Sr. Software Engineer II, Exchange Connectivity (C++)

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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 empowering 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. Since 2003, NinjaTrader has been dedicated to understanding and supporting traders on their journey toward trading triumph. Through those efforts, our user base has grown to over 2 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 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

• Create APIs to expose exchange services to the broader organization via REST, WebSocket, event bus, or other mechanisms

• Collaborate 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 of experience in the trading industry, ideally with C++ or Rust

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field

• Proven experience building exchange connectivity and market data systems across multiple venues

• Strong understanding of network programming, multicast UDP, TCP, and asynchronous I/O

• Deep knowledge of trading industry specifications (FIX, SBE, market data formats, etc.)

• Strong communication and collaboration skills, including the ability 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, with the ability to deliver robust, tested, and observable software 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 with deep experience optimizing for performance, throughput, and determinism in production trading environments

• Building and maintaining real-time feed handlers for exchange protocols (ITCH, OUCH, FIX/FAST, CME MDP, Eurex ETI, etc.)

• Familiarity with U.S. and international exchange APIs and connectivity protocols (CME, ICE, Eurex, CBOE, Binance, etc.)

• Expert-level Linux knowledge, including performance tuning, kernel parameters, NUMA, and clock synchronization (PTP)

• Building resilient distributed systems that handle failover, recovery, and state synchronization

• Expertise in concurrency, multi-threading, and asynchronous programming

• Familiarity with IBM MQ for exchange data transfer

• Experience with low-latency networking, kernel bypass, or FPGA acceleration

Compensation:

The salary range for this role will be $140,000-$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 401(k) 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 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.