Senior Java Software Engineer

Senior Java Engineer – Low Latency – Contract – London Hybrid - £600pd via umbrella

3 days per week on site

£600 per day via umbrella

12 month contract

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain high-performance, ultra-low-latency trading applications and market data distribution systems
• Build and support pricing tick infrastructure, pricing streams and pricing execution components
• Deliver low-latency network programming and kernel bypass solutions on Linux
• Integrate, optimise and distribute real-time market data across 70+ proprietary direct feeds (EMEA, US Options, MiFID II market structures)
• Profile and troubleshoot latency, and tune applications, JVMs, CPUs and network stacks
• Work with market data protocols including Refinitiv ETA, Denali, MPAC and Beacon
• Manage deployments and tooling through # pipelines
• Support knowledge transfer and handover from the outgoing vendor team

Essential

• 5 to 10 years of software engineering in HFT, electronic trading, or ultra-low or low-latency environments
• Strong core Java, with proven low-latency engineering (the primary skill, per Evgen)
• Low-level memory management, including off-heap and Java Unsafe
• JNI (Java Native Interface)
• GC tuning and CPU tuning (for example affinity and pinning)
• Experience on trading platforms: pricing ticks, pricing streams, order and execution flow
• Deep Linux knowledge, including kernel bypass and low-latency network programming
• Strong profiling, performance tuning and troubleshooting
• A track record at global banks, hedge funds or HFT firms (this also decides whether the CV skips the TI)

Desirable

• C++, ideally in a mixed Java and C++ environment. Evgen called this "rather nice to have" but "highly beneficial", even though the JD lists it as essential
• Market data protocols: Refinitiv ETA, Denali, MPAC, Beacon
• EMEA, US Options and MiFID II market structure, direct exchange feeds
• Event-driven and distributed systems, hardware and software co-design
• Hardware timestamping, network telemetry and advanced monitoring
• CI/CD, automated testing and DevOps for low-latency builds
• An ownership-driven approach on busy trading floors