Software Engineer - Ruby

Tastylive; United States; Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

tastytrade is seeking a Software Engineer (Ruby) in Chicago, IL with a hybrid work model. You will build and maintain backend services, contribute to a distributed architecture, and own features end-to-end.

The role emphasizes performance, reliability, and collaboration across teams. Expect to work primarily in Ruby, with opportunities to learn other languages, and participate in a Ruby-focused technical interview.

Qualifications

• Professional experience as a software engineer on a team.
• Mastery of at least one language/framework in production.
• Minimum 2 years of Ruby experience or equivalent OO language with Ruby focus.

Responsibilities

• Work across multiple languages in the tastytrade stack and in front-end trading client apps.
• Design, build and maintain services in a distributed architecture with attention to latency and data consistency.
• Provide guidance to junior team members and contribute to peer reviews.
• Translate requirements into production-quality code with guidance from seniors.
• Work independently on smaller tasks and on larger projects as needed.
• Write comprehensive tests for your code.
• Engage in light infrastructure work to support development.
• Grow by learning new systems and owning parts of tastytrade’s systems.

Skills

Ruby 2+ years

Distributed systems

Production context

Team leadership/ mentoring

Tools

Grape

Job description

Company: tastytrade Role: Software Engineer (Ruby) Location: Chicago, IL - Hybrid Salary: $130,000-$150,000

As a Software Engineer you will be part of a team that builds out the technology powering our retail brokerage business and supporting our other business initiatives. We care about the speed and stability of our back-end systems as much as we care about the customer-facing applications we build. Our architecture is distributed and consistently evolving as our business grows and we face different technical challenges, but always with a focus on practicality and performance. You’ll help by modifying existing systems, taking ownership of current systems as well as green field projects, and troubleshooting issues as they arise. Our engineers work with a plethora of tools including Java, Javascript, and Ruby. You’ll work primarily in Ruby but will have opportunities to expand your skill set into areas where your interests and our technology intersect. Ruby don t have to be your primary language today. If you re strong in another object-oriented language - Java, for example - and you re genuinely keen to make Ruby your day-to-day, we d like to hear from you. Our technical interview is conducted in Ruby wherever possible, so you d need to be comfortable enough to code in it by the time we meet.

What You’ll Do

• Work in multiple languages across different parts of the tastytrade stack and/or front-end trading client applications.
• Design, build and maintain services in a distributed architecture, thinking about failure modes, latency and data consistency as you go.
• Provide guidance and leadership to more junior members of the team when questions arise about language or implementation specifics, and contribute in a meaningful way to our peer review process.
• Translate requirements and technical direction into production-quality code with lightweight guidance from a senior engineer or team leadership.
• Work independently on smaller-scope tasks, as well as under the guidance of senior engineers to contribute to larger projects.
• Write comprehensive tests for your code.
• Engage in light infrastructure work to support application development work where applicable.
• Continue your growth by learning new systems and working towards ownership of tastytrade’s systems.

Who You Are

• Demonstrable professional experience working as a software engineer on a team.
• A mastery of at least one of our languages or frameworks and experience dealing with it in a production context.
• Minimum 2 years of professional experience with Ruby - or equivalent experience in another object-oriented language (e.g. Java) alongside a commitment to work primarily in Ruby and to interview in it.
• Experience building or operating distributed systems.
• The ability to learn quickly in areas in which you don t already have deep expertise.
• A willingness to learn new languages, frameworks, or technologies beyond your current expertise.
• Accountability and a willingness to take ownership of your work.
• Curiosity and a proactive approach to problem-solving.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Grape.
• Experience writing Ruby outside of Rails.
• Front-end experience, ideally with Svelte, and any exposure to micro-frontend architectures.
• A working grasp of application security and secure coding practices.

How We Work

We try to take a thoughtful approach to our ways of working as a company. We follow a hybrid working model with 3 days in the office - which we think balances the need to collaborate effectively and connect with each other.

• Lead and Inspire: Drives trust, alignment, and enthusiasm.
• Think Big: Focus on the problems that most impact commercial outcomes.
• Champion the Client: Understand and prioritise clients needs.
• Deliver at Pace: Push for fast, sustainable growth.
• Raise the Bar: Take ownership, be accountable and share feedback.

We believe that diversity is vital to success, it fuels creativity, drives innovation and sets us up for global success. We re committed to building teams with a variety of perspectives and skills to help us realise our vision and strategy, that s why we encourage applications from people with diverse backgrounds and experiences to join us on this journey.

Who you are:

• Experience & Credentials FINRA SIE, Series 7, 63, and 3 Certified Minimum 3-5 years of experience in high-volume customer service, trading operations, or a trade desk role.
• At least 3-5 years of hands-on experience with options, futures, and futures options trading.
• Previous experience in overnight or off-hours trading operations is a plus.
• Proven track record working independently with minimal supervision in fast-paced environments.
• Commitment to a minimum of one year in an overnight shift before potential transition to a day-shift role.
• Product & Trading Knowledge.
• Deep understanding of futures and futures options execution mechanics, pricing.