Platinum & Partners is retained by a top-tier global hedge fund to identify a highly skilled C++ Developer to architect, build and maintain the core signal computation and alpha infrastructure for a newly formed systematic equities pod. You will own the hot path — real-time feature computation, signal generation and integration with the firm's shared execution and market data platforms — and play a foundational role in shaping the technology stack from day one.
This is a hands-on systems engineering role at the intersection of low-latency infrastructure and quantitative research. You will work directly with the Portfolio Manager and researchers to translate alpha signals into production-ready, high-performance trading systems. The firm wants someone who can start as soon as possible.
THE ROLE
- Design and build the core C++ signal engine: real-time feature computation, alpha signal generation, position tracking and risk monitoring
- Architect the data bridge between the C++ hot path and the Python/Polars research layer
- Implement and optimise real-time alpha signal publication from the research pipeline into the firm's shared execution infrastructure
- Integrate with the firm's central market data feeds and execution platforms
- Develop real-time risk checks, position monitoring, logging and alerting infrastructure
- Optimise system performance: latency profiling, lock-free data structures, memory management and network tuning
- Collaborate with quantitative researchers to translate Python prototypes into production-grade C++ code
- Build and maintain backtesting and exchange simulation infrastructure for strategy validation
- Leverage AI-assisted development tools to accelerate development velocity without compromising code quality
WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering or a related quantitative field
- 3+ years of hands-on experience developing high-performance C++ server-side applications in Linux
- Strong understanding of real-time and event-driven architectures with tight latency requirements
- Deep familiarity with Apache Arrow and columnar data formats for cross-language interoperability
- Strong network programming skills and understanding of Linux OS internals and systems optimisation
- Experience consuming real-time market data feeds and integrating with shared execution platforms
- Proficiency in Python with working knowledge of Polars, Pandas, NumPy and the PyData ecosystem
- Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms and concurrent/multithreaded programming
- Proficiency with Git, CI/CD, unit testing and software engineering best practices
Meaningful advantages:
- Experience building trading systems in a systematic equities or quant trading environment
- Low-latency optimisation techniques: cache-friendly data structures, SIMD, memory-mapped I/O
- Rust for performance-critical systems development
- kdb+/q for time-series data
- DuckDB, Arrow Flight or similar analytical database technologies
- Knowledge of equity market microstructure, order types and execution algorithms
- AWS and containerised deployments
WHY THIS ROLE
- A top-tier global hedge fund with the infrastructure, capital and engineering ambition to build something genuinely world-class
- Greenfield mandate — you own the hot path architecture from day one in a newly formed pod, not inheriting someone else's legacy system
- Direct collaboration with the Portfolio Manager and quant researchers — your infrastructure is the engine the strategy runs on
- Intraday systematic equities at a Tier 1 fund: one of the most technically demanding and well-resourced environments in the industry
- Base $150,000–$200,000 with a discretionary performance bonus reflecting the firm's Tier 1 position — total compensation is significantly above the base range
- New York City — embedded in the team whose live performance depends on what you build
ABOUT PLATINUM & PARTNERS
Platinum & Partners is the specialist quant and systematic executive search firm.