Site Reliability Engineer III

CME Group; Belfast City District; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus Programme

Equity Programme

Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)

Private Medical and Dental coverage

Mental Health Benefit Programme

Group Pension Plan

Income Protection

Life Assurance

Cycle To Work

EV Car Benefit Scheme

Gym Membership

Family Leave

Education Assistance – MBA/Advanced/BS

Ongoing Employee Development Training/

Job summary

CME Group is seeking a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) III to engineer reliability for our Google Cloud (GCP) infrastructure and middeware platform engineering. You will help build resilient, automated systems for CME's derivatives platform, enabling high concurrency with ultra-low latency.

You will mentor junior engineers, participate in production operations, and contribute to cloud transformation efforts across the engineering stack.

Qualifications

• Proficiency with Linux-based systems and distributed systems.
• Experience with Kubernetes/GKE and public cloud platforms (GCP).
• Strong scripting and programming skills (Python/Go/Java/Bash).
• Knowledge of CI/CD patterns and IaC tools (Terraform/Ansible).
• Familiarity with observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry).

Responsibilities

• Architect, operate, and support migration of platforms to Google Cloud.
• Design, scale, and maintain observability using Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry.
• Lead incident response, post-mortems, and rapid recovery of production systems.
• Reduce toil through automation and platform improvements.
• Contribute to disaster recovery strategies and resiliency testing.
• Lead technical discussions and mentor junior SRE teammates.

Skills

Python

Go

Java

Bash

Kubernetes

Tools

Kubernetes

GCP

Terraform

Prometheus

Grafana

Kafka

Job description

Job Title: Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) III – Platform Engineering & Systems Reliability

The Role: CME Group is seeking a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) III to engineer reliability for our Google Cloud (GCP) infrastructure, Middleware Platform Engineering team, and core technology foundations powering our Clearing, Risk, and derivatives applications. In this role, you will help build resilient, automated systems that combine ultra-low latency with high-concurrency performance, enabling CME's product teams to innovate safely at scale. You will work alongside senior engineers, mentor junior colleagues, engage in the dynamic operation of production systems, and assist in driving our cloud transformation.

What You Will Do / Key Responsibilities

• Middleware & Application Architecture: Architect, operate, and support the migration of application platforms—including Messaging (Kafka, RedPanda, MQ, Pub/Sub), Service Discovery (Consul, Vault), and Data Distribution (SFTP/JScape)—to Google Cloud Platform. Manage cluster lifecycles, data replication, RBAC, and workload placement.
• Observability & Monitoring Fabric: Design, scale, and maintain our observability backbone using tools like OpenTelemetry, Splunk, Prometheus, and Grafana. Establish and continuously improve metrics, logs, alerting strategies, SLIs, and SLOs to enable fast issue detection.
• Incident Response & Operations: Engage with urgency in live production incidents, take ownership of minor incidents, lead post-mortems, and ensure rapid system recovery.
• Toil Reduction & Automation: Actively identify operational toil and eliminate manual effort through code, automation, and systematic platform improvements.
• Resiliency & Testing: Contribute to disaster recovery (DR) strategies, continuous systems resiliency testing, and present reliability improvement suggestions to the Product backlog.
• Collaboration & Leadership: Lead technical discussions for assigned scope, present solution options, collaborate across functional teams, and mentor junior SRE colleagues.

What We're Looking For

• Engineering & Scripting Discipline: Programming and scripting skills in high-level languages such as Python, Go, Java, or Bash to construct production-grade tooling.
• Cloud Native & Systems Fundamentals: Proficiency with Linux-based systems, distributed systems, containerization (Kubernetes/GKE), and public cloud platforms (GCP/GCE).
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Understanding of modern CI/CD patterns and IaC tools such as Terraform, Ansible, or Kubernetes Config Connector (KCC).
• Networking & Protocols: Knowledge of core systems and networking concepts (TCP/IP, UDP, HTTP, DNS, load balancing, and messaging protocols).
• AI & Agentic Engineering: Forward-thinking approach to automation, leveraging Generative AI and Agents (e.g., Gemini) to optimize platform operations.
• Analytical Problem-Solving: Data-driven mindset to troubleshoot complex, non-linear system behaviors in a fast-paced, high-pressure trading ecosystem.
• Communication & Adaptability: Strategic communication skills to translate technical requirements for cross-functional teams, coupled with an eagerness to learn independently and collaboratively.

Preferred Qualifications / Desirable

• Observability Stack: Hands-on experience with telemetry tools such as OpenTelemetry, Splunk, Prometheus, and Grafana.
• Agile Integration: Comfort working within Agile frameworks and collaborative software development lifecycles.
• Certifications: GCP Professional Cloud Architect, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), or Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD).
• Domain Expertise: Any experience in Financial Markets or other highly regulated, ultra-low latency, high-concurrency environments would be highly beneficial although not essential,"

Why CME Group?

• Global Significance: Build technology that underpins the integrity of the world's leading derivatives marketplace.
• Engineering Culture: Flourish in a "code-first" environment that prioritizes systematic, automated solutions over manual intervention.
• Professional Evolution: Grow your SRE career within an organization actively transforming its approach to production engineering.
• Competitive Package: Enjoy a robust compensation and benefits structure while working with cutting-edge tech.

Company Benefits

• Bonus Programme
• Equity Programme
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Private Medical and Dental coverage
• Mental Health Benefit Programme
• Group Pension Plan
• Income Protection
• Life Assurance
• Cycle To Work
• EV Car Benefit Scheme
• Gym Membership
• Family Leave
• Education Assistance – MBA/Advanced Degree/Bachelor Degree
• Ongoing Employee Development Training/Certification
• Hybrid Working

CME Group is the world’s leading derivatives marketplace. But who we are goes deeper than that. Here, you can impact markets worldwide. Transform industries. And build a career by shaping tomorrow. We invest in your success and you own it – all while working alongside a team of leading experts who inspire you in ways big and small. Problem solvers, difference makers, trailblazers. Those are our people. And we’re looking for more.

At CME Group, we embrace our employees' unique experiences and skills to ensure that everyone’s perspectives are acknowledged and valued. As an equal-opportunity employer, we consider all potential employees without regard to any protected characteristic.