Experienced Software Engineer - Low Level (C++)

Hudson River Trading; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading trading technology firm in the UK is seeking a skilled C++ Engineer to develop and optimize low-latency trading systems. The ideal candidate has strong expertise in C++, a relevant degree, and the ability to tackle complex engineering challenges. This role involves collaboration with a diverse team, emphasizing innovation and problem-solving in a competitive environment.

Qualifications

• 1+ years of professional work experience.
• Superior design, debugging, and problem-solving skills.
• You are capable of solving complex engineering problems independently.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize infrastructure for market data, order entry and execution logic.
• Design fault-tolerant, low-latency systems for live trading.
• Profile and improve performance-critical code for both throughput and latency.

Skills

Advanced C++ experience

UNIX operating systems (Linux)

System/processor performance

Network communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field

Job description

At Hudson River Trading (HRT), C++ is at the center of our live trading systems and research infrastructure. Our C++ engineers build the highly performant, fault‑tolerant systems that power trading across global markets. HRT's distributed system is on the Pareto frontier of latency and throughput, giving you limitless opportunity to leverage your deep knowledge of C++, OS internals, CPU architecture, and networking hardware and protocols. You’ll work side‑by‑side with researchers, traders, and hardware specialists, implementing solutions where every microsecond matters. Our bottom‑up approach to projects and our highly collaborative environment empower talented engineers to make significant contributions and see their impact daily. At HRT, you’ll be challenged to solve complex problems in a fast‑paced, highly competitive industry, surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the field.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize infrastructure for market data, order entry and execution logic, spanning tens of asset classes including options, equities, futures, crypto, and fixed income.
• Design fault‑tolerant, low‑latency systems for live trading, including encoding/prioritization of data over WAN links and recovery from hardware failures.
• Profile and improve performance‑critical code for both throughput and latency in production environments.
• Build and maintain infrastructure that drives products including client‑facing wholesale and SDP platforms, distributed network filesystems, and scalable research workflows.
• Write software that interfaces with specialized hardware such as FPGAs and ASICs used in trading systems.

Qualifications

• You are one of the top devs in your current organization, as measured by productivity, technical capability, and helpfulness to other devs.
• You are capable of solving complex engineering problems independently and providing technical advice for others in areas of your expertise.
• You can make progress on long‑term architectural projects while troubleshooting smaller tasks and bug fixes with agility.
• You can describe software designs at a high level (the abstract interface), low level (step‑by‑step algorithm), or anywhere in between.
• You are always looking for ways to make systems better.
• 1+ years of professional work experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• Superior design, debugging, and problem‑solving skills.
• Advanced C++ experience is required; daily use preferred.
• Knowledge of UNIX operating systems (Linux), system/processor performance, and network communication.

Hudson River Trading (HRT) brings a scientific approach to trading financial products. We have built one of the world’s most sophisticated computing environments for research and development. Our researchers are at the forefront of innovation in algorithmic trading.

At HRT we welcome a variety of expertise: mathematics and computer science, physics and engineering, media and tech. We are a community of self‑starters who are motivated by the excitement of being at the cutting edge of automation. HRT is proud of our diverse staff and values openness, transparency, and collaboration.

HRT is an equal opportunity employer; we would love to get to know you.