Staff Software Engineer, FCM

Responsibilities

• Define and own the foundational architecture of NinjaTrader's cloud-native FCM platform on GCP/Kubernetes, including concurrency models, data consistency guarantees, service boundaries, and integration contracts across clearing, risk, and reporting systems
• Architect systems that process high-throughput trade flows with deterministic behavior under concurrency, partial failure, and asynchronous clearing acknowledgments across a 24/7 trading window
• Serve as the technical north star for the FCM engineering team by conducting deep code reviews, pairing on complex problems, and leading architecture and design sessions
• Establish and enforce best practices across the FCM platform, including API design standards, testing strategies (unit, integration, contract, chaos), observability and SLI/SLO frameworks, CI/CD standards, and infrastructure-as-code patterns
• Define excellence for regulated financial systems and hold the team accountable
• Champion responsible use of AI-assisted coding, testing, and code review workflows
• Design compliance-critical systems embedding audit trails, segregation controls, and compliance checkpoints
• Partner with engineering leadership to shape technical strategy and govern system-of-record architecture, ledger data models, fund movement APIs, reconciliation workflows
• Represent the FCM platform in cross-functional architecture forums
• Take ownership of complex technical challenges, transforming ambiguous problems into executable plans

Requirements

• 8–12+ years of progressive software engineering experience, with demonstrated impact at the Staff level
• Deep expertise designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems in cloud environments (GCP preferred; AWS or Azure acceptable)
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, event-driven architectures, and infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform
• Strong proficiency in modern backend languages such as Python, C++, Go, or similar
• Experience leveraging AI-assisted development tools, including code generation, static analysis, and automated test synthesis
• Experience in financial services, capital markets, or brokerage technology, including trade lifecycle systems, clearing and settlement
• Proven track record as a technical authority and mentor
• Experience designing distributed systems where financial correctness, reconciliation, segregation of funds, and audit integrity are non-negotiable
• Excellent communication skills
• Demonstrated ownership of initiatives end-to-end

Nice-to-Haves

• Direct experience at a futures commission merchant (FCM), clearing firm, or broker-dealer under CFTC/NFA or SEC/FINRA
• Experience with CME clearing operations or self-clearing implementations
• Familiarity with treasury and money movement systems, including ACH, wire transfers, fund hold logic, and account segregation
• Track record of leading platform modernization or cloud migration in regulated environments
• Passion for futures, derivatives, and trading technologies

Compensation

Salary range: $160,000 - $210,000 USD + 15% annual target bonus