C++ Engineer - Pushing the Speed of Light Ultra-Low Latency Trading Systems

We are partnering with one of the world's most technically ambitious proprietary trading firms - a group rebuilding their entire trading platform from the metal up to operate at the physical limits of modern hardware. This isn't an incremental improvement. It's a total re-architecture of the fastest system on the planet, where every microsecond is contested ground and every cache miss is a bug.

Location: London / New York / Chicago

Environment: C+/23 • Linux • Kernel-bypass Networking • FPGA • RDMA • Nanosecond Execution

Their engineers operate where nanoseconds decide P&L - measured, profiled, and deployed in live markets where performance is the edge.

They're now seeking an elite C++ Engineer capable of designing and optimising the core of a real-time execution platform - a system that ingests millions of market events per second and reacts deterministically, faster than anyone else on Earth.

The successful engineer will:

• Architect zero-GC, lock-free pipelines built around ring buffers and cache-aligned data structures.
• Develop custom kernel-bypass network stacks using DPDK, RDMA, and Solarflare Onload, tuned to single-digit microsecond latency.
• Engineer branch-prediction-aware order handlers and SIMD-vectorized pricing logic in AVX-512.
• Deliver next-tick telemetry with nanosecond-precision timestamps and cross-core synchronization.
• Collaborate with FPGA specialists to merge hardware precision with software agility.

The Toolkit

• Modern C+/23, template metaprogramming, constexpr, inline assembly when necessary.
• Profiling and optimization using perf, VTune, bcc, and FlameGraphs.
• Deep knowledge of NUMA-aware design, memory fences, and lock-free concurrency.
• Expertise in custom allocator design, branchless algorithms, and profile-guided optimization.
• A habit of benchmarking rather than assuming - data, not theory.

Ideal Background

• Proven experience building ultra-low-latency systems in trading, gaming, or networking.
• Deep understanding of CPU architecture, from cache hierarchies to speculative execution.
• The mindset of someone who thinks in nanoseconds and measures in CPU cycles.
• A record of winning battles with compilers, kernels, and performance bottlenecks.

The Environment

This firm operates on a flat structure - no committees, no bureaucracy, no excuses. Engineering, hardware, and trading sit shoulder-to-shoulder. Code that's 10ns faster doesn't just run better - it changes the business.

If you believe latency is the final frontier, and profiling is the only truth, this is the environment you've been building toward.

To apply, please either send an email, or respond to this advertisement.