Lead Engineer, Trading Product Engineering

Bullish, Inc.; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Bullish, Inc. is seeking a Lead Engineer for Trading Product Engineering. This hands-on role involves driving backend development for high-performance trading engine components. The ideal candidate has over 12 years of Java experience and a deep understanding of trading technologies.

You will mentor engineers, design reliable low-latency systems, and collaborate with teams across Hong Kong and Singapore. Bullish promotes a culture of technical excellence and innovation within the digital asset realm.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in Java backend engineering focused on trading technologies.
• Proven ability in building low-latency trading systems.
• Experience with unit testing using JUnit and Mockito.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver reliable, low-latency Java code for the Exchange.
• Identify and solve bottlenecks to improve throughput and reliability.
• Mentor engineers and set high standards for code quality.

Skills

Java backend engineering

Low-latency trading systems

Concurrency primitives

Data structures and algorithms

API development

Agile methodologies

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Spring

Docker

Kubernetes

Git/GitHub

JIRA

Job description

## Lead Engineer, Trading Product EngineeringApplylocations: Londontime type: Full timeposted on: Posted 2 Days Agojob requisition id: JR2001235## **About Bullish**## Bullish is an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. These include: **Bullish** **Exchange** – a regulated and institutionally focused digital assets spot and derivatives exchange, integrating a high-performance central limit order book matching engine with automated market making to provide deep and predictable liquidity. Bullish Exchange is regulated in Germany, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar. **CoinDesk** **Indices** – a collection of tradable proprietary and single-asset benchmarks and indices that track the performance of digital assets for global institutions in the digital assets and traditional finance industries. **CoinDesk** **Data** - a broad suite of digital assets market data and analytics, providing real-time insights into prices, trends, and market dynamics. **CoinDesk** **Insights** – a digital asset media and events provider and operator of Coindesk.com, a digital media platform that covers news and insights about digital assets, the underlying markets, policy, and blockchain technology.**Reports to:**Vice President, Engineering**Engineering Organization & Culture**At Bullish, we are engineering the institutional standard for the digital asset industry. Our mission is to build a platform centered on security and compliance, requiring a commitment to technical excellence that extends beyond delivering code. As a global organization, we set a high bar for those driven to do their best work alongside experienced, deeply specialized peers.Engineers here treat development as a craft and own the outcome from concept to deployment. Our teams bring structure to ambiguity and shape the frameworks that support a global organization. We refuse to compromise on quality and seek problem solvers who thrive on complex technical challenges with real market consequences.**The Team: Trading Product Engineering**The Trading Product Engineering team builds the core distributed systems that drive the global trading experience on Bullish Exchange. We own the end-to-end order lifecycle, orchestrating a hybrid matching engine that combines a Central Limit Order Book with proprietary Automated Market Making. Our high-throughput APIs enable trading across Spot, Futures, and Options. The work demands absolute correctness in managing complex financial state transitions, translating intricate market structures into scalable solutions.**The Role**We are looking for a Lead Engineer to drive backend development of the applications, frameworks, and tools at the core of Bullish Exchange. You will design and build high-performance trading engine components alongside a distributed team based primarily in Hong Kong and Singapore.This is a hands-on technical role with leadership expectations: setting the technical bar, mentoring engineers, and shaping how the team works. Bullish Engineering operates on an AI-first principle, using LLMs throughout the SDLC to speed up development, review, and automation.**What You'll Do*** Design and deliver reusable, reliable, low-latency Java code that powers the Exchange.* Apply deep TradFi product knowledge across Spot and Derivatives to ensure functional correctness and market fit.* Identify bottlenecks and engineer solutions that improve throughput, latency, and reliability.* Set the bar for code quality, automation, and design across the team.* Mentor engineers and define what good looks like across the organization.* Collaborate closely with engineers, product, and project management across Hong Kong, Singapore, and other Bullish hubs.**What You'll Bring*** 12+ years of Java backend engineering experience, with a focus on front-office execution and trading technologies.* Expert-level Java (17+), including the JVM, concurrency primitives, and collections.* Proven track record of architecting and building low-latency trading systems from the ground up.* Strong command of data structures, algorithms, and TDD/BDD practices, including thorough unit test coverage with JUnit and Mockito.* Hands-on experience with Spring or Micronaut, Docker, and Kubernetes.* Working knowledge of messaging technologies such as Kafka, RabbitMQ, or Solace.* Solid understanding of Spot, Futures, and Options markets.* Hands-on experience with agentic AI development: LLM integration, prompt engineering, and SDLC automation.* Familiarity with Git/GitHub, JIRA, Confluence, and CI/CD practices.* Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field.**Nice to Haves*** Familiarity with TypeScript.* Familiarity with Google Cloud Platform (GCP).* Experience in the cryptocurrency or digital asset space.**Bullish is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are fast evolving and striving towards being a globally-diverse community. With integrity at our core, our success is driven by a talented team of individuals and the different perspectives they are encouraged to bring to work every day.**