Performance Engineer Systematic Trading- Amsterdam - 110-130K + OTE

Supergrads; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Supergrads is seeking a technically curious Performance Engineer to optimize highly complex electronic trading environments. You will investigate how trading infrastructure behaves, identify latency sources, and develop practical improvements with data-driven experiments.

Expect to work across disciplines with traders, software engineers, and hardware teams. Strong Python and networking or Linux experience is essential to drive measurable performance gains.

Qualifications

• Advanced professional experience with Python and Networks or Linux is a must-have.
• Strong analytical mindset with data-driven investigation.
• Ability to work independently and across disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Investigate complex systems using black-box analysis and experimentation.
• Work with large data sets to uncover patterns in exchange and network technology.
• Identify latency and efficiency improvements across the tech stack.
• Build lightweight prototypes and proofs-of-concept.
• Collaborate with traders, software engineers, and infrastructure teams to translate findings into changes.
• Analyze network behavior with statistical methods and experiments.

Skills

Python

Networking

Linux

Job description

My client is looking for a technically curious Performance Engineer to join a team focused on understanding and improving the performance of highly complex electronic trading environments.

Advanced professional experience with Python and Networks or Linux is a must-have for this role.

The role sits at the intersection of systems engineering, quantitative analysis, networking and experimental research. You’ll investigate how trading and exchange infrastructure behaves in real-world conditions, identify sources of latency and inefficiency, and develop practical solutions that can deliver a measurable performance advantage.

This is an opportunity for someone who enjoys getting beneath the surface of complex technology, forming hypotheses, testing them with data and experimentation, and turning those findings into tangible improvements.

What you’ll be doing;

• Investigating complex systems: Use black-box analysis, reverse-engineering techniques and structured experimentation to understand how external and internal systems behave and where performance can be improved.
• Data-driven research: Work with large volumes of data to uncover patterns, investigate unexpected behavior and develop a deeper understanding of exchange and network technology.
• Performance optimization: Identify latency and efficiency improvements across the technology stack, from connectivity and networking through to trading infrastructure.
• Building and testing ideas: Develop lightweight prototypes and proof-of-concepts to test new approaches, technologies and optimization techniques before moving them towards implementation.
• Working across disciplines: Partner with traders, software engineers, hardware specialists and infrastructure teams to translate technical findings into practical changes.
• Analyzing network behavior: Work with very large network datasets, developing statistical analyses and experiments to validate theories and explain real-world system behavior.
• Independent problem solving: Take ownership of investigations from initial question through to analysis, experimentation and recommendation, with the freedom to explore unconventional approaches.

What they are looking for;

• Strong knowledge of computer architecture, networking and/or Linux, with solid expertise in at least two of these areas.
• Experience applying reverse engineering or black-box analysis to complex technical systems.
• A strong analytical mindset, with an interest in using data and experimentation to answer difficult technical questions.
• Experience using Python for data analysis, modelling or system investigation.
• An understanding of sophisticated networking environments and networking stacks.
• A naturally investigative approach — someone who enjoys asking why something behaves the way it does and digging until they find the answer.
• The ability to work independently, take ownership and make progress with limited day-to-day direction.
• A collaborative approach and the confidence to work with specialists across engineering, infrastructure and trading.
• A genuine interest in performance, optimization and finding those small technical advantages that can make a significant difference.

The opportunity;

You’ll be working on some of the most technically demanding performance challenges in electronic trading, where microseconds matter and conventional approaches don’t always provide the answers.

My client is looking for people who combine strong technical fundamentals with curiosity, creativity and a willingness to experiment. If you enjoy solving problems that don’t have an obvious solution and using evidence to uncover what is really happening inside complex systems, this could be an excellent opportunity.