Lead Software Developer – Options Market Making

Oxford Knight; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Oxford Knight is seeking a Lead Software Developer to design, build, and optimize a high‑performance options market‑making platform in London. You will own the core quote engine end-to-end, delivering low-latency, scalable technology for US equity options trading.

You’ll work in a tech‑driven, collaborative environment, profiling and tuning components, with a focus on concurrency, Linux performance, and CPU architecture to maximize throughput and minimize latency.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience in options electronic market making, end-to-end quote lifecycle.
• Deep-level understanding of CPU architecture, memory hierarchy, caching, concurrency, networking, and Linux performance.
• Demonstrated experience building low-latency, high-throughput, multithreaded systems.
• Bonus points for inner workings knowledge of one or more US equity option exchanges.
• Great opportunity to be part of a tech-driven environment with close collaboration between desks.
• Relaxed, friendly culture, with a regular socials.

Responsibilities

• Designing and developing a high-performance, event-driven options quoting engine – capable of maintaining large numbers of simultaneous two-sided quotes
• Implementing intelligent quote prioritization, throttling and backpressure-handling when exchange or internal message-rate limits are reached
• Developing high-performance C++ components
• Profiling and tuning the full quote-to-exchange path to reduce gateway latency and maximize sustained throughput

Skills

C++

Low-latency

Multithreading

Linux performance

CPU architecture

Job description

My client is a leading quant and systematic hedge fund, leveraging their deep knowledge of trading, technology and operations to deliver high-quality, uncorrelated returns. Now seeking a highly experienced Lead Software Developer to design, build, and optimize the core technology behind real-time option quote management across US equity options markets.

In this role, your responsibilities will include:

• Designing and developing a high-performance, event-driven options quoting engine – capable of maintaining large numbers of simultaneous two-sided quotes
• Implementing intelligent quote prioritization, throttling and backpressure-handling when exchange or internal message-rate limits are reached
• Developing high-performance C++ components
• Profiling and tuning the full quote-to-exchange path to reduce gateway latency and maximize sustained throughput

This is a technology and data-driven firm, offering excellent opportunities for career growth. You’ll be expected to be well-organized, proactive, resourceful; able to handle a fast-paced, dynamic environment, question the status quo; be accountable and possess an ownership mindset.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience in options electronic market making, ideally with a strong focus on end-to-end quote lifecycle management
• Deep-level understanding of CPU architecture, memory hierarchy, caching, concurrency, networking, and Linux performance
• Demonstrated experience building low-latency, high-throughput, multithreaded systems
• Bonus points for inner workings knowledge of one or more US equity option exchanges
• Great opportunity to be part of a tech-driven environment with close collaboration between desks
• Relaxed, friendly culture, with a regular socials

Whilst we carefully review all applications, to all jobs, due to the high volume of applications we receive it is not possible to respond to those who have not been successful.

Lead Software Developer – Options Market Making London