eTrading Full Stack Engineering - Compute

HSBC Holdings plc; Toronto; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellness Hub

Volunteerism policy

Matching gift program

Job summary

HSBC Holdings plc seeks an experienced infrastructure engineer to build and operate deterministic, low-latency compute platforms for electronic trading. You will manage bare-metal servers, RHEL, Docker/Podman, SBOMs and security controls across data centers, collaborating with trading, security and network teams to ensure tight performance and reliability.

The role emphasizes end-to-end engineering from hardware selection to OS build, container runtime, validation and ongoing incident response,

Qualifications

• Proven hands-on server/Linux/platform engineering in finance or trading environments.
• Experience with RHEL installation, repos, systemd, kernel, boot config, SELinux, storage, networking, patching, troubleshooting.
• Strong Docker/Podman experience including image building, registries, namespaces, cgroups, rootless containers, networking.

Responsibilities

• Translate trading workloads into qualified server BOMs covering CPU, NUMA, memory, storage and NICs.
• Benchmark and certify hardware/firmware with evidence before production.
• Build, patch, harden and support RHEL platforms with standardized images and lifecycles.
• Configure BIOS/kernel/user-space settings for deterministic performance and network tuning.
• Establish baselines for latency, jitter, throughput and detect regressions with tests.
• Develop and operate Docker/Podman runtimes and registries with secure image lifecycles.

Skills

RHEL

Docker

Podman

BIOS

Kernel tuning

Low-latency networking

SBOM

OpenSCAP

Python scripting

CI/CD pipelines

Tools

Ansible

Redfish API

SBOM tooling

OpenSCAP tooling

Job description

In compliance with applicable laws, HSBC is committed to employing only those who are authorized to work in Canada. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in Canada as HSBC will not engage in immigration sponsorship for this position.

In Canada, HSBC Global Services (Canada) Limited (HGCA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Global Services Limited. Operating in Toronto, HGCA is part of a global service company, delivering services to support the operating entities of HSBC Group. We have different capabilities that provide tools and processes to facilitate the functions, business, and entities with their service management responsibilities.

Ready to build deterministic low-latency compute for electronic trading?

Why HSBC

HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world. Guided by our purpose of opening up a world of opportunity, our ambition is to become the world’s most trusted bank globally, putting customers at the heart of everything we do.

The Opportunity

Join our eTrading infrastructure engineering team in Markets & Securities Services Information Technology, building deterministic, secure and highly available compute platforms supporting latency-sensitive electronic trading. This hands-on role covers bare-metal server architecture, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Docker and Podman, hardware lifecycle engineering, operating system security and compliance, software supply chain controls, telemetry and automated validation. You’ll work with trading, application engineering, network, security, operations, data center providers and hardware vendors to deliver repeatable, observable and performance-engineered platforms. Success means predictable low latency and minimal jitter, strong security posture and smooth lifecycle execution across hardware, firmware and operating system changes. The role has end-to-end engineering responsibility for the design, qualification, deployment and operational support of physical server platforms in co-located and enterprise data centers.

What you'll be doing

• Translate trading workload profiles into qualified server bills of materials covering central processing unit (CPU) characteristics, non-uniform memory access (NUMA) topology, memory, storage, network interface cards (NICs) and lifecycle constraints
• Benchmark and certify server hardware and firmware combinations and document performance, resilience, thermal and compatibility evidence before production approval
• Build, patch, harden and support Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) platforms using standardized images, repositories, provisioning and controlled lifecycle processes
• Engineer basic input output system (BIOS), firmware, kernel and user space settings for deterministic performance including CPU isolation, interrupt request (IRQ) placement, power policy, NUMA locality and network tuning
• Establish repeatable baselines for latency, jitter, throughput and resource contention and detect regressions through long-running tests and controlled changes
• Engineer and support Docker and Podman runtimes including registries, image lifecycle, resource controls, storage and networking while preserving performance predictability and security
• Develop and operate OpenSCAP profiles, scans, remediation workflows, exceptions and audit evidence appropriate to RHEL trading servers
• Generate and govern Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) for operating system packages, container images, drivers, firmware and platform tooling and integrate vulnerability, provenance and release policy checks into delivery pipelines
• Automate inventory, health, BIOS settings, firmware and lifecycle workflows through Redfish and vendor management controllers
• Implement observability for CPU scheduling, interrupts, NUMA, memory, storage, network, thermal state, hardware faults, containers and operating system health then investigate issues using tracing and system logs
• Platform automation: Build reusable Infrastructure as Code and test automation for provisioning, configuration, compliance, performance qualification, evidence collection and post-change validation.
• Operations and resilience: Lead technical diagnosis during incidents, perform root-cause analysis, maintain recovery procedures and runbooks, and implement permanent corrective actions across the server fleet.
• Stakeholder coordination: Partner with trading teams, application engineers, network engineering, cyber security, operations, procurement, hardware vendors and data‑centre providers to deliver resilient low-latency compute platforms.

