Trading Strategy Analyst - Performance Optimization

 

I have a stock swing trading strategy I am live testing.   I am looking for an analyst to help me refine it.

Note: Actual trading algorithms and signal logic will not be disclosed. You will work with trade results, entry/exit data, and performance metrics to optimize decision-making and execution.

Goals:

  • Analyze trade history to identify what's working and what isn't – Find patterns in winning vs. losing trades, execution quality issues, and decision points that need refinement
  • Trade execution analysis and refinement – Evaluate entry/exit timing, slippage, and position sizing to improve how trades are implemented
  • Identify when the strategy works best – Determine market conditions (trend strength, volatility, breadth) where the strategy performs best vs. worst, so we know when to be aggressive or defensive
  • Source and test new decision metrics – Find additional stock-level or market-level indicators that improve entry/exit timing or signal quality without overfitting
  • Develop an iterative testing methodology – Create a systematic process for proposing changes, backtesting rigorously, and validating improvements before live implementation
  • Work with me to develop a thesis for why we're seeing patterns – Don't just find correlations—help build explanations for what's driving performance so we understand when our edge exists and when it doesn't

Qualifications:

  • Experience analyzing trading strategies – Prior work evaluating systematic strategies (swing trading, momentum, mean reversion, etc.) with demonstrable results
  • Ability to source and integrate relevant metrics – Know how to find, import, and work with stock-level and market-level data from various sources (APIs, databases, financial platforms)
  • Expertise in rigorous testing without overfitting – Understanding of proper backtesting, walk-forward analysis, out-of-sample validation, and statistical significance
  • Strong communication skills – Can explain complex findings clearly and have productive discussions about trade-offs, assumptions, and logic without just dumping data
  • Intellectual honesty – Willing to say when something doesn't work, when results are inconclusive, or when more data is needed rather than forcing patterns
  • Adaptive and systematic approach – Ability to develop an analysis plan, learn from results, and continually refine the methodology as we discover what matters
  • Resourceful, creative, and well-organized – Can think outside the box to find solutions while maintaining rigorous documentation and process discipline

Compensation:

Phase 1 - Discovery & Planning: $300

  • Review current strategy performance and trade history
  • Develop specific, prioritized analysis plan with defined deliverables for each phase

Phase 2+ - Iterative Analysis: $300-600 per phase

  • Each phase tackles one major goal area (execution analysis, market regime identification, new metrics testing, etc.)
  • Payment upon delivery of analysis with actionable recommendations
  • Continue to next phase only if current phase yields valuable insights

Performance Bonus:

  • If analytical work leads to measurable/significant strategy improvement as defined and agreed to by analyst and trader a flat $1,000 bonus per phase.

Total Budget: ~$3,000-4,000 depending on number of phases