Senior Software Developer / JVM, Low Latency / Trading System

Motion Recruitment; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Motion Recruitment is seeking a Senior Java Software Engineer to join its Core Markets team in Philadelphia. You will design, develop, and optimize high-performance Java systems supporting real-time trading with a deep focus on threading, memory management, and JVM internals.

You will work on low-latency, mission-critical platforms where milliseconds matter and reliability is paramount. Candidates should have strong problem-solving skills and experience delivering robust financial technology

Qualifications

• Strong Core Java experience
• Deep understanding of JVM internals & low-level concepts
• Experience with multithreading and concurrency
• Memory management and garbage collection expertise
• Proven ability to develop high-throughput, low-latency systems
• Strong software engineering and problem-solving skills
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, optimize, and maintain high-performance Java systems for real-time trading
• Build scalable, low-latency trading applications
• Optimize performance, memory usage, and system throughput
• Work with concurrency, multithreading, and JVM internals
• Analyze and troubleshoot complex performance issues
• Write reliable, maintainable, thoroughly tested code
• Collaborate with engineers to improve system architecture and performance
• Support production trading systems in mission-critical environments
• Explore AI tools to improve automation and quality processes

Skills

Core Java

JVM internals

Multithreading & concurrency

Performance optimization

Memory management & GC

Troubleshooting

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related

Job description

A leading global financial technology organization is seeking a Senior Java Software Engineer to join its Core Markets team in Philadelphia. This team is responsible for building and maintaining a real-time, mission-critical derivatives market system that supports high-volume options trading.

This is not a traditional web application or cloud microservices position. The role is focused on deep, performance-oriented Java engineering where throughput, latency, reliability, and correctness are critical. You'll work on systems where milliseconds matter and where strong understanding of the JVM and low-level software engineering is highly valued.

The Role

You will design, develop, optimize, and maintain high-performance Java systems supporting real-time trading. The ideal candidate enjoys working close to the underlying technology and has a strong understanding of topics such as threading, concurrency, memory management, garbage collection, and performance optimization.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop high-performance applications using Core Java
• Design and maintain highly scalable, low-latency trading systems
• Optimize application performance, memory usage, and system throughput
• Work extensively with concurrency, multithreading, and JVM internals
• Analyze and troubleshoot complex performance issues
• Write highly reliable, maintainable, and thoroughly tested code
• Collaborate with other engineers to improve system architecture and performance
• Participate in production support for mission-critical trading systems
• Explore AI tools and automation opportunities to improve engineering and quality processes

Required Qualifications

• Strong professional experience with Core Java
• Strong understanding of Java internals and low-level programming concepts
• Experience with multithreading, concurrency, and performance optimization
• Understanding of memory management and garbage collection
• Experience developing high-throughput, low-latency systems
• Strong software engineering and problem-solving skills
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in trading, financial technology, capital markets, or exchange environments
• Experience working on real-time or mission-critical systems
• Experience with JVM performance tuning
• Interest or experience using AI tools for automation, development, or quality engineering
• Experience working in environments where reliability and performance are critical