SVP - Low Latency Java Engineer

Selby Jennings; City Of London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Selby Jennings is seeking a Senior Low Latency Engineer to design and develop high-performance trading frameworks and infrastructure. You will contribute to real-time decision making and market data processing, shaping low-latency platforms in a global financial markets technology organisation.

The role demands deep expertise in Java, C++, Rust and KDB, with leadership experience and a track record of delivering scalable, production-grade systems in low-latency environments.

Qualifications

• Proven expertise in software engineering and application development.
• Significant experience building algorithmic trading systems, ideally within low-latency environments.
• Strong understanding of market data technologies and time-series databases such as KDB.
• Demonstrated leadership and project delivery experience.
• Passion for building highly performant, production-grade Java frameworks and event-driven microservices.
• Deep knowledge of modern Java, JVM internals, Linux operating systems, system calls and kernel behaviour.
• Strong understanding of TCP/IP networking and low-latency networking technologies, including kernel bypass solutions.
• Experience with performance tuning, benchmarking and latency optimisation.
• Strong software design and architectural skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Ability to produce clear technical documentation and architectural diagrams.
• Experience building consensus and working effectively across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Spend the majority of your time designing and developing high-performance applications in Java and/or Rust.
• Build and enhance event-driven, microservices-based trading systems running in low-latency environments.
• Lead the integration of new functionality, products and engineering initiatives.
• Analyse complex business and technical requirements to develop scalable solutions.
• Provide expert guidance on low-latency software engineering best practices.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand requirements and translate them into robust technical solutions.
• Drive architectural improvements, performance optimisation and engineering excellence.
• Partner with senior stakeholders across technology and business teams.
• Mentor and support junior and senior engineers, fostering technical growth and knowledge sharing.

Skills

Java

Rust

C++

KDB

Market data infra

TCP/IP networking

Latency optimisation

Software architecture

Lead cross-team delivery

Documentation & diagrams

Stakeholder management

Tools

C++

Job description

Senior Low Latency Engineer

Build the Technology Behind Modern Financial Markets

Join a global financial markets technology organisation where engineering plays a central role in powering electronic trading, market connectivity and real-time decision making.

This is an opportunity to work on mission-critical systems that support high-performance trading environments. You will contribute to the design and development of low-latency platforms, collaborate with experienced engineers and architects, and help drive modernisation initiatives across a large-scale technology landscape.

The Team

This is a senior-level engineering role responsible for designing, developing and enhancing high-performance application frameworks and infrastructure.

The position sits within a specialist engineering group focused on low-latency trading technology, distributed systems and application architecture. The team partners closely with engineering teams across the organisation to provide technology frameworks, performance optimisation expertise and strategic guidance for electronic trading platforms.

The successful candidate will bring deep experience in low-latency systems engineering, with strong expertise across technologies such as Java, C++, Rust, KDB and market data infrastructure. Experience working on algorithmic trading platforms, market data replay systems and simulation or back-testing frameworks is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Spend the majority of your time designing and developing high-performance applications in Java and/or Rust.
• Build and enhance event-driven, microservices-based trading systems running in low-latency environments.
• Lead the integration of new functionality, products and engineering initiatives.
• Analyse complex business and technical requirements to develop scalable solutions.
• Provide expert guidance on low-latency software engineering best practices.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand requirements and translate them into robust technical solutions.
• Drive architectural improvements, performance optimisation and engineering excellence.
• Partner with senior stakeholders across technology and business teams.
• Mentor and support junior and senior engineers, fostering technical growth and knowledge sharing.

Required Skills & Experience

• Proven expertise in software engineering and application development.
• Significant experience building algorithmic trading systems, ideally within low-latency environments.
• Strong understanding of market data technologies and time-series databases such as KDB.
• Demonstrated leadership and project delivery experience.
• Passion for building highly performant, production-grade Java frameworks and event-driven microservices.
• Deep knowledge of modern Java, JVM internals, Linux operating systems, system calls and kernel behaviour.
• Strong understanding of TCP/IP networking and low-latency networking technologies, including kernel bypass solutions.
• Experience with performance tuning, benchmarking and latency optimisation.
• Strong software design and architectural skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Ability to produce clear technical documentation and architectural diagrams.
• Experience building consensus and working effectively across multiple teams.

Nice to Have

• Professional experience with C++.