C++ Performance Engineer

Portofino; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Portofino Technologies in London is seeking experienced C++ engineers to design and optimise low-latency trading systems. You will work across the trading stack, from exchange connectivity to core components, delivering production-grade solutions with measurable impact.

The role focuses on performance across CPU, memory, and networking, with ownership from design to deployment in a live production environment.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in modern C++ (C++20+)
• Experience building low-latency or performance-critical systems
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and system design
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills (e.g. GDB, Valgrind)
• Experience analysing and optimising performance (benchmarking, profiling)
• Understanding of networking and hardware-level behaviour
• Familiarity with thread pinning, CPU isolation, shared memory, kernel bypass
• Ability to work independently and take ownership from design to production

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimise performance-critical components across the trading system
• Work on exchange connectivity, core infrastructure, and system architecture
• Analyse system performance and identify bottlenecks across CPU, memory, and network layers
• Improve latency, throughput, and reliability of trading systems
• Design and build new applications and system components from scratch
• Collaborate closely with traders and engineers to deliver robust, production-ready solutions

Skills

C++20+

Low-latency systems

Data structures & algorithms

Debugging & profiling

Networking & hardware

Thread pinning & CPU isolation

Production ownership

Tools

Docker/Kubernetes

Boost.Asio

TBB

Disruptor

Kernel bypass concepts

Job description

Join our Market Making tech team to design and optimise low-latency trading systems, with direct impact on performance, reliability, and scale.

We are looking for experienced C++ engineers focused on building high-performance, low-latency systems.

You will work across the trading stack, from exchange connectivity to core system components, solving real-time performance challenges and improving system efficiency. The role combines performance optimisation across CPU, memory, and networking with large-scale system design in an environment where code runs directly in production.

You will take ownership of critical components, iterate quickly, and deliver production-grade systems with measurable impact.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimise performance-critical components across the trading system
• Work on exchange connectivity, core infrastructure, and system architecture
• Analyse system performance and identify bottlenecks across CPU, memory, and network layers
• Improve latency, throughput, and reliability of trading systems
• Design and build new applications and system components from scratch
• Collaborate closely with traders and engineers to deliver robust, production-ready solutions

Requirements

Must have

• Strong experience in modern C++ (C++20+)
• Experience building low-latency or performance-critical systems
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and system design
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills (e.g. GDB, Valgrind)
• Experience analysing and optimising performance (benchmarking, profiling)
• Understanding of networking and hardware-level behaviour
• Familiarity with concepts such as thread pinning, CPU isolation, shared memory, kernel bypass
• Ability to work independently and take ownership from design to production

Nice to Have

• Experience with exchange connectivity or real-time market data systems
• Experience with distributed systems or real-time data processing
• Familiarity with containerised environments (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience with low-latency frameworks or libraries (e.g. Boost.Asio, libuv, TBB, Disruptor)
• Experience optimising systems at the hardware level (CPU, cache, NUMA, memory)

Your personality

• Proactive, hands-on, and ownership-driven
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving, production-focused environment
• Strong problem-solving mindset with attention to detail
• Collaborative, with the ability to work closely with traders and engineers

Why Join Portofino Technologies

At Portofino, C++ performance engineering sits at the heart of a live trading system, with direct impact on performance across multiple venues.

• Direct impact: your work runs in production and affects live trading
• Ownership: build and evolve systems end to end, from design to deployment
• Lean team: work closely with experienced traders and engineers
• High leverage: internal tooling, including AI systems, helps reduce repetitive work and accelerate development

We offer a collaborative environment with strong technical ownership and competitive compensation aligned with performance.