Lead Software Engineer (Java) - Vice President

Citi; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Citi in Singapore seeks an Applications Development Technical Lead Analyst to drive architecture and hands-on engineering for high-throughput risk platforms powering real-time checks and intraday position management across global trading desks.

You will shape AI-assisted engineering practices, design low-latency pipelines with Kafka and Solace PubSub+, mentor engineers, and coordinate with Risk Managers, Product Owners, and regional teams to ensure stability and scalability of critical systems.

Qualifications

• Senior engineering leadership with architecture experience.
• Hands-on Java 17/21+ and performance optimization.
• Experience with distributed systems and low-latency design.

Responsibilities

• Architect & design end-to-end technical architecture for distributed risk engines.
• Hands-on development in Java and high-performance modules in C++/Rust.
• Champion AI-assisted engineering to boost productivity and code quality.
• Design low-latency pipelines using Kafka, Solace PubSub+ and related tech.
• Profile, benchmark, and optimize latency, memory, and IPC.
• Collaborate with Risk Managers, Product Owners, Trading Desks, and global teams.
• Mentor engineers and lead architectural reviews across time zones.

Skills

Java

C++

Rust

Distributed systems

Low-latency

AI-assisted engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Master's degree desirable

Tools

GitHub Copilot

Devin

Kafka

Solace PubSub+

Job description

Role Summary

The Applications Development Technical Lead Analyst is a senior engineering and architectural leadership role based in Singapore, operating as a key regional anchor within the global Client Risk and Position Management technology organization. In this capacity, you will serve as the principal designer, systems architect, and hands‑on lead engineer for mission‑critical, low‑latency, and high‑throughput risk platforms. These platforms power real‑time credit checks, intraday position aggregation, margin valuation, anomaly detection, and live risk limit enforcement across global trading desks. As an engineering leader, you will collaborate extensively with other global teams and stakeholders across Asea, Europe, and Americas. You will champion modern engineering practices—actively designing, building, and prototyping using AI‑augmented tools such as GitHub Copilot, Devin, and generative coding assistants to accelerate development of lifecycles, elevate code quality, and modernize enterprise architectures. Additionally, you will serve as the primary regional and global technical contact for Risk Managers, Product Owners, Front‑Office Trading Desks, and cross‑functional technology partners.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture, System Design & Core Engineering (Hands-on)

• Architect & Design: Lead the end-to-end technical architecture and low-level design for distributed, fault-tolerant, high-concurrency risk calculation and position management engines supporting global trading sessions.


• Hands-on Development: Actively write, review, and optimize high-performance, multi-threaded production code primarily in Java (Java 17/21+), with targeted high-performance/low-latency modules in C++ and exploring Rust where ultra-low latency memory safety and deterministic execution are required.


• AI-Augmented Engineering: Champion the adoption of modern AI development workflows (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Devin, AI-driven code review, and automated test generation) to enhance developer productivity, modernize legacy components, and accelerate time-to-market.


• Middleware & Event Streams: Design resilient, low-latency, event-driven pipelines using enterprise messaging backbones such as Apache Kafka, Solace PubSub+, and other low-latency middleware fabrics.


• Performance Tuning: Profile, benchmark, and optimize CPU usage, memory layout, GC overhead, network serialization, and IPC for microsecond/sub-millisecond level latency.


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Global Stakeholder Collaboration & Technical Advisory

• Key Technical Liaison: Act as a technical contact and subject matter expert (SME) for Risk Managers, Product Owners, Trading Desks, Quantitative Analysts, and Operations across APAC and global hubs.


• Global Team Alignment: Partner closely with regional and global engineering pods across Singapore, London, New York, and other tech centers to ensure seamless platform rollouts, operational stability, and cohesive architecture standards.


• Cross-Technology Coordination: Interface closely with upstream Order Management Systems (OMS), Execution Management Systems (EMS), Market Data feeds, and downstream Clearing/Settlement and Regulatory reporting platforms across multiple asset classes (FX, Equities, Rates, Commodities, Credit).


• Requirement Translation: Translate complex quantitative risk models, margin methodologies, and regional/global regulatory requirements into scalable, deterministic technical architecture


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Mentorship & Regional/Global Leadership

• Lead, coach, and mentor mid-level and junior engineers in Singapore and regional teams in distributed systems design, clean code practices, and modern AI-assisted engineering techniques.


• Lead architectural design reviews and rigorous peer code reviews to ensure reliability, security, and maintainability across distributed codebases.


• Partner with engineering managers and Scrum Masters across time zones on sprint planning, technical estimations, dependency resolution, and milestone delivery.

Technical Proficiencies

• Java: Proficiency in modern Java (17/21+), JVM internals, memory management/profiling, lock-free data structures, concurrent programming, and low-latency tuning.


• C++ / Rust (Desirable): Practical experience or working knowledge of C++ (14/17/20) and/or Rust for performance-critical, memory-safe, or low-latency system components and cross-language interoperability (JNI, FFI)

Education

• Bachelor’s degree / University degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or equivalent STEM discipline.


• Master’s degree (Desirable) in Computer Science, Financial Engineering, or related quantitative field

Job Family Group

Technology

Job Family

Applications Development

Time Type

Full time

Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

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