Olten, CH | Lausanne, CH - 100% | Full time
About the Role
Alpiq believes that algorithmic trading and automation will play an increasingly important role in the future of energy trading. While traders remain fully accountable for commercial decisions, risk-taking, and portfolio performance, algorithms are expected to become a core capability supporting execution, optimization, analysis, and decision-making across the trading value chain.
The Head of Algorithmic Trading Governance is responsible for establishing, governing, and scaling Alpiq's algorithmic trading framework across Asset Trading, Merchant Trading, and Structured Energy Management activities.
The role does not manage a proprietary trading book. Instead, it acts as the business owner and governance lead for algorithmic trading initiatives, ensuring consistency, transparency, performance measurement, risk oversight, and adoption across all trading activities.
Initially focused on intraday and day-ahead algorithmic initiatives supporting Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and Renewable Energy Sources (RES), the mandate will progressively expand to additional portfolios, including hydro assets and future algorithmic trading applications across Alpiq's European trading activities.
The position sits within the Quantitative Analytics team and operates at the intersection of Trading, IT, Risk Management, Compliance, and Data & Analytics.
Your main accountabilities
1.Algorithmic Trading Governance
Develop standards, controls, validation processes, approval mechanisms, and documentation requirements for algorithm deployment.
Define model governance and review processes covering algorithm development, testing, approval, monitoring, modification, and retirement.
2. Portfolio-Wide Algo Coordination & Standardization
Assess and document desk-level developments currently operating within Intraday, Day-Ahead, BESS, RES, and other Gas Merchant trading activities for Long term.
3. Algo Performance Management
Conduct regular performance reviews and recommend improvements, recalibration, suspension, or retirement of underperforming algorithms.
4. Trading Community Enablement
Promote a culture where traders understand, monitor, challenge, and effectively utilize algorithmic trading solutions.
Build an algorithm-enabled trading organization where algorithmic tools become part of every trader’s standard toolkit. The ambition is that within two years, all Alpiq traders are proficient in the use, supervision, and interpretation of algorithmic trading solutions, while retaining full accountability for trading decisions, risk-taking, and portfolio performance.
Establish a community of practice that fosters knowledge sharing between traders, quants, analysts, developers, Risk, and IT.
5. Strategic Development of Trading Automation
Evaluate opportunities to expand the use of algorithms beyond execution into analytics, opportunity identification, decision support, forecasting, and idea generation.
6. Product Ownership and Business Sponsorship
7. Cross-Functional Collaboration
Work closely with Quantitative Analytics, Risk Management, Compliance, IT, Data Engineering, and Trading leadership.
