Platform Engineer Intern, Summer 2027

Akuna Capital; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

Akuna Capital in Chicago, IL offers a 10-week Platform Engineer Intern program designed to mentor students while building automated operations and scalable platforms.

You will own projects, work with the Platform Engineering team, and gain hands-on experience in cloud, IaC, Kubernetes, and data-driven trading infrastructure in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Pursuing a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. in a technical field (computer science/engineering, math, physics, or equivalent).
• Graduating by August 2028.
• Major GPA of 3.5 or above.
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. on day one of employment (including OPT/STEM for F-1).

Responsibilities

• Support and design growth and expansion of Platform offerings to meet internal stakeholder needs with scalable, reliable, and highly available systems.
• Collaborate with stream‑aligned and partner platform teams to develop the hybrid cloud platform.
• Produce clean, well‑tested code with clear design to support production infrastructure and systems.
• Contribute to pushing the organization forward as the tech stack evolves.

Skills

IaC

Kubernetes

AWS

Education

CS/Engineering degree

Tools

Cloud infrastructure

Job description

About Akuna

Akuna Capital is an innovative trading firm with a strong focus on collaboration, cutting‑edge technology, data‑driven solutions, and automation. We specialize in providing liquidity as an options market maker, meaning we are committed to providing competitive quotes that we are willing to both buy and sell. To do this successfully, we design and implement our own low‑latency technologies, trading strategies, and mathematical models. Our Founding Partners first conceptualized Akuna in their hometown of Sydney. They opened the firm’s first office in 2011 in the heart of the derivatives industry and the options capital of the world – Chicago. Today, Akuna is proud to operate from additional offices in Sydney, Shanghai, Singapore, and London.

What you’ll do as a Platform Engineer Intern at Akuna

We are seeking Platform Engineer Interns to join our innovative and growing technology team for our 10‑week Akunacademy internship program. You will work within the Platform Engineering Team, gaining expertise through building highly automated operations while monitoring and managing the operational capabilities of systems at Akuna. Each intern takes full ownership of their project, and at the end of the program, has the opportunity to present their work and accomplishments. In this role, you will:

• Support and design the ongoing growth, design, and expansion of our Platform offerings to meet the needs of our internal stakeholders with scalable, reliable, and highly available systems
• Work with our stream‑aligned and partner platform teams to develop our hybrid cloud platform
• Produce clean, well‑tested, and documented code with a clear design to support production infrastructure and systems
• Challenge the status quo and help push our organization forward, as we grow beyond the limits of our current tech stack

Requirements for this role

• Pursuing a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. in a technical field (computer science/engineering, math, physics, or equivalent)
• Graduating by August 2028
• Major GPA of 3.5 or above
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. is required on the first day of employment, including F‑1 students using OPT or STEM

Previous experience in finance or trading is not required. Many of our engineers joined Akuna with little‑to‑no prior knowledge of the markets, and we pride ourselves on our ability to onboard those new to the industry. Training and continuous education are provided for all engineers to ensure they can build the requisite technical and non‑technical skillset for success.

Qualities that make great candidates

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Kubernetes, and AWS Cloud
• Experience with cloud computing, networking, data engineering and security
• Ability to react quickly and accurately to rapidly changing market conditions, including the ability to quickly and accurately respond and/or solve math and coding problems, is an essential function of the role

In addition to the above technical skills, Akuna values diversity of experience and perspective. We believe that engineers with varied backgrounds and interests allow us to approach problems from unique angles and to uncover innovative, optimal solutions. We want everyone to feel empowered to apply; we welcome your application, and we strongly encourage you to take the first steps in joining us in the future!

Resumes must be submitted in PDF format.

By applying to this role, you are indicating this is your top preference and acknowledge you will not be considered for other Quant and/or Tech roles at Akuna this recruiting season. This acknowledgement does not limit applications to Trading roles - in addition to this role, you may apply to any Trader roles of interest.

We are an AI‑friendly company and encourage employees to leverage AI in their daily work. However, AI assistance is not permitted during interviews or assessments. Our interview process is designed to evaluate your individual skills and judgment, and the use of AI tools will result in disqualification from the hiring process.

In accordance with the Illinois Equal Pay Act, the minimum annualized base salary starts at $145,000. Exact compensation offered may vary based on many factors including, but not limited to, the candidate's experience, qualifications, and skill set. The minimum base salary herein was determined in good faith by Akuna Capital LLC.