Practice Director, Quantitative Trading, AI & Capital Markets

Location: London (Hybrid, 2 days WFH, 3 days in-office)
Type: Full-time, Practice Director / Associate Director level
Company: Salt
About the Opportunity
Salt is launching a new specialist practice covering Quantitative Trading, AI Research, and Capital Markets Technology, and we’re looking for the person to build and lead it.
This is not an MD hire. This is not a come and run a desk role. This is a genuine platform to build a specialist business inside a global recruitment group, backed by Salt’s brand, infrastructure, CEO sponsorship, and dedicated research capability in Brazil and South Africa.
If you’re currently billing big numbers in a boutique quant/trading recruitment firm and feel capped, this is the platform you’ve been waiting for.
The Mission
Build Salt’s Quantitative Trading, AI & Capital Markets practice into a recognised specialist business, with the ambition of becoming a £3m+ GP division within three to five years.
What You’ll Be Doing Building the go-to-market strategy for this practice from the ground up
Mapping and winning clients across hedge funds, prop trading firms, market makers, investment banks, and capital markets technology businesses
Personally billing while building your team and pipeline
Creating a repeatable delivery model using dedicated Brazil and South Africa research support
Building candidate communities across quant research, quant development, low latency engineering, ML/AI, and trading systems
Producing market maps, salary guides, and talent intelligence reports
Hosting client events, breakfasts, and leadership dinners
Hiring, training, and mentoring a future team of consultants
Working across Salt’s full offering: permanent, contract, executive search, and advisory The Client Universe
Hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, market makers, investment banks, asset managers, crypto trading firms, exchanges, AI-first investment firms, fintechs, and capital markets technology businesses. Think Citadel, Two Sigma, Jane Street, DE Shaw, Millennium, Point72, Hudson River Trading, Optiver, Man Group, and similar.
The Candidate Markets You’ll Know
Quant researchers, quant developers, C++/Python/Rust engineers, low latency and FPGA engineers, ML engineers, AI researchers, execution and market data engineers, systematic trading specialists, and trading/risk technology talent.
What We’re Looking For Proven billing history in quant, trading, hedge fund, or capital markets technology recruitment (likely £350k-£750k+)
Strong, established client development ability in this space
Entrepreneurial drive, you want to build something bigger than your current desk
Ability to lead, train, and mentor a future team
Comfortable working with offshore/nearshore research support
Currently operating as a Principal Consultant, Senior Principal Consultant, Associate Director, Practice Lead, Team Lead, or rising Director What Salt Offers Global brand and infrastructure across 22 offices in 15 countries
CEO sponsorship and marketing support
Dedicated research team build-out (Brazil and South Africa)
Existing technology, data, and financial services client relationships
Full CRM and technology stack
Entrepreneurial freedom to build a practice, without startup risk The Trajectory
Year 1: £750k-£1m GP, 5-10 strategic clients, 4 dedicated researchers, first retained/exclusive search wins
Year 2: £1.5m-£2m GP, 2-3 fee earners, 6-8 researchers, recognised market presence, expansion into US and UAE
Longer term: £3m-£5m GP specialist division, with a team of 5+ fee earners and 10+ researchers
If you’ve got the credibility in this market but haven’t yet been given the platform to properly build something of your own, this is that platform.
Apply now to build Salt’s Quant Trading, AI & Capital Markets practice from the ground up.
Salt is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.