Junior Software Engineer

About Us:
Optimal Market Technologies is a FINRA-registered broker-dealer with an innovative platform of wholesale options and execution solutions designed to meet the needs of today's dynamic market participants. Optimal can quickly and seamlessly enhance its platform, adapt to regulatory changes, and offer a more efficient implementation that scales as clients grow. Optimal is disrupting the US Options Wholesale landscape by introducing a Competition for Order Flow model through which market makers compete for retail flow on our platform based on best execution quality. Additional offerings include an Institutional Alternative Trading System (ATS) for discreet execution and price improvement and Execution Services for institutional-grade routing and algorithmic execution designed to balance price capture, speed, and market impact across trading objectives.
This is an opportunity to work for a fintech start-up and to be an integral part of growing a broker-dealer from the ground up. As a small, hardworking team, we pride ourselves on our entrepreneurial culture and cross-team collaboration. We recently raised funding from several strategic partners and are in a very exciting stage of growth.
Position: Junior Software Engineer
Company: Optimal Market Technologies, LLC (RQD* Clearing Spin-Out Firm)
Location: Initially remote except for 2-day in-person per month in New York, eventually Chicago hybrid or full-time in-person.
Compensation: $120,000 - $200,000
Position Overview:
We're expanding our execution services development team with a position that combines hands-on development with client interaction. As a Junior Software Engineer, you will be given the opportunity to shape our execution platform while working directly with clients to understand and meet their needs. The successful candidate will be a great communicator, able to multi-task, a self-starter who can investigate issues and ensure the clients' needs are met, all while maintaining our exceptional standards for system uptime and reliability. You will collaborate well within this small team, helping people when needed, sharing insights, making effective use of other peoples' time.
We will open a Chicago office later this year, at which point this role will be hybrid (or if you prefer, full time in the office) in Chicago. Until then, the team works remotely, with a two-day in-person session in the NYC