Sports betting syndicates or professional betting operations
* Proprietary trading firms or hedge funds
* Quantitative or systematic trading businesses
* Execution-focused trading or risk management roles
* Senior operations, desk management, or COO roles in data-driven organisations
Candidates may come from Operations Manager, Head of Trading Operations, Trading Manager, COO, or similar roles, provided they have had direct responsibility for operational performance and cross-functional coordination.
Responsibilities and Duties
* Oversee trading operations across all strategies, ensuring consistent execution standards, effective monitoring, and timely intervention when performance deviates from expectations
* Partner closely with traders and researchers to ensure operational processes actively support strategy performance
* Maintain operational oversight of capital allocation, execution workflows, and performance reporting
* Implement and maintain frameworks for operational risk controls, exposure management, and decision-making during periods of drawdown or elevated volatility
* Act as a central coordination point between trading, research, engineering, and external service providers
* Ensure operational dependencies are managed effectively and issues are identified and resolved promptly
* Oversee operational infrastructure, including data flows, tooling, reporting processes, and relationships with platforms, counterparties, and vendors
* Contribute to hiring, team structure, and organisational scaling as the business grows
Benefits
* Profit-share bonus
* KPI-based bonus scheme
* Private health, dental, and vision insurance
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