Disclaimer: Please be advised that the most accurate and up-to-date information about our open roles—including job descriptions, compensation, and benefits—can only be guaranteed on our official job board. For the latest listings and details, please visit: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ninjatrader.
JOIN US ON OUR MISSION TO BECOME THE #1 RETAIL TRADING PLATFORM IN THE WORLD
Welcome to the dynamic world of NinjaTrader! As an industry-leading trading platform and futures broker, we're on a mission to empower traders to take control of their financial destiny. How do we do it? We provide cutting-edge products and services that enhance the trading journey. Whether a seasoned pro or just starting out, NinjaTrader equips traders with award-winning software and brokerage services to navigate the world's leading financial markets with confidence.
Our growth story is nothing short of exhilarating. Over the last 20 years, NinjaTrader has been dedicated to understanding and supporting traders on their journey toward trading triumph. In the last five years alone, our user base has grown by 400% to over 1.9 million users and we have become the number one rated futures brokerage worldwide.
But we're not stopping there. We're constantly evolving, pushing boundaries, and modernizing the futures industry. Our commitment to innovation means users will always have access to dynamic tools, real-time support, and a community of like-minded traders.
So, why work at NinjaTrader? Here, you're not just part of a team; you're part of a movement. We empower employees to reach new heights in their careers by providing a dynamic culture focused on social connection, professional development, and employee recognition initiatives. Sounds too good to be true? Take it from our employees.
Join us as we redefine what's possible in trading, advocate for our customers, and continue our journey toward becoming the world's top retail-focused trading platform in the world.
What you'll do:
We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Sr. Software Engineer II with deep expertise in exchange connectivity and high-performance trading systems. This is a high-impact role focused on interfacing directly with multiple exchanges, handling real-time market data, order routing, and trade processing with ultra-low latency and high reliability. You’ll be part of the Exchange Connectivity team, owning the software that communicates directly with exchanges worldwide.
In this role you will:
- Design, implement and support exchange connectivity components across multiple asset classes and protocols
- Develop and maintain market data handlers, order gateways, and contract/instrument reference data processors
- Work closely with the Trading OMS, FCM and infrastructure teams
- Optimize for low latency, high throughput, and fault tolerance across all trading and data flows
What you'll need:
- 8+ years working in the trading industry ideally with C++ or Rust
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
- Proven experience building exchange connectivity and market data systems across multiple venues
- Strong understanding of network programming, multicast UDP, TCP, asynchronous I/O
- Deep knowledge of trading industry specifications (FIX, SBE, Market Data formats, etc)
- Strong communication and collaboration skills; able to mentor others and drive change across teams
- Experience supporting live trading systems in production — diagnosing connectivity issues, latency anomalies, and failover events
- Strong sense of ownership, including the ability to deliver robust, tested, and observable software that operates in mission-critical environments
Bonus points for:
- Capital Markets experience
- Performance profiling and tuning — using perf, VTune, Wireshark, or similar tools to analyze and reduce latency
- Low-latency systems development — deep experience optimizing for performance, throughput, and determinism in production trading environments
- Market data handling — building and maintaining real-time feed handlers for exchange protocols (ITCH, OUCH, FIX/FAST, CME MDP, Eurex ETI, etc)
- Exchange APIs and connectivity — familiarity with U.S. and international exchange protocols (CME, ICE, Eurex, CBOE, Binance, etc)
- Linux systems — expert-level knowledge of performance tuning, kernel parameters, NUMA, and clock synchronization (PTP)
- Distributed systems and fault tolerance — building resilient systems that handle failover, recovery, and state synchronization
- Expertise in concurrency, multi-threading, and asynchronous programming
- Familiarity with low-latency networking (TCP/UDP), kernel bypass, or FPGA acceleration
- Understanding of monitoring, observability, and metrics for real-time systems
- Experience deploying and monitoring distributed systems on Google Cloud Platform (GKE, Pub/Sub, Cloud Functions) or similar environments
- Strong communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally across several teams
- Self-starter with the ability to drive projects from concept to deployment in a fast-paced environment
Compensation:
The salary range for this role will be $160,000 - $190,000 USD. In addition, this position will also receive an annual target bonus of 12%. Bonus pay at NinjaTrader is based on individual performance (50%) as well as company/team performance (50%). Salary and bonus earnings are only two components of the total compensation package offered by NinjaTrader. NinjaTrader offers a 401K plan through ADP under which the company will match up to 3.5% of employee contributions. Annual paid time off allowance accrues at a rate of 18 days per year (some positions may qualify for more) plus seven paid holidays.
Location:
This role is based in Chicago, IL. We are not open to remote candidates for this role.
Hybrid:
For Chicago-based employees, we follow a hybrid work schedule: In-office Tuesday through Thursday, with remote work on Mondays and Fridays.
In addition to these weekly remote days, we offer:
- 20 additional flex remote days annually
- 5 Company Wide Office-Optional weeks tied to major holidays
Our Core Benefits Include:
- Generous PTO
- 7 Paid Holidays Annually + 5 Conditional Holidays Annually
- 1 Service Day Annually
- 401k with 3.5% Company Match
- Paid Parental Bonding Leave
- Health, Vision, Dental Coverage
- Life and Disability Insurance Covered 100% by NinjaTrader
We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.
What the Team is Saying
Similar Jobs
What We Do
More than 2 million futures traders trust NinjaTrader's award-winning software and brokerage services to help them trade smarter. Since 2003, we've been building better futures for all traders by making futures trading more accessible, scalable, and user-friendly.
As a bold, innovative thought leader in the trading space, we build products and services that empower active futures traders to easily analyze and react to data from the world's leading financial markets. Veteran and new futures traders alike look to us for our always-on support, daily free education and analysis, access to developer apps, and much more.
We believe in the power of innovation to drive futures trading forward. Together, we continue to redefine what's possible in trading, advocate for our customers, and provide the best tools, support, and experiences to the fast-growing retail futures trading community.
Located in Chicago, our entrepreneurial, employee-centric culture is inspiring, innovative, and inviting. We're committed to diversity, equity, and inclusivity, so our team members feel at ease to be themselves and empowered to deliver the work they do best.
Why Work With Us
Our team members are our #1 asset and the signature ingredient to our success. When you join NinjaTrader, you become part of an innovative, forward-looking community that encourages creativity, collaboration and camaraderie to deliver the best futures trading experience possible to our more than 1.8 million users. See why better futures start here.
Gallery
NinjaTrader Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
