Software Engineer (Machine Learning)

Software Engineer (Machine Learning)

Exceptional trading emerges where human intuition meets frictionless experimentation. Our platform and processes enable traders to rapidly investigate ideas, identify emergent patterns, and convert insights into live strategies. This synthesis creates a flywheel of discovery — the key to our pursuit of excellence.

The Role:

We are looking for a driven Software Engineer to join a fully automated, model-driven trading desk in the Chicago suburbs. You will sit directly alongside a highly experienced team of PhDs in computer science and signal processing. Your core mission will be owning our frontier AI initiatives—building the extraction systems and data pipelines that support our algorithmic trading logic.

Responsibilities:

• Build AI Agents: Design and deploy agent-based architectures to extract clean trading data from highly unstructured sources.
• Deploy LLMs: Orchestrate frontier and/or self-hosted LLMs to ensure high-fidelity data extraction during volatile market events.
• Engineer the Pipeline: Write scalable, production-quality code that safely delivers AI-generated insights into our live trading infrastructure.
• Maintain Excellence: Champion CI/CD, automated testing, and rigorous deployment standards to ensure system resilience.
• Collaborate on Core Logic: Work directly alongside senior quants to weave your AI systems into our foundational trading algorithms.

The Tech Stack:

We believe in using the right tool for the job. For this role, you will primarily work with:

• Languages: Python is your primary tool for all AI workflows. (Strong backgrounds in other languages like Java are welcome, provided you are also proficient in Python).
• AI & Orchestration: Frontier LLMs and/or self-hosted models, and agent frameworks (e.g., Open Claw).
• Infrastructure: Cloud-native environments and enterprise deployment tools.
• Core Interoperability: Our low-latency trading engines run on C++. While writing C++ is not a requirement, you should be comfortable building pipelines that interface with high-performance backends.

You Bring:

• Experience: 2–5 years of professional software engineering in a production codebase. (Note: Finance experience is entirely optional—we actively welcome top tech talent from outside the industry).
• Education: A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Technical Chops: Strong command of Python, data flows, and enterprise-level system architecture.
• Applied AI: Meaningful, hands-on experience building, experimenting with, and deploying LLMs and agent-harnessing tools.
• Bonus (C++): Familiarity with C++ is a great plus. While entirely optional, it allows you to interface more seamlessly with our high-performance trading engines.

Ideal Profile:

• High Agency: The AI landscape changes daily. You are self-motivated, eager to learn, and capable of taking ownership of ambiguous problems.
• Critical Thinker: You don't blindly trust AI outputs. You rigorously review data, understand the underlying logic, and refine parameters to handle edge cases.
• Collaborative Builder: You are energized by working face-to-face within a fast-paced team and communicating clearly with quants.
• On-Site Presence: Willingness to work on-site in our Chicago-area (suburban) office, driving impact in person.

We Offer:

The anticipated base salary for this role is $100,000 - $200,000. This range is representative of starting base salaries at Summit Securities Group; the final offer and placement within this range will be based on job-related factors such as relevant experience, skills, and location. Please note that base salary is only one component of our total compensation package and does not include performance-based bonuses. We offer competitive compensation, 401(K) matching, gender-neutral parental leave, and comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance. We believe that working together in person is key to tackling the complex challenges we face, which is why this role will require being in the office 2 days per week. In-office perks include lunch and a great location with amazing colleagues. Our top priority is our people. We invest in a culture that promotes togetherness—supporting one another through challenges and celebrating our collective successes. We believe that modern workplaces thrive on diverse, high-performance workforces across ideas, cultures, and experiences. We are committed to making this environment a daily reality and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.