What we're looking for

• Knowledge of precision time services such as PTP, NTP, hardware timestamping, PTP hardware clocks and time-distribution monitoring.
• Experience with low-latency NICs, kernel bypass or accelerated networking technologies, receive‑side scaling, busy polling and user‑space networking.
• Familiarity with performance and diagnostic tooling such as perf, eBPF, ftrace, cyclictest, hwlatdetect, rteval, turbostat, numactl, ethtool, PCP and packet-capture utilities.
• Experience with standard SBOM formats such as SPDX or CycloneDX and image‑signing or attestation workflows.
• Knowledge of immutable or image-based RHEL delivery, automated bare‑metal provisioning, PXE, kickstart, internal package repositories and secure boot.
• Bring substantial hands‑on server, Linux or platform engineering experience in financial services, electronic trading, market data or another performance‑sensitive environment
• Demonstrate deep administration and engineering expertise with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) including installation, repositories, systemd, kernel and boot configuration, SELinux, storage, networking, patching and troubleshooting
• Show proven experience designing server bills of materials and evaluating CPU architecture, cache and NUMA topology, memory channels, PCI Express (PCIe) layout, storage, NICs, power, cooling and vendor lifecycle constraints
• Apply strong knowledge of x86 server hardware, BIOS and Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), baseboard management controllers (BMCs), firmware, Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) or Non‑Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) storage, memory fault handling and enterprise hardware diagnostics
• Demonstrate practical experience tuning Linux for low latency and determinism using TuneD and explicit kernel, CPU, memory and network settings supported by measured before‑and‑after results
• Demonstrate strong Docker and Podman experience including image construction, registries, namespaces, cgroups, capabilities, rootless containers, storage and networking
• Apply experience implementing OpenSCAP scanning, tailoring, remediation and evidence management against recognized security baselines
• Bring knowledge of Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) standards and tooling including vulnerability management, provenance and release gates
• Demonstrate hands‑on experience with Redfish application programming interfaces (APIs) and vendor server management platforms for inventory, configuration, health, firmware and remote operations
• Bring strong automation skills with Ansible and a high‑level language such as Python or Java including application programming interface (API) integration, idempotent configuration and automated testing in continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines

Build trading‑grade compute platforms

This role sits at the heart of how electronic trading platforms perform under real market conditions. You’ll own the technical choices that shape determinism from hardware selection through operating system build, container runtime and automated validation. The work is hands‑on and outcome‑focused with clear accountability for performance, security and operational stability. If you want to build platforms that are measurable, repeatable and trusted by trading teams every day, this is a chance to make that impact at scale.

As an HSBC employee, you will have access to tailored professional development opportunities to ensure you have the right skills for today and tomorrow. We offer a competitive pay and benefits package including a robust Wellness Hub, all in a welcoming and inclusive work environment. You will be empowered to drive HSBC’s engagement with the communities we serve through an industry‑leading volunteerism policy, a generous matching gift program, and a comprehensive program of immersive Sustainability and Climate Change Initiatives. You’ll want to join our Employee Resource Groups as they play a central part in life at HSBC, including the development of our employees and networking inside and outside of HSBC. We value difference. We succeed together. We take responsibility. We get it done. And we want you to help us build the bank of the future!

The final fixed pay offer will depend on the candidate and a number of variables, including but not limited to, role responsibilities, skill set, depth of experience and education, licensing/certification requirements, internal relativity, and specific work location.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, race, national origin, ethnicity, disability or medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran service, religion, creed, sex, gender, pregnancy, childbirth, caregiver status, marital status, citizenship or immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or any other trait protected by applicable law.