Engineering Manager - Asian Timezones

hermeneutic Investments; Hong Kong; On-site; HKD 900,000 - 1,900,000; Full time

Job summary

hermeneutic Investments seeks an experienced Engineering Manager to lead and grow high-performing teams building crypto research and trading systems. This hands-on leadership role emphasizes operational excellence, clear communication, and strong coaching as much as technical judgment.

You will partner with Engineering, Trading, Research, Operations, and Risk leadership to translate complex requirements into execution plans and deliver reliable, low-latency systems for 24/7 markets.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of engineering management experience leading software teams.
• Hands-on production systems experience building and operating high-availability, high-performance systems.
• Strong technical foundation in system design and architecture (scalability, reliability, latency).
• Proven people leadership skills, including hiring, performance management, feedback, and career development.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong ownership and execution mindset, delivering reliable systems end-to-end under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Define requirements, scope, timelines with stakeholders and collaborate on long-term technical roadmap planning.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, within quality expectations, and aligned with business objectives.
• Communicate progress, risks, and decisions clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Drive sound architectural decisions balancing speed, scalability, and maintainability while managing technical debt.
• Ensure high availability, low latency, and fault tolerance of 24/7 market systems through KPI monitoring and continuous improvement.
• Lead sprint planning and remove blockers to maximize team productivity.
• Mentor engineers through regular 1:1s and career development; foster inclusive culture.
• Build and scale teams through effective hiring, onboarding, and development.

Skills

Engineering management

High availability systems

System design & architecture

People leadership

Communication with stakeholders

Execution mindset

Tools

Cloud platforms

Job description

Company Overview

hermeneutic Investments is a best-in-class proprietary trading firm. It deploys research-driven discretionary and systematic strategies as well as makes strategic long-term investments. The partners' decade-long history of success in trading and business building and a firm-wide cultural emphasis on alpha generation, open debate, relentless iteration, and teamwork are key to the firm's continued expansion in a challenging market environment that has hamstrung competitors. A hard-wired emphasis on risk management and opportunistic market participation ensure that hermeneutic Investments will continue its growth trajectory in the coming decades.

Job Overview

We are seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to lead and grow high-performing teams responsible for building and operating crypto research and trading systems.

This is a hands-on leadership role in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment, where operational excellence, clear communication, and strong coaching matter as much as technical judgment. You will partner closely with Engineering, Trading, Research, Operations, and Risk leadership to align priorities, translate complex requirements into execution plans, and deliver reliable, low-latency systems.

Responsibilities

Strategic Partnership & Delivery

• Partner with Product/Business Owners and stakeholders (PMO, Trading, Research, Operations) to define requirements, scope, timelines, and collaborate on long-term technical roadmap planning
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, within quality expectations, and aligned with business objectives
• Communicate progress, risks, and decisions clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Drive sound architectural decisions and technical excellence, balancing speed, scalability, and long-term maintainability while managing technical debt
• Ensure high availability, low latency, and fault tolerance of systems operating in 24/7 markets through KPI monitoring (uptime, latency, deployment frequency, MTTR) and continuous improvement
• Lead post-incident reviews and implement preventative measures to minimize system outages

Operational Excellence & Team Productivity

• Manage engineering capacity, sprint planning, resource allocation, and remove blockers to maximize team productivity
• Ensure adherence to best practices for code quality, testing, observability, and deployment while driving process improvements

People Leadership & Culture

• Lead, mentor, and coach engineers through regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development planning
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-trust engineering culture
• Build and scale teams through effective hiring, interviewing, onboarding, and developing new team members

Requirements

Must Have

• 5+ years of engineering management experience leading and scaling software teams to deliver complex software projects
• Hands-on production systems experience building and operating high-availability, high-performance systems (e.g., trading, payments, fintech, real-time platforms), including owning critical systems, incident response, on-call rotations, and post-mortem leadership
• Strong technical foundation in system design and architecture (scalability, reliability, latency, technical debt)
• Proven people leadership skills, including hiring, performance management, feedback, and career development
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management across technical and non-technical audiences
• Strong ownership and execution mindset, with a track record of delivering reliable systems end-to-end in high-pressure, fast-moving environments

Nice to Have

• Background or strong interest in trading systems, financial platforms, or crypto trading engineering projects
• Familiarity with distributed systems, cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure), modern web frameworks
• Familiarity with exchange integrations, order books, wallets, custody, or blockchain fundamentals
• Familiarity with Data Engineering approaches and methodologies

Interview Process

• CV Screening - We will review your application based on the qualifications and experience outlined above
• Phone Interview - A discussion with the CTO or Head of HR to better understand your background, career motivations, and overall alignment
• First Interview - Interview with the Engineering Managers, focusing on your experience, motivation, and general technical knowledge
• Second Interview - Interview with the Engineering Team Leads to further explore your experience, technical skills, and role fit.
• Co-Founder Interview - A concluding discussion to evaluate cultural fit, strategic alignment, and how you resonate with the firm's values

Company Values

Throughout the process, you'll be assessed for cultural fit through our company values:

• Drive - We believe the best team members are deeply passionate about what they do. That passion fuels their growth, drives them to seek out the best teams, and leads them to hold high expectations of themselves in pursuit of excellence
• Ownership - We aim to extend ownership as broadly as possible across the firm. In return, we value people who take initiative, step up when needed, and treat the company's goals as their own
• Judgment - We value those who see the big picture and focus on what truly drives impact and results. They use time wisely, adapt across domains, and always prioritize outcomes over comfort zones
• Openness - We foster a culture of open communication, mutual challenge, and shared growth. We believe constructive debate and proactive knowledge sharing lead us closer to the truth—and better decisions
• Competence - We work with people who bring exceptional intellectual strength. What sets them apart isn't just what they know—it's how they use what they know to navigate change, adapt quickly, and contribute meaningfully in fast-changing environments
• Resilience - We perform under pressure. Markets move fast, and so do we—but we stay grounded, focused, and calm. We embrace uncertainty, learn from setbacks, and adapt quickly without losing sight of long-term goals