Chicago Trading Company (CTC) is a premier proprietary trading firm specializing in options market making. Our collaborative culture fuels innovation in quantitative research, systematic trading strategies, and cutting-edge trading technology. For over three decades CTC has provided critical liquidity across derivatives exchanges worldwide - making them fairer, more transparent, and more efficient.
We strive to be the most innovative firm in the industry today, tomorrow, and long into the future while upholding ethical excellence. We believe that CTC makes a positive impact on the markets, the lives of our employees, and all the communities to which we belong. Started in 1995 by a team of forward-thinking Traders, we are proud to call ourselves an industry leader that keeps making markets and each other better.
The Role
We are seeking a talented and experienced software engineer to join our specialized TAPE team within the Post Trade Technology group. Our team owns and operates the firm's critical trade and positions system, delivering real-time risk awareness and seamless integration across every trading desk in the organization. As a key contributor to TAPE - our next-generation based platform engineered for enhanced scalability, volume capacity, and support for sophisticated trading strategies - you will drive the modernization of our core infrastructure. This role presents an exciting opportunity to tackle complex technical challenges in distributed architecture, high-throughput processing, and low latency systems while collaborating closely with both your immediate TAPE team members and the broader Post Trade Technology organization. You'll be instrumental in shaping the future of our trade processing capabilities, working at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and critical financial operations that power our firm's trading activities
What you'll do
- Architect, develop and maintain resilient Java services to power TAPE's critical post-trade processing workflows, including trade capture, position aggregation
- Engineer highly scalable distributed systems capable of processing millions of daily trades across multiple asset classes, optimizing for low latency in position updates while maintaining data consistency.
- Work closely with other engineers and stakeholders within the Post Trade Technology team to ensure seamless integration and alignment with broader post-trade processing initiatives and systems.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams—including traders, quant developers, and other technical groups—to design, build, and enhance client APIs in Java, C++, and Python.
- Contribute to building and refining user interfaces using Angular, ensuring seamless integration with underlying APIs.
- Leverage distributed caching solutions (e.g., Hazelcast, Oracle Coherence, or Redis) and container orchestration with Kubernetes to optimize system performance and reliability.
- Drive technical innovation by evaluating and integrating emerging technologies, architectural patterns, and industry best practices to enhance system resilience, processing throughput, and operational efficiency.
- Proactively monitor system health, diagnose performance bottlenecks, resolve production incidents, and maintain detailed technical documentation to support 24/7 operations and regulatory compliance requirements
What we are looking for
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
- Proven experience in developing Java-based applications and services, preferably in a high-volume, low-latency environment.
- Proficiency in building and integrating APIs using Java, C++, and Python.
- Solid understanding of distributed systems and caching solutions (e.g., Hazelcast, Oracle Coherence, Redis).
- Exposure to trading systems and capital markets with an understanding of how real-time risk management and trade processing systems operate.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and a proactive approach to tackling complex technical challenges within a collaborative team environment.
Nice to have
- Experience with post-trade processing systems including trade capture, position management, settlement workflows, and real-time risk calculations in capital markets environments.
- Understanding of trade lifecycle events, reconciliation processes, and the integration points between front-office trading systems and back-office settlement operations.
- Experience working on critical trading systems or financial applications.
- Additional certifications or training in cloud architecture, containerization, or financial markets technology.
- Experience deploying and managing applications using Kubernetes.
Compensation
The salary range for this role is listed below. This role is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. The discretionary bonus will be dependent upon the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, and firm performance.
Most teams at CTC, with the exception of Trading, follow a hybrid workplace model, subject to change based on business need.
Our Benefits
We strongly believe in the well-being of our employees and their families so we offer outstanding benefits to support you both professionally and personally. These benefits include generous time off, insurance coverage, paid parental leave, free breakfast and lunch (plus healthy snacks, of course), wellness reimbursement, and a variety of other benefits focused on providing the best employee experience.
(Disclaimer: interns and contractors are not eligible for benefits at CTC)
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
At CTC, we aim to cultivate a workplace that celebrates diversity and each person feels included, engaged and empowered. Where each of us feels we belong. We are committed to having a diverse workforce and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. CTC does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.
If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or to apply for a position, please contact us at [email protected]. Note that emails sent to this email account for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Information submitted by job applicants may be subject to review and analysis by automated systems, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), as part of the recruitment process. Such systems are utilized to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our hiring procedures. Applicants are advised that any information provided may be evaluated by AI tools to ensure an equitable and thorough assessment.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- Proven experience developing Java-based applications and services in high-volume, low-latency environments.
- Hands-on experience with cloud-based architectures and CI/CD pipelines.
- Proficiency building and integrating APIs using Java, C++, and Python.
- Familiarity with frontend development using Angular.
- Solid understanding of distributed systems and caching solutions (Hazelcast, Oracle Coherence, Redis).
- Experience deploying and managing applications using Kubernetes.
- Exposure to trading systems and capital markets, including real-time risk management and trade processing.
- Experience working on critical trading systems or financial applications.
- Previous involvement in systems modernization or migration projects to cloud platforms.
- Additional certifications or training in cloud architecture, containerization, or financial markets technology.
What We Do
Chicago Trading Company (CTC) is a highly analytical, team oriented derivatives trading firm that employs a dynamic, disciplined approach to trading across a variety of products and strategies. We take decisive action to position ourselves at the forefront of the financial markets. We actively trade in a broad spectrum of asset classes that include Equities, Interest Rates, and Commodities. We have grown dramatically since our inception in 1995. Recognized as a leading provider of liquidity and pricing on numerous derivatives exchanges globally, we trade more than 20 hours a day, six days a week. With offices in Chicago and London, our success and rapid growth are due to our market experience, state of the art technology, risk management capabilities, and financial engineering expertise.
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