C++ Senior Engineer - Market Data

About Chicago Trading Company

Chicago Trading Company (CTC) is a premier proprietary trading firm specializing in options market making. Our collaborative culture fuels innovation in quantitative research, systematic trading strategies, and cutting-edge trading technology. For over three decades CTC has provided critical liquidity across derivatives exchanges worldwide - making them fairer, more transparent, and more efficient.

We strive to be the most innovative firm in the industry today, tomorrow, and long into the future while upholding ethical excellence. We believe that CTC makes a positive impact on the markets, the lives of our employees, and all the communities to which we belong. Started in 1995 by a team of forward-thinking Traders, we are proud to call ourselves an industry leader that keeps making markets and each other better.

About the Role: Senior Engineer - Market Data

As a Senior Engineer on the Market Data team, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring reliable and fast delivery of the market data that is foundational to our trading systems. You will build high-performance libraries and services that process vast amounts of real-time data from financial venues across the world—data that all of our trading systems depend on to make critical decisions in the timeframe of microseconds to nanoseconds. Your work will be foundational to every trading strategy we run, and your contributions will be essential to maintaining CTC's competitive edge in this fast-paced trading environment.

What You'll Do

• Design and build high-performance, low-latency libraries and services that power our global trading platform.
• Work closely with traders, quants, and technologists to drive ideas from inception to production in a timely and robust manner.
• Partner closely with other teams such as execution, low-latency, and hardware to design and deliver solutions for our next-generation market data platform.
• Ensure operational safety and uphold the highest standards of software engineering by thoroughly testing code, following a coherent and maintainable design and architecture, and adhering to best practices—prioritizing carefully planned, well-structured solutions over ad hoc implementations.

What We're Looking For

• A minimum of 5 years of experience working in a production environment using modern C++.
• Experience with low-latency feed handler development, market data protocols (e.g., MDP3, ITCH).
• Deep knowledge of low-level systems programming, optimization, and hardware/software co-design.
• Strong fundamentals in computer architecture and networking protocols.
• Experience writing multithreaded and distributed systems with an affinity for delivering clean, performant code.
• Ability to quickly triage issues and drive the resolution effort through completion.
• Experience working at a high-frequency trading firm is preferred.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this role is $225,000—$250,000 USD. This role is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. The discretionary bonus will be dependent upon the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, and firm performance.

Most teams at CTC, with the exception of Trading, follow a hybrid workplace model, subject to change based on business need.

We strongly believe in the well-being of our employees and their families, so we offer outstanding benefits to support you both professionally and personally. These benefits include generous time off, insurance coverage, paid parental leave, free breakfast and lunch (plus healthy snacks, of course), wellness reimbursement, and a variety of other benefits focused on providing the best employee experience. (Disclaimer: interns and contractors are not eligible for benefits at CTC)

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At CTC, we aim to cultivate a workplace that celebrates diversity and where each person feels included, engaged, and empowered. We are committed to having a diverse workforce and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. CTC does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or to apply for a position, please contact us at info@chicagotrading.com. Note that emails sent to this email account for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Information submitted by job applicants may be subject to review and analysis by automated systems, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), as part of the recruitment process. Such systems are utilized to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our hiring procedures. Applicants are advised that any information provided may be evaluated by AI tools to ensure an equitable and thorough assessment.

Key skills/competency

• C++
• Market Data
• Low-latency
• Feed Handler Development
• Systems Programming
• Computer Architecture
• Networking Protocols
• Multithreaded Systems
• Distributed Systems
• High-Frequency Trading