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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Staff Software Engineer, FCM - **Company:** NINJATRADER, LLC - **Location:** Chicago, IL, United States (Remote available) - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $160,000.0 - $210,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Computing Platforms, Automation of Tests, Microsoft Azure, C++ (Programming Language), Cloud Engineering, Static Program Analysis, Code Generation, Code Review, Continuous Integration, Distributed Systems, Python (Programming Language), Software Engineering, Strategies of Testing, Google Cloud, Cloud Platform System, Event Driven Architecture, Treasury System, Kubernetes, Infrastructure Automation Frameworks, Api Design, Terraform, Golang - **Published:** August 16, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.dice.com/job-detail/53b7abf6-f97f-462b-ac77-3a089d799911 ## About the Role * 8-12+ years of progressive software engineering experience, with demonstrated impact at the Staff level or equivalent scope of influence * Deep expertise designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems in cloud environments (Google Cloud Platform strongly preferred; AWS or Azure acceptable) * Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, event-driven architectures, and infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform * Strong proficiency in modern backend languages such as Python, C++, Go, or similar, with the ability to make thoughtful technology decisions grounded in trade-offs * Experience leveraging AI-assisted development tools, including code generation, static analysis, and automated test synthesis, to increase productivity and system quality in production environments * Experience in financial services, capital markets, or brokerage technology, including trade lifecycle systems, clearing and settlement, and building systems where correctness and auditability are non-negotiable * Proven track record as a technical authority and mentor who has raised the engineering bar of their teams * Experience designing distributed systems where financial correctness, reconciliation, segregation of funds, and audit integrity are non-negotiable architectural constraints * Excellent communication skills with the ability to clearly articulate complex technical concepts to engineers and non-technical stakeholders * Demonstrated ownership of initiatives end-to-end, from problem framing and design through implementation, deployment, and operational maturity Bonus Points for: * Direct experience at a futures commission merchant (FCM), clearing firm, or broker-dealer operating under CFTC/NFA or SEC/FINRA regulatory frameworks * Experience with CME clearing operations or self-clearing implementations * Familiarity with treasury and money movement systems, including ACH, wire transfers, fund hold logic, and account segregation * Track record of leading successful platform modernization or cloud migration programs in regulated financial environments * Passion for futures, derivatives, and trading technologies and for democratizing access to these markets for retail traders ## Description We are looking for a Staff Engineer to serve as the technical domain owner for the Transaction Ledger & Treasury system within our FCM platform, accountable for the financial correctness, reconciliation integrity, and system-of-record architecture of our brokerage systems. This role will lead the evolution of our architecture, modernizing and consolidating ledger, fund movement, and reconciliation logic into a coherent, cloud-native foundation. You will also drive the thoughtful use of AI-assisted development and operational tooling to increase engineering leverage, improve review quality, and accelerate modernization without compromising financial correctness or regulatory integrity. These are mission-critical systems where every state transition must be financially correct, auditable, and resilient under failure-because design flaws directly impact customer funds, regulatory standing, and firm capital. As a Staff Engineer, your work will have a profound impact on our core FCM infrastructure, directly influencing our business's bottom line. You will set the technical standard for the FCM engineering organization: defining architecture patterns, establishing engineering best practices, mentoring and elevating the engineers around you, and making high-stakes design decisions that determine whether our platform scales to meet the demands of a rapidly growing, globally distributed customer base. You will partner closely with engineering leadership, product management, compliance, and brokerage operations to ensure that every system you design is auditable, resilient, and built to serve both customers and regulators. In this role you will: * Define and own the foundational architecture of NinjaTrader's cloud-native FCM platform on Google Cloud Platform/Kubernetes, including concurrency models, data consistency guarantees, service boundaries, and integration contracts across clearing, risk, and reporting systems * Architect systems that process high-throughput trade flows with deterministic behavior under concurrency, partial failure, and asynchronous clearing acknowledgments across a 24/7 trading window * Serve as the technical north star for the FCM engineering team by conducting deep, meaningful code reviews, pairing on complex problems, and leading architecture and design sessions that elevate the engineering bar * Establish and enforce best practices across the FCM platform, including API design standards, testing strategies (unit, integration, contract, chaos), observability and SLI/SLO frameworks, CI/CD standards, and infrastructure-as-code patterns * Define what excellence looks like for regulated financial systems and hold the team accountable to those standards * Champion the responsible use of AI-assisted coding, testing, and code review workflows to increase velocity and reduce defects while preserving strict financial and audit constraints * Design compliance-critical systems where regulatory requirements are treated as first-class architectural constraints, embedding audit trails, segregation controls, and compliance checkpoints directly into platform design * Partner with engineering leadership, including the CTO and Director of Engineering, to shape broader technical strategy and govern system-of-record architecture, ledger data models, fund movement APIs, reconciliation workflows, and cross-service balance interactions * Represent the FCM platform in cross-functional architecture forums and drive alignment across teams * Take ownership of the most complex and high-impact technical challenges, transforming ambiguous problems into well-defined, executable plans ## Related Videos - [Go with the Flow: Stop the Leaks Before Your Memory's a Waterfall!](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100073-go-with-the-flow-stop-the-leaks-before-your-memory-s-a-waterfall) - [Infrastructure as Code: The Developer's Secret Weapon](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1221-infrastructure-as-code-the-developer-s-secret-weapon) - [API Design - Getting Started](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/33-api-design-getting-started) - [Inside Bitpanda's Tech Stack: Scaling a European Fintech Leader - Markus Dorner](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1979-inside-bitpanda-s-tech-stack-scaling-a-european-fintech-leader-markus-dorner) - [Scoring 2000 Products per Request: Performance Pitfalls in Golang](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2073-scoring-2000-products-per-request-performance-pitfalls-in-golang) - [Microservices architecture as a key element in building trading systems for global finance markets](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1196-microservices-architecture-as-a-key-element-in-building-trading-systems-for-global-finance-markets) ## Related Articles - [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again) - [How Much FAANG Companies Actually Pay Software Engineers in 2025](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/230-how-much-faang-companies-actually-pay-software-engineers-in-2025) - [The Best X (Twitter) Accounts for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/294-the-best-x-twitter-accounts-for-developers) - [Highest Paying Tech Companies for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/220-highest-paying-tech-companies-for-developers) - [Is Software Engineering Over-Saturated?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/418-is-software-engineering-over-saturated) - [Fully Remote Software Engineer Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/447-fully-remote-software-engineer-jobs)