C++ Team Lead (Low Latency)

Oliver Bernard; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus (25%)

London office 3 days/week

Job summary

Oliver Bernard in London seeks a senior C++ Low-Latency Technology Lead to join a high-performance technology team in a leading financial services firm. This hands-on leadership role focuses on ultra-low-latency systems, performance engineering and architecture optimisation.

You'll own a latency-sensitive C++ platform, driving improvements in architecture, latency, throughput and reliability, while mentoring engineers and collaborating with quant teams and senior stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Strong expertise in low-latency / ultra-low-latency technology.
• Deep understanding of C++ performance optimisation, memory management and CPU architecture.
• Experience with garbage collection tuning and JVM performance, especially interop with C++/Java.
• Concurrency, multithreading, lock-free programming and cache-aware design.
• Experience profiling and eliminating latency at microsecond and sub-microsecond levels.
• Excellent Linux, networking and systems-level performance knowledge.
• Experience leading technically demanding engineering projects and mentoring senior engineers.
• Strong communication skills to influence architecture and strategy.
• Experience in trading, capital markets, or financial technology.

Responsibilities

• Take technical ownership of a high-performance C++ platform.
• Drive improvements across architecture, latency, throughput and reliability.
• Collaborate with developers, quantitative teams and senior tech stakeholders to solve performance challenges.

Skills

Low-latency engineering

C++ optimization

Multithreading

Linux performance

CPU architecture

Latency profiling

Concurrency

Performance tooling

JVM interop (C++/Java)

Networking

Mentoring engineers

Trading/fintech awareness

Tools

Profiling tools

Latency benchmarking

Kernel/network optimization

FPGA knowledge

Job description

Location: London — 3 days per week in the office

We’re looking for an exceptional C++ Low-Latency Technology Lead to join a high-performance technology team within a leading financial services firm.

This is a hands‑on technical leadership role for someone who is passionate about ultra‑low‑latency systems, performance engineering and modern C++, and who can lead engineers while remaining deeply involved in the architecture and optimisation of critical trading technology.

The Role

You’ll take technical ownership of a highly performance‑sensitive C++ platform, driving improvements across architecture, latency, throughput and reliability.

You’ll work closely with developers, quantitative teams and senior technology stakeholders to solve some of the hardest performance challenges in financial technology.

What You’ll Bring

• Strong expertise in low‑latency / ultra‑low‑latency technology
• Deep understanding of C++ performance optimisation, memory management and CPU architecture
• Proven experience with garbage collection tuning and JVM performance, particularly where C++ and Java systems interact
• Strong knowledge of concurrency, multithreading, lock‑free programming and cache‑aware design
• Experience profiling and eliminating latency at microsecond and sub‑microsecond levels
• Excellent understanding of Linux, networking and systems‑level performance
• Experience leading technically demanding engineering projects and mentoring senior engineers
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to influence architecture and technical strategy
• Experience within trading, capital markets, electronic trading or financial technology
• Experience with market data, order management or execution systems
• Knowledge of kernel/network optimisation, CPU affinity, NUMA and hardware‑level performance
• Experience with performance tooling, benchmarking and latency analysis
• Familiarity with FPGA or hardware acceleration

Why Join?

• 25% annual bonus
• Senior technical leadership position with significant ownership
• Highly performance‑focused engineering environment
• Opportunity to work on genuinely challenging, latency‑critical systems
• London‑based, 3 days per week in the office

If you’re a senior C++ engineer or technology lead who thrives on squeezing every last microsecond out of complex systems, this is an opportunity to make a significant impact at the heart of a high‑performance financial technology environment.