Lead Engineer - Ultra-Performance Trading Execution

Mission Staffing; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Mission Staffing in Chicago seeks a senior engineering leader to design and operate high-performance trading platforms where microsecond latency is central to the business.

You will drive architecture, set standards, mentor engineers, and partner with traders and risk teams to scale systems and cut latency.

This leadership role requires deep Java expertise, distributed-systems experience, and a proven track record delivering end-to-end initiatives.

Qualifications

• 10–15+ years building financial or trading systems in Java.
• Deep experience with multithreaded and concurrent programming.
• Strong background designing and building distributed systems.
• Track record of leading complex technical initiatives from start to finish.
• Experience mentoring engineers and helping build a strong, high-performing team.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment.
• Able to read and maintain systems written in C# and familiarity with AI-assisted development tools.

Responsibilities

• Design and build high-performance trading algorithms and distributed system components.
• Drive strategic engineering initiatives from concept through rollout and production support.
• Own complex technical projects end-to-end with engineering, trading, and business partners.
• Help set technical direction, architecture decisions, and development practices.
• Coach and mentor engineers through hands-on collaboration and code reviews.
• Push for high standards through design and code review.
• Continuously improve system efficiency, scalability, latency, and stability.
• Act as a bridge between engineering and business with traders, PMs, and risk teams.
• Identify opportunities to modernize and strengthen the execution platform as the business evolves.

Skills

Java

Multithreading

Distributed systems

Leadership

Mentoring engineers

Communication

High-stakes environment

AI-assisted tools

Tools

C#

Job description

Mission Staffing in Chicago seeks a senior engineering leader to design and operate high-performance trading platforms where microsecond latency is central to the business.

You will drive architecture, set standards, mentor engineers, and partner with traders and risk teams to scale systems and cut latency.

This leadership role requires deep Java expertise, distributed-systems experience, and a proven track record delivering end-to-end initiatives.