Senior Software Engineer - Low Latency Trading Systems (Core Java) in Chicago

• Design and develop ultra-low latency Java applications supporting electronic trading platforms
• Build and optimize backend trading services and distributed microservices
• Analyze and optimize application performance for high-throughput, low-latency environments
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and performance bottlenecks
• Optimize algorithms, memory utilization, JVM tuning, and threading models
• Work closely with senior engineers on architecture, code reviews, and system optimization
• Support production releases, security updates, and platform enhancements
• Utilize low-level diagnostic tools to analyze system behavior and optimize performance
• Develop clean, scalable, maintainable Java applications supporting mission-critical trading systems

Our client is seeking an experienced Senior Software Engineer with deep expertise building ultra-low latency trading platforms.

This is not a traditional enterprise Java position.

We’re looking for engineers who have built and supported mission-critical trading systems where microseconds matter. The ideal candidate understands market data, trading workflows, concurrency, networking, and performance optimization and can immediately contribute within a highly technical engineering team.

Candidates without recent low latency trading platform experience will not be considered., * 8+ years of Core Java software engineering

• Recent experience developing low latency trading platforms
• Experience supporting electronic trading or capital markets systems
• Strong understanding of trading workflows and market data processing
• Experience building backend trading applications-not database-centric applications
• Strong understanding of distributed microservices architecture
• Advanced knowledge of multithreading, concurrency, synchronization, shared memory, and asynchronous programming
• Strong understanding of algorithms and data structures
• Experience optimizing high-performance Java applications
• Experience working with TCP/IP and UDP networking
• Strong Linux experience
• Self-starter capable of contributing immediately with minimal supervision

Technical Skills

Strong experience with:

• Core Java
• Low Latency Systems
• Multithreading
• Concurrent Data Structures
• Shared Memory
• JNI
• Java NIO
• TCP / UDP Networking
• JVM Performance Tuning
• Garbage Collection Optimization
• Linux
• Linux Kernel Performance
• Microservices Architecture
• Performance Profiling
• Production Support

experience with:

• Solarflare Networking
• EF_VI
• Onload APIs
• Thread Pinning
• NUMA Architecture
• CPU Cache Optimization
• Interrupt Handling
• Packet Capture
• Hardware Performance Counters

Trading Domain Experience Required

Candidates should have experience working with one or more of the following:

• Electronic Trading Platforms
• Matching Engines
• Order Book Management
• Market Data Processing
• Trading Logic
• Credit Checks
• Order Routing
• Market Connectivity
• Exchange Connectivity
• Capital Markets Technology, We’re looking for an engineer who understands the unique challenges of building software where performance, determinism, and reliability are critical., * Must have recent low latency trading platform experience
• Must have financial services or capital markets experience
• No Third Parties
• No Corp-to-Corp (C2C)
• No Visa Sponsorship