Senior Systems Engineer

About Akuna: 

Akuna Capital is an innovative trading firm with a strong focus on collaboration, cutting-edge technology, data driven solutions, and automation. We specialize in providing liquidity as an options market-maker – meaning we are committed to providing competitive quotes that we are willing to both buy and sell. To do this successfully, we design and implement our own low latency technologies, trading strategies, and mathematical models.  

Our Founding Partners first conceptualized Akuna in their hometown of Sydney. They opened the firm’s first office in 2011 in the heart of the derivatives industry and the options capital of the world – Chicago. Today, Akuna is proud to operate from additional offices in Sydney, Shanghai, London and Singapore. 

What you will do as a Senior Systems Engineer at Akuna: 

We are looking for a versatile and driven Senior Systems Engineer to join our Engineering team in building a best-in-class trading infrastructure. In this role, you’ll tackle complex, large-scale technical challenges and play a key role in the architecture and design of low latency platforms, building automated deployments and tooling, and optimizing and maintaining of our high-performance global trading environment. The ideal candidate will be self-motivated, proactive, and able to take ownership of projects and problems with minimal oversight. In this role, you will: 

• Analyze complex technical problems and collaborate on designing solutions for Akuna’s global Infrastructure platform 
• Drive projects and solutions to completion in a fast-paced environment 
• Design, develop and maintain orchestration and configuration solutions 
• Collaborate with developers and other infrastructure engineers to research new products and techniques that drive innovation and improve efficiency and performance in the environment 
• Architect and maintain multi-vendor, tier-based storage solutions 
• Build out a test automation framework for systems performance testing and tuning 
• Create and institute process enforcement across environments 
• Create tools that assist teams to optimize the available infrastructure 
• Develop and maintain comprehensive technical documentation, including system configurations, procedures, and troubleshooting guides 
• Lead knowledge transfer sessions and mentor team members to ensure continuity and operational excellence 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to optimize system performance, security, and reliability 

Qualities that make great candidates: 

• Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field 
• 5-7 years of systems engineering experience (trading industry experience a strong plus) 
• Advanced Linux knowledge including, but not limited to, kernel bypass, kernel tuning, and customizing kernels 
• Deep understanding of virtualization and containerization technologies 
• Extensive experience with a variety of Linux distributions (RedHat, Ubuntu, etc.) 
• Deep understanding of system monitoring and configuration management tools (Ansible, Foreman, Prometheus and Icinga/Nagios) 
• Proficiency in scripting and using automation and orchestration tools such as Python and Bash 
• Expertise in troubleshooting multicast and TCP related performance issues 
• Experience automating daily software and hardware related tasks 
• Demonstrated ability to lead large technical projects 
• Experience with automating infrastructure builds, such as Preseed, NetBoot, Anaconda, Kickstart and Ansible customization 
• Familiarity with git or a similar version control tool 
• Working knowledge of database systems, including PostgreSQL and MySQL 
• Familiarity with Windows environments is a plus  
• Experience working with SOAP and REST APIs a plus 
• The ability to react quickly and accurately to rapidly changing market conditions, including the ability to quickly and accurately respond and/or solve math and coding problems are essential functions of the role

 In addition to technical skillsets, Akuna values the unique perspectives people can bring to the table to collaboratively solve complex problems and drive Akuna forward. We want everyone to feel empowered to apply. We welcome your application and encourage you to take the first steps toward your future with us!

In accordance with Illinois Equal Pay Act, the minimum base salary starts at $130,000. Exact compensation offered may vary based on many factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and skill set. This role is also eligible for a discretionary performance bonus as part of the total compensation package and includes a comprehensive benefits package that may encompass employer-paid medical, dental, vision, retirement contributions, paid time off, and other benefits. The minimum base salary herein was determined in good faith by Akuna Capital LLC.