Trading Strategy Software Engineer

Job description

### The Role BlackEdge Capital is hiring a Trading Strategy Software Engineer to join our technology team and build the systems at the heart of a high frequency, machine learning driven trading effort that operates at the nanosecond level. This is a focused, ambitious initiative at an early stage, which means real ownership and the chance to shape the systems and the codebase from the ground up. Members of our executive team are hands on in this work right now, so you will build alongside the people setting the firm's long-term technical and trading direction. You will own performance critical software in C++, co-design the hot path with our FPGA hardware engineers, and work shoulder to shoulder with researchers to move machine learning models from idea to live trading. This is a role for someone energized by sitting at the intersection of low-level systems, custom hardware, and applied research, where every nanosecond on the path from signal to order matters. ### What You'll Do - Design, build, and relentlessly optimize nanosecond level trading systems in C++, owning code from architecture through live production. - Partner closely with hardware engineers on FPGA integration, co-designing the software/hardware logic split and communication across that boundary. - Work directly with researchers to take machine learning signals from idea to development to production by integrating them into our automated trading system. - Keep the codebase clean: we favor a pragmatic, deliberately chosen subset of modern C++ that prioritizes simplicity, clarity, and maintainability. ### What We're Looking For - **Pragmatic C++:** Strong command of modern C++ in performance critical systems, with the judgment to keep code simple and clear. - **Systems depth:** Deep understanding of operating system design, cache behavior, memory, and concurrency and how they can be tuned to extract performance. - **Low latency mindset:** A demonstrated ability to design and reason about latency critical software; you think in nanoseconds, not just milliseconds. - **Collaboration:** You enjoy working across boundaries and communicate well with people from diverse backgrounds and skills. ### Nice to Have - Hands on experience with FPGAs, HLS, or close software/hardware co design. - Kernel bypass networking (ef_vi / OpenOnload, DPDK) and low-level network programming. - Exposure to machine learning, quantitative research, or production model deployment. - Familiarity with futures markets or market microstructure. ### About BlackEdge Capital BlackEdge Capital is a proprietary options market maker built on industry leading technology and a deeply collaborative culture. We compete at the highest technical level in electronic markets, and we win by pairing exceptional engineering with incisive research. Everyone here is a genuine partner in the trading process, embedded in the strategy, close to the technology, and shaping the direction of the firm itself. ### How We Work We are Chicago based and support remote work. We value clarity and simplicity over cleverness for its own sake, tight feedback loops between trading, technology, and operations, and people who take ownership end to end. Compensation is highly competitive, with significant upside clearly and explicitly tied to firm profit and individual performance. Our model is transparent: bonuses are a share of firm profit, and because your share scales with your performance, a strong year for you and the firm compounds. --- **Interested?** Send us your resume and a short note on where you see yourself contributing at BlackEdge. Humans review every submission. *BlackEdge Capital is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate candidates on the merit of their work and welcome applicants of every background.*