Senior Software Engineer (Chicago)

Senior Software Engineer (Data) - $150k - $250k Base ($200k - $400k TC) – NYC/ Chicago/ London (Hybrid) – Prop Trading

Overview

We are currently partnered with a leading global proprietary trading firm seeking an experienced Senior Software Engineer (Data) to join their growing technology function in Chicago, NYC or London.

The successful candidate will work closely with traders, quantitative researchers and engineering teams to design and develop high-performance data platforms supporting options, delta-one and FICC trading strategies. This is an excellent opportunity to work in a fast-paced trading environment, building scalable, low-latency systems that support critical trading operations.

Role & Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain high-performance software systems supporting real-time and historical trading data.
• Take full ownership of data products, from initial design and development through to production deployment and ongoing support.
• Build scalable batch processing and real-time streaming solutions for large-volume financial time-series datasets.
• Develop and optimise APIs and data access solutions to enable fast, reliable retrieval of trading data.
• Collaborate closely with traders, quantitative researchers and engineering teams to deliver business-critical data solutions.
• Design and maintain concurrent, high-throughput and low-latency systems within Linux environments.
• Ensure data quality, reliability and performance across trading infrastructure.
• Troubleshoot complex technical challenges and provide production support where required.

Essential Skills & Experience

• 2+ years' commercial Software Engineering experience, ideally within proprietary trading, hedge funds or financial markets.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Java or C++, with the ability to work across multiple languages.
• Proven experience designing, developing and delivering scalable, production-grade software systems.
• Good understanding of financial markets, particularly options, delta-one or FICC trading.
• Experience developing high-performance, concurrent and low-latency applications within Linux environments.
• Strong knowledge of batch processing, real-time streaming and financial time-series data.
• Experience with data orchestration frameworks such as Airflow or Dagster.
• Familiarity with streaming technologies such as Kafka, data lake platforms including Delta Lake or Apache Iceberg, and relational databases.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to operate in a fast-paced trading environment.
• Excellent communication skills and experience working directly with traders, stakeholders and engineering teams.

Package & Location

• Base Salary: $150,000 – $250,000
• Total Comp: $200k - $400k
• Chicago, NYC or London (Hybrid)

Senior Software Engineer (Data) - $150k - $250k Base ($200k - $400k TC) – NYC/ Chicago/ London (Hybrid) – Prop Trading