Senior Software Engineer (C++) | High-Performance Distributed Systems

X4 Alpha; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

X4 Alpha is building a brand-new engineering team in Chicago to construct a high-performance, distributed platform. You will influence architecture, engineering standards, and long-term technical direction while tackling complex performance-critical challenges.

Join a small team of exceptional engineers, work on a greenfield initiative, and help define the future of a critical system with ownership and high technical standards.

Qualifications

• Experience with modern C++ (C++20/23) in distributed systems.
• Strong knowledge of multithreading and concurrency.
• Experience with networking or communication protocols.
• Background in performance optimization or low-latency systems.

Responsibilities

• Designing and building large-scale distributed systems in modern C++.
• Solving complex networking, concurrency and communication challenges.
• Developing highly scalable, low-latency software.
• Collaborating with a small team of engineers on greenfield technology.

Skills

Modern C++ (C++20/23)

Distributed systems

Multithreading and concurrency

Networking protocols

Performance optimisation

Systems programming

Job description

We're partnering with one of North America's leading quantitative trading firms to build a brand new engineering team responsible for the next generation of a business-critical distributed platform.

This is a rare opportunity to join at the beginning of a greenfield initiative, working on complex performance-critical systems where you'll help influence architecture, engineering standards and the long-term technical direction of the platform.

What you'll be working on

• Designing and building large-scale distributed systems in modern C++
• Solving complex networking, concurrency and communication challenges
• Developing highly scalable, low-latency software
• Collaborating with a small team of exceptional engineers on greenfield technology
• Driving architectural decisions across a critical platform

We're interested in engineers who have experience with

• Modern C++ (C++20/23)
• Distributed systems
• Multithreading and concurrency
• Networking or communication protocols
• Performance optimisation
• Systems programming

Experience within quantitative trading is welcomed but absolutely not required. We're equally interested in those who have worked in infrastructure, networking, databases, cloud platforms or other performance-critical environments.

Why this opportunity?

• Brand new team with significant technical ownership
• Exceptional engineering leadership
• Strong emphasis on solving difficult technical problems
• Compensation packages reaching $1m+ for outstanding senior engineers

If you enjoy building high-performance systems and tackling genuinely difficult engineering challenges, we'd love to hear from you.