Head of Derivatives Product, Dubai

Head of Derivatives Product

Location: Dubai  |  Reports to: CEO

About the Role

Our client is a well-established digital asset exchange and trading platform business that is building a crypto options trading platform (European-style, cash-settled BTC/ETH options) to complement its existing offering. As Head of Derivatives Product, you will own the end-to-end product vision, from contract specifications and margin policy through to the trader-facing options chain experience, and drive the platform from concept to live trading within six months.

Key Responsibilities

• Define the complete product specification for v1: instrument design (expiries, strike intervals, tick sizes, contract multipliers, settlement currency), trading rules, and fee structure.
• Own the product roadmap from MVP (isolated margin, weekly and monthly expiries) through v2 (portfolio margin, multi-leg strategies, combos and spreads).
• Translate the quant team's risk methodology (mark price, IV surface, liquidation logic) into clear, publishable product documentation and trading rules.
• Design the trader experience in partnership with frontend engineering: options chain layout, Greeks dashboards, position management, strategy builder.
• Benchmark continuously against leading crypto options venues; identify gaps and differentiation opportunities.
• Define settlement procedures, expiry calendars, and corporate-event handling (index disruptions, exchange outages on reference venues).
• Work with the Market Maker Relationship Lead to shape maker/taker fee tiers, block trade facilities, and RFQ functionality.
• Own regulatory and compliance product requirements in coordination with legal counsel (jurisdictional eligibility, KYC tiers, position limits).
• Define and track success metrics: open interest, daily volume, bid-ask spreads, active traders, liquidation rates.
• Run beta programs with anchor clients; convert client feedback into a prioritized backlog.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years in derivatives product management, with at least 3 years on options specifically (crypto or TradFi).
• Direct experience launching or significantly scaling a derivatives product at an exchange, brokerage, or trading platform.
• Deep working knowledge of options mechanics: Greeks, IV, moneyness, margin methodologies (SPAN-style or portfolio margin), settlement and exercise conventions.
• Demonstrated ability to write precise product specifications that engineers and quants can build from without ambiguity.
• Experience working alongside market makers and understanding their requirements (API quality, rate limits, mass-quote, cancel-on-disconnect).
• Strong understanding of crypto market structure: perpetuals, funding rates, index construction, cross-exchange liquidity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior role at a leading crypto options venue, a major derivatives exchange, or an options market-making firm.
• Experience with both retail and institutional product surfaces.
• Familiarity with derivatives regulation across key jurisdictions (EU/MiCA, UAE/VARA, Singapore/MAS).
• Hands-on trading experience in options (personal or professional).

Success Looks Like (First 6 Months)

• Month 1: Complete v1 product specification signed off by CEO, quant lead, and engineering.
• Month 3: Testnet live with anchor client traders; trading rules and docs published.
• Month 6: Mainnet launch with 2+ committed market makers and measurable daily volume.