Sr. Engineering Manager (Backend, Trading Systems)

OP RaaS

Chicago (IL)

On-site

USD 190,000 - 220,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Generous PTO

7 Paid Holidays Annually + 5 Condition

1 Service Day Annually

401k with 3.5% Company Match

Paid Parental Bonding Leave

Health, Vision, Dental Coverage

Life and Disability Insurance Covered

Additional family leave options

Job summary

NinjaTrader invites seasoned engineering leaders to head our Evaluation Services Engineering team, guiding a cross-functional group building core product surface, APIs, admin tools, and risk systems for prop trading evaluation.

You will mentor backend, full-stack engineers and contractors, align with Product and Data teams, and drive delivery, architecture, and reliability for a high-growth B2B SaaS platform.

Qualifications

10+ years of software development experience with 5+ years in engineering management.
Experience building and scaling B2B SaaS products and platform APIs.
Strong backend design, distributed systems, and stakeholder collaboration.

Responsibilities

Lead and mentor a cross-functional engineering team (backend, full-stack, contractors).
Oversee multiple critical workstreams supporting traders and B2B partners.
Collaborate with Product, Data, QA, and Support to deliver impact for vendors.
Drive delivery, architecture and operational readiness for platform components.
Partner with Product on roadmap and prioritization for growth.
Hire and retain top engineering talent to grow the Eval Squad.
Uphold code quality, test coverage, release pipelines and incident response.

Skills

Engineering management

Distributed systems

APIs

WebSockets

REST APIs

Cross-functional collaboration

GCP

BigQuery

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Tools

GCP

BigQuery

WebSockets

REST APIs

Job description

Welcome to the dynamic world of NinjaTrader! As an industry-leading trading platform and futures broker, we're on a mission to empower traders to take control of their financial destiny. How do we do it? We provide cutting-edge products and services that enhance the trading journey. Whether a seasoned pro or just starting out, NinjaTrader equips traders with award-winning software and brokerage services to navigate the world's leading financial markets with confidence.

Our growth story is nothing short of exhilarating. Over the last 20 years, NinjaTrader has been dedicated to understanding and supporting traders on their journey toward trading triumph. In the last five years alone, our user base has grown by 400% to over 1.9 million users and we have become the number one rated futures brokerage worldwide.

But we're not stopping there. We're constantly evolving, pushing boundaries, and modernizing the futures industry. Our commitment to innovation means users will always have access to dynamic tools, real-time support, and a community of like-minded traders.

So, why work at NinjaTrader? Here, you're not just part of a team; you're part of a movement. We empower employees to reach new heights in their careers by providing a dynamic culture focused on social connection, professional development, and employee recognition initiatives. Sounds too good to be true? Take it from our employees.

Join us as we redefine what's possible in trading, advocate for our customers, and continue our journey toward becoming the world's top retail-focused trading platform in the world.

What you’ll do:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced engineering leader to head our Evaluation Services Engineering team. In this role, you will lead a mission-critical team that powers the infrastructure and tools behind a rapidly growing segment of our business—enabling prop trading evaluation firms on the NinjaTrader/Tradovate platform.

The Eval Squad builds the core product surface, APIs, admin tools, risk systems, and onboarding infrastructure used by third-party vendors to launch, operate, and scale their evaluation services. Our mission is to empower vendors to build successful evaluation businesses while ensuring a world-class experience for their traders.

As a leader in our technology organization, your team’s work will shape the foundation of our B2B SaaS strategy and directly impact vendor success, trader outcomes, and revenue growth.

In this role you will:

Lead and mentor a cross-functional engineering team (backend, full-stack, and contractors), fostering a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and agility
Oversee multiple critical workstreams that support, grow, and provide impact to traders and B2B business partners alike
Collaborate closely with stakeholders across Product, Solutions Engineering, Data, QA, and Support to deliver impactful solutions for vendors and evaluation traders
Drive engineering delivery, architecture, and operational readiness for the platform components under your domain, including the risk engine, trading permission systems, middleware dashboards, and admin consoles
Partner with Product leadership on roadmap and prioritization aligned to business growth and vendor needs
Hire, develop, and retain top engineering talent to support the growth and evolution of the Eval Squad
Uphold engineering quality and execution standards, including code reviews, test coverage, release pipelines, observability, and incident response

What you'll need:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience)
10+ years of experience in modern software development, with 5+ years in engineering management roles
Demonstrated experience building and scaling B2B SaaS or platform products, ideally involving APIs and user-facing dashboards
Strong backend system design and distributed systems experience; familiarity with GCP, BigQuery, WebSockets, and REST APIs preferred
Proven track record leading cross-functional agile teams and delivering products from inception to production
Experience managing teams across geographies and working with contractors or embedded function groups
Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, comfortable presenting technical ideas to both engineers and executives
Experience working in a regulated environment (fintech, trading, brokerage) is a plus

Bonus points for:

Experience in futures trading, evaluation trading, or prop firm ecosystems
Familiarity with Tradovate or NinjaTrader APIs, dashboards, and middleware
Background in risk management systems or trading account orchestration

Compensation:

The salary range for this role will be $190,000 - $220,000 USD. In addition, this position will also receive an annual target bonus of 15%. Bonus pay at NinjaTrader is based on individual performance (50%) as well as company/team performance (50%).

Our Core Benefits Include: