Team Lead, People Technology

DRW; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401k matching

Dental & Vision

Job summary

DRW is seeking a Lead / Senior Engineer to be the founding member of the People Technology team in Chicago. You will own the entire HR-application suite, collaborating closely with HR stakeholders, and hands-on coding while defining the team’s roadmap and processes.

You will validate staffing assumptions, build relationships with HR, and shape the engineering culture from the ground up. The role blends technical leadership with practical development across a modern stack.

Qualifications

• Strong full-stack engineering background with hands-on experience across Python, TypeScript/React, and PostgreSQL.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction and roadmap for a suite of eight HR-adjacent applications.
• Serve as the primary engineering point of contact for HR stakeholders and translate business needs into technical solutions.
• Assess tech debt, modernization opportunities, and alignment with engineering standards across all applications.
• Validate initial staffing model and help define the second engineering role.
• Write and ship production code across a diverse stack (Python, TypeScript/React, Ruby, FastAPI, Flask, Next.js, PostgreSQL).
• Formalize support processes and orchestration as the team grows.

Skills

Full-stack

Python

TypeScript/React

PostgreSQL

Ownership of multiple apps

Stakeholder collaboration

Autonomy

Communication

Tools

Ruby

FastAPI

Flask

Next.js

Job description

DRW is a diversified trading firm with over 3 decades of experience bringing sophisticated technology and exceptional people together to operate in markets around the world. We value autonomy and the ability to quickly pivot to capture opportunities, so we operate using our own capital and trading at our own risk.

Headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia, we trade a variety of asset classes including Fixed Income, ETFs, Equities, FX, Commodities and Energy across all major global markets. We have also leveraged our expertise and technology to expand into three non-traditional strategies: real estate, venture capital and cryptoassets.

We operate with respect, curiosity and open minds. The people who thrive here share our belief that it’s not just what we do that matters-it's how we do it. DRW is a place of high expectations, integrity, innovation and a willingness to challenge consensus.

The Team:

HR functions across the firm — Talent Acquisition, Talent Development, Talent Management, and others — rely on a growing suite of purpose-built internal applications to run critical people processes: campus recruiting quizzes, candidate pipeline integrations, interactive trading games for recruiting events, onboarding forms, in-office trend tracking, peer recognition, and more. Today, these applications are maintained across the broader Infrastructure Development team without a dedicated, product-minded owner. We are launching Infrastructure Development - People Technology, a new sub-team within Infrastructure Development, to serve as the dedicated engineering partner to HR. People Technology will own the full lifecycle of eight internal applications spanning the talent lifecycle — from recruiting and onboarding through recognition and engagement.

The Role:

We are seeking a Lead / Senior Engineer to serve as the founding member and technical leader of the People Technology team. You will be the single point of ownership for the team's entire application suite, and the primary engineering partner to HR stakeholders across Talent Acquisition, Talent Development, Talent Management, and HR Leadership. This is not a pure management role - you will be hands-on in the code while simultaneously shaping the team's roadmap, building relationships across HR, and standing up the team from scratch. As the first hire, you will also validate our initial staffing assumptions and partner with leadership to scope and fill the team's second engineering role.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the technical direction and roadmap for a suite of eight HR-adjacent applications, balancing maintenance and stability with new feature development driven by HR partner priorities.
• Serve as the primary engineering point of contact for HR stakeholders — embedding in their planning sessions, understanding their pain points, and translating business needs into technical solutions.
• Conduct a comprehensive assessment across all applications — evaluating tech debt, modernization opportunities, support burden, and alignment with engineering standards.
• Validate the team's initial staffing model and partner with leadership to define and fill the second engineering role.
• Write and ship production code across a diverse stack (Python, TypeScript/React, Ruby, FastAPI, Flask, Next.js, PostgreSQL) while maintaining high quality standards.
• Formalize support processes, stakeholder communication channels, and operational workflows as the team matures.

Required Qualifications:

• Strong full-stack engineering background with hands-on experience across Python, TypeScript/React, and PostgreSQL.
• Proven ability to own and drive multiple applications end-to-end - from roadmap through delivery and support.
• Experience partnering directly with non-technical business stakeholders to translate needs into technical solutions.
• Comfort operating with a high degree of autonomy - this is a founding role where you will define processes, priorities, and team culture from scratch.
• Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset - you will spend as much time in conversations with HR partners as you will writing code.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Ruby/Sinatra, FastAPI, Flask, or Next.js.
• Prior experience in a technical lead or team lead capacity, including mentoring junior engineers.
• Familiarity with HR systems and workflows (e.g., applicant tracking systems, HRIS platforms) or similar enterprise integrations.

The annual base salary range for this position is $140,000 to $180,000 depending on the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and relevant skill set. The position is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition, DRW offers a comprehensive suite of employee benefits including group medical, pharmacy, dental and vision insurance, 401k (with discretionary employer match), short and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance, health savings accounts, and flexible spending accounts.

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