Software Engineer - AI Tooling

Fintal Partners; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Fintal Partners in Chicago is seeking a software engineer to build AI-enabled engineering workflows and developer tools powering AI-driven production systems.

You will work directly with researchers, traders and engineers, owning features from design to delivery and iteration. Strong programming skills, security fundamentals and curiosity about AI are valued in this team.

Qualifications

• 3+ years' experience in a relevant software engineering role.
• Bachelor's in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or equivalent.
• Proficient in Python or Java.
• Experience building developer tools, APIs or production systems.
• Strong security fundamentals including authentication/authorization patterns and secrets management.
• Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Curiosity about AI/LLM patterns; coding agents or MCP servers a plus.
• Strong communication and collaboration with stakeholders.
• Comfort solving open-ended problems in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Responsibilities

• Work with engineering teams to design workflows and align with priorities.
• Own projects end to end: definition, design, build, rollout and improvement.
• Build and extend agent harnesses and workspace features for AI tooling.
• Improve how agent workflows pull context from internal systems.
• Create shared tooling: auth patterns and reusable components.
• Contribute to in-house agents and benchmarking tools.
• Build security, reliability and observability into software/integrations.
• Partner with Development Platform teams globally to drive adoption.

Skills

Python

Java

Developer tools

Communication

Education

Bachelors in CS or CE

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

A research-led global trading firm where quantitative modelling, machine learning and engineering drive how it trades modern markets. Active for over three decades, the firm provides liquidity across venues, delivering strong value and risk outcomes for investors. It trades its own capital on proprietary technology and algorithms across global markets, with researchers, traders and engineers working as one team, combining fast experimentation, advanced infrastructure and real-time feedback to turn ideas into execution.

The Development Platform group at a leading proprietary trading firm speeds up how engineering teams work by delivering self-service tools, services, documentation and support. The team designs, builds and runs the platforms behind the firm's entire software development lifecycle, giving teams across regions a consistent technical foundation to innovate on. The firm is now integrating agentic AI directly into developer workflows for its production‑critical systems. Development Platform owns the infrastructure that enables this: the environments AI agents run in, the integrations linking them to internal systems, and the security and safety controls that keep them reliable and auditable.

This Chicago‑based Software Engineer will build the software that powers the firm's AI‑driven engineering workflows, including agent harnesses, developer workspaces, context delivery and tooling that connects agents to internal services. The role is highly collaborative and comes with real ownership. You'll work directly with engineers to understand what they need, tie that back to wider team priorities, and turn ambiguous problems into practical solutions. You'll help decide what gets built and take it from design through delivery and ongoing iteration. Strong engineering fundamentals and a willingness to learn matter most. Prior AI tooling experience is a bonus, not a requirement.

Key Responsibilities

• Work closely with engineering teams to understand workflows, clarify requirements and design solutions aligned with team priorities
• Own projects end to end: problem definition, technical design, build, rollout and continuous improvement
• Build and extend agent harnesses and workspace features that bring AI coding tools into the firm's engineering workflows, giving engineers a consistent, high‑quality experience everywhere they work
• Improve how agent workflows pull relevant context from internal systems, defining and evolving these capabilities with stakeholders
• Create shared tooling that makes MCP servers simpler to build and maintain, such as standard auth patterns, reusable components and project templates
• Contribute to in‑house agents for firm‑specific workflows, plus the evaluation and benchmarking tools used to measure quality
• Build security, reliability and observability into all software and integrations
• Partner with Development Platform colleagues globally to drive adoption, gather feedback and improve developer experience

What You'll Bring

• 3+ years' experience in a relevant role
• Bachelor's in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or equivalent
• Strong programming skills in a high‑level language, ideally Python or Java
• Experience building developer tools, APIs or production systems
• Solid grasp of security fundamentals, including authentication/authorization patterns and secrets management
• Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes
• Curiosity about AI/LLM application patterns, even without deep hands‑on experience; exposure to coding agents or MCP servers is a plus
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work directly with stakeholders and connect their needs to wider priorities
• Comfort owning open‑ended problems, shaping solutions and delivering them in a fast‑paced, collaborative environment