Senior Backend Engineer, Scala — Real-Time Trading

NinjaTrader; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 125,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

NinjaTrader, a leading futures trading platform, is seeking a Sr. Software Engineer to join our Evaluation Services team in Chicago.

You will design, build, and maintain the Scala-based backend systems that power our auto-liquidation engine, risk evaluation, and trading services—the core systems our platform and partners rely on. You will own significant features end-to-end, mentor juniors, and collaborate with Trading Services, Solutions Engineering, and Product to translate business

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend production systems experience.
• Strong Scala expertise with idiomatic patterns and testing (ScalaTest or similar).
• Experience with actor-based concurrency models (Akka, Pekko).
• Relational database skills with PostgreSQL, including JSONB usage.
• Familiarity with event-driven architectures and Kafka or Pub/Sub.
• Excellent troubleshooting skills across distributed systems and logs.
• Ability to write clear technical specifications, scope work realistically, and identify risks early.
• Commitment to high standards for code, tests, and documentation; strong code reviews.
• Strong communication skills to explain backend tradeoffs to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Self-starter who thrives in ambiguity and can handle multiple backend initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement backend services in Scala for evaluation and trading workloads.
• Build actor-based systems to handle high-throughput market data and event-driven workflows.
• Own features end-to-end from specs to production handoff.
• Design data models in PostgreSQL, including JSONB where appropriate.
• Diagnose and resolve complex backend incidents under pressure.
• Maintain code quality with thorough PR reviews and testing practices.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate business requirements into stories.
• Contribute to architectural decisions and modernize legacy Scala services.
• Mentor junior engineers on Scala idioms and testing practices.
• Develop deep expertise in NinjaTrader's evaluation platform and integrations.

Skills

Scala

Akka

PostgreSQL

Kafka

Pub/Sub

JSONB

Distributed systems

Troubleshooting

Code reviews

Technical specs

Communication

Mentoring

Tools

Protobuf

gRPC

Datadog

Job description

NinjaTrader, a leading futures trading platform, is seeking a Sr. Software Engineer to join our Evaluation Services team in Chicago.

You will design, build, and maintain the Scala-based backend systems that power our auto-liquidation engine, risk evaluation, and trading services—the core systems our platform and partners rely on. You will own significant features end-to-end, mentor juniors, and collaborate with Trading Services, Solutions Engineering, and Product to translate business