Software Engineer - Pre-trade analytics, risk, portfolio optimization

Clear Street; New York (NY); On-site; USD 170,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company equity

401(k) matching

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Lunch stipends

Happy hours

Job summary

Clear Street in New York is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to develop their Alpha Platform, a modern AI-driven system for pre-trade analytics and risk management. This role requires deep expertise in Java or Python, along with a strong focus on mentorship and engineering standards.

The position demands collaboration across the full stack, along with a dedication to quality and user experience. Clear Street offers competitive compensation, including a base salary range of $170,000 – $220,000, and a robust benefits package.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Java or Python with deep fluency in frameworks.
• Experience with AI-assisted development workflows.
• Comfortable learning financial risk analysis.

Responsibilities

• Build the Alpha Platform for pre-trade analytics and risk management.
• Work across the full stack from data ingestion to client APIs.
• Drive solutions from design through production delivery.

Skills

Java

Python

AI-assisted development

Communication

Design patterns

Mentoring

Tools

Spring Framework

FastAPI

gRPC

PostgreSQL

Docker

AWS

Kubernetes

Job description

New York, NY

About Clear Street

Clear Street’s mission is to give every sophisticated investor access to every asset, in every market, through a unified platform built for speed, transparency, and scale.

We give our clients the technology, tools, and service once reserved for the largest institutions, rebuilt with modern infrastructure. Our single, cloud‑native, end‑to‑end capital markets platform powers investor growth today and is transforming how they can interact with markets tomorrow.

Role Overview

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will play a foundational role in building our Alpha Platform—a modern, AI‑driven system for pre‑trade analytics, risk, hedging, portfolio optimization, and customized client exposure management.

You will work across the full stack, from data ingestion and processing pipelines to AI‑driven analytics and client‑facing API layers, on a high‑SLA financial platform built to the highest engineering standards. You will help evolve our technical standards, best practices, and promote a culture of excellence.

Requirements

• At least five (5) years of professional experience implementing highly scalable services in Java (deep fluency in the Spring Framework ecosystem) and/or Python (deep fluency in FastAPI, Pydantic, and async patterns). Proficiency in one is required; experience in both is a strong plus.
• Fluent in AI‑assisted development workflows, leveraging tools such as Claude Code to accelerate delivery, and comfortable with Spec‑Driven Development (SDD).
• Ability to take end‑to‑end ownership of problems, defining approaches and driving solutions from design through production delivery.
• Clear communication of system design and architectural paradigms to engineers and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Prioritization of end‑user experience, reflected in API design, functionality, and performance.
• Strong command of design patterns, data structures, and algorithms.
• Mentoring of team members, defining engineering standards, and driving system design for new services.
• Preferred: hands‑on experience with gRPC, PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker, Gradle, uv, AWS, and Kubernetes. Readiness to learn is required.
• Comfortable working in or learning about financial risk or pre‑trade analytics. A strong plus: exposure to finance with an understanding of instruments and concepts such as swaps, custom baskets, the trade lifecycle, performance calculations and attribution, and factor models.

Benefits

• The opportunity to join a growing team where you can make a real difference.
• A modern, high‑quality codebase with minimal technical debt and significant room to build new services and features.
• A team that embraces AI assistance and pairs it with a strong focus on DevOps, observability, and CI/CD best practices.
• A meritocratic culture that champions collaboration and rewards impact.
• Competitive compensation, benefits, and perks.

Compensation

Base Salary Range: $170,000 – $220,000. These ranges represent the starting base salaries for this role. Total compensation also includes bonuses or equity, but these are not included in the stated ranges.

Other benefits: company equity, 401(k) matching, gender‑neutral parental leave, full medical, dental, and vision insurance. Employees are required to work in the office 4 days per week, with in‑office benefits such as lunch stipends, fully stocked kitchens, happy hours, a great location, and picturesque views.

EEO Statement

As set forth in Clear Street’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.