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# Sr. Software Engineer I, Evaluation Services (Scala)

- **Company:** NINJATRADER, LLC
- **Location:** Chicago, IL, United States (Remote available)
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $125,000.0 - $175,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Akka (Toolkit), Software Quality, Code Review, Databases, Relational Databases, Distributed Systems, Protocol Buffers, PostgreSQL, Message Passing Interface, Query Optimization, Software Engineering, SQL Databases, Datadog, Data Logging, Google Cloud, System Availability, Concurrency, Indexer, Backend, Event Driven Architecture, Real Time Data, Apache Kafka, Front End Software Development, Grpc, Dynatrace
- **Published:** August 27, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.dice.com/job-detail/a971a5a0-97d1-44b1-8cea-3018401a252a

## About the Role

* 5+ years of backend software engineering experience building production systems that handle real-time data, concurrency, and high availability
 * Strong, hands-on Scala expertise-idiomatic Scala, functional patterns, testing (ScalaTest or similar), and comfort working in a large existing Scala codebase
 * Experience with actor-based concurrency models (Akka, Pekko, or equivalent)-understanding of supervision, message passing, and back-pressure
 * Solid relational database skills with PostgreSQL-schema design, indexing, query optimization, and judgment on when JSONB is appropriate vs. when a normalized structure is correct
 * Comfort with event-driven architectures, message buses (Kafka, Pub/Sub, or similar), and asynchronous workflows
 * Excellent troubleshooting skills with the ability to read logs, trace requests across distributed systems, and isolate root cause under pressure
 * Demonstrated ability to write clear technical specs, scope work realistically, and flag risk early
 * High-quality standards for code, tests, documentation, and PRs-and willingness to enforce the same standards in code review
 * Ability to think on your feet and adapt quickly when priorities shift or unexpected issues arise
 * Outstanding written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate backend tradeoffs for both technical and non-technical audiences
 * Self-starter who thrives in ambiguity and can manage multiple complex backend efforts simultaneously

Bonus Points for:

 * Experience with trading platforms, fintech, or capital markets technology
 * Understanding of trading concepts: order routing, market data, position management, risk and liquidation logic, and P&L calculation
 * Familiarity with Protobuf, gRPC, or schema-based service contracts
 * Experience migrating or modernizing legacy Scala systems or evaluating Scala ? Rust/Go transitions
 * Background in observability: distributed tracing, structured logging, and metrics (Datadog, Google Cloud Platform, or similar)
 * Prior experience supporting enterprise or B2B partner integrations

## Description

We are seeking a Sr. Software Engineer to join our Evaluation Services team. Our Evaluation Services business powers funded trader programs that give aspiring traders a pathway to professional trading capital. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain the Scala-based backend systems that power our auto-liquidation engine, risk evaluation, and trading services-the core systems our platform and our partners depend on. You will own complex backend problems end-to-end and work alongside Trading Services Engineers, frontend engineers, QA, and solutions engineers to deliver high-quality, production-ready features in a fast-paced environment.

In this role you will:

 * Design and implement backend services in Scala for evaluation, risk, and trading services workloads-including real-time auto-liquidation, account state management, and post-trade processing
 * Build and evolve actor-based systems (Akka or similar) that handle high-throughput market data, position changes, and event-driven workflows
 * Own significant features end-to-end: from technical spec through implementation, code review, and production hand-off
 * Design data models and database changes (PostgreSQL, including JSONB where appropriate), and contribute to the shared master schema, Protobuf, and SQL repositories
 * Diagnose and resolve complex backend issues-including production incidents-by analyzing logs, tracing distributed flows, and reproducing edge cases under realistic load
 * Drive code quality across the team: thorough PR reviews, clear acceptance criteria, dev-testing discipline, and proper instrumentation and observability
 * Collaborate with Trading Services, Solutions Engineering, and Product to translate business requirements into well-scoped, well-estimated stories
 * Contribute to architectural decisions and long-term tech-debt remediation, including modernization of legacy Scala services and evaluation of new event-bus technologies
 * Mentor junior team members on Scala idioms, functional design, testing practices, and incident response
 * Develop deep expertise in NinjaTrader's evaluation platform and partner integrations to provide authoritative backend leadership


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