Remote Funded Calendar Spread Options Trader — Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL
Maverick Trading
Term-structure options strategies — calendars, diagonals, double diagonals.
Trade from the world's derivatives capital — same time zone as the CME, deepest trader community in the country outside NYC.
A calendar spread options trader at Maverick runs a focused book of time-spread structures — long-dated options sold against short-dated options to exploit term structure, expected price stagnation, or volatility surface mispricings. The role suits traders who think in two-dimensional risk (price and time) and who appreciate the more nuanced Greeks dynamics of multi-expiration positions.
Trading from Chicago, IL
Chicago is the global capital of derivatives trading. The CME, CBOE, and the cluster of prop firms in the West Loop — Citadel, DRW, Optiver, Jump, IMC, Belvedere — make this the city with the highest density of professional traders per capita anywhere outside Manhattan. The Central Time zone is a natural fit for trading US equities: an 8:30am open with a 3pm close gives a long afternoon and a manageable schedule.
Local ecosystem: CME, CBOE, and a major cluster of prop trading firms in the West Loop and Loop districts.
Time zone: CT — the NYSE opens at 8:30am local for traders based in Chicago.
What You'll Trade
Single-name and index option calendars and diagonals on liquid US underlyings. Double diagonals and calendarized iron condors for range-bound expectations with a vol angle. Earnings calendars are a sub-strategy — buying long-dated and selling short-dated through an earnings event, profiting from front-month IV crush.
Day-to-Day
- Morning: review the term structure across underlyings — front vs. back month IV ratios
- Identify entry candidates where term structure is steep enough or flat enough to support the trade thesis
- Manage existing positions for vega drift and price drift; calendars require active strike management
- End of week: review the curve of expirations and plan rolls for positions approaching the short-leg expiration
Risk Profile
Calendars have a benign-looking risk profile that masks real exposure to vol surface twists. Maverick traders run defined-risk variants only (no naked short legs), cap exposure per underlying, and monitor portfolio-level vega across the book.
Who Succeeds in This Role
- Traders who already think in Greeks and understand vol surface dynamics
- People comfortable managing positions that require active adjustment rather than set-and-forget
- Candidates with patience for slower-developing trades — calendars work on a 2–6 week horizon
- Traders who can model expected P&L outcomes before entering, not just hope for the best
Why This Role Exists at Maverick
Calendars are a sophisticated niche of options trading that retail platforms rarely teach well. Maverick funds traders here because the strategy diversifies the firm's options book and the trader population that runs it well tends to be high-discipline and high-skill.
What Maverick Offers
- Trade firm capital — no personal capital at risk
- 65%–90% profit split based on performance tier
- Performance-based capital scaling, no upper cap
- Professional training and mentorship from active traders
- Fully remote — trade from anywhere with reliable internet (US applicants)
- Monthly ACH payouts
- No challenge accounts, no evaluations, no monthly fees
About Maverick Trading
Maverick Trading is a proprietary trading firm founded in 1997. We allocate firm capital to disciplined traders and scale buying power based on performance. We are not a brokerage, we do not run challenge accounts, and we do not sell evaluations. We profit only when our traders profit.