Senior KDB+/q Developer - Equities E-Trading Platform

234 MS Hong Kong Limited; Hong Kong; On-site; HKD 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Morgan Stanley is hiring a KDB+/q Developer to build and support our equities trading data platform in a fast-paced front-office environment. You will collaborate with traders, strategists, and regional tech teams to deliver reliable data components and analytics.

The role focuses on real-time data capture, production-grade Q scripts, and scalable data pipelines, offering exposure to cutting-edge markets and a diverse, inclusive culture.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of KDB+/q experience with large financial datasets in Unix/Linux environments.
• Strong understanding of KDB architecture and time-series data workflows in production.
• Experience supporting process-oriented production systems and working with front-office users.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain KDB+/q components for real-time data capture and analytics.
• Improve platform observability, monitoring, logging, and backfill/recovery workflows.
• Optimize queries and data pipelines for performance, scalability, and reliability.

Skills

KDB+/q

Unix/Linux

Time-series

Tools

Python

Snowflake

Job description

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, and individuals from more than 1,200 offices in 43 countries. As a market leader, the talent and passion of our people is critical to our success. Together, we share a common set of values rooted in integrity, excellence and strong team ethic. Morgan Stanley can provide a superior foundation for building a professional career - a place for people to learn, to achieve and grow. A philosophy that balances personal lifestyles, perspectives and needs is an important part of our culture. Morgan Stanley's Automated Risk Trading (ART) team is hiring a KDB+/q Developer to build and support our equities trading data platform. The team develops e-trading systems for risk internalization, hedging, and market-making across global markets within the Institutional Equity Division. This is a hands-on engineering role in a fast-paced front-office environment. You will partner closely with traders, quantitative strategists, and regional technology teams to design, develop, deploy, and support KDB plant components supporting our equities trading systems.

What you’ll do

Design, build, and maintain KDB+/q components that support real-time data capture and analytics generation. Deliver enhancements across the full software lifecycle: requirements, development, testing, release, and production support, with a strong focus on reliability and data correctness. Investigate production and data-quality issues, perform root-cause analysis, and implement durable fixes that reduce repeat incidents. Improve platform observability and operational tooling, including monitoring, logging, alerting, and backfill/recovery workflows. Optimize q queries and data pipelines for performance, scalability, and maintainability. Contribute practical engineering ideas that improve delivery speed and platform robustness.

Required skills

• At least 5 years of KDB+/q experience working with large financial datasets in Unix/Linux environments.
• Understanding of KDB architecture and time-series data workflows in production.
• Experience supporting process-oriented production systems.
• Ability to work directly with front-office users in a fast-moving environment.

Preferred skills

• Scripting/automation experience in Python.
• Experience with Snowflake.
• Experience with equities electronic trading systems.

What You Can Expect From Morgan Stanley

At Morgan Stanley, we raise, manage and allocate capital for our clients - helping them reach their goals. We do it in a way that is differentiated - and we've done that for 90 years. Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren't just beliefs; they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you'll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There's also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work. To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices into your browser. Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in experience and background. Our recruiting efforts reflect our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion, where individuals are hired, developed, and advanced based on their skills and talents. Our workforce reflects a broad cross-section of the global communities in which we operate, bringing a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and experiences. For more information, please visit: https://www.morganstanley.com/people-opportunities/eeo. At Morgan Stanley, we advise, originate, trade, manage and distribute capital for people, governments and institutions, always with a standard of excellence and guided by our core values. Morgan Stanley is dedicated to providing first-class service to our clients, in a way that reflects our commitment to creating a more sustainable future and fostering stronger communities around the world. In each line of business, we strive to demonstrate our belief in the power of transformative thinking, innovative strategies and leading-edge solutions - and in the ability of capital to work for the benefit of all society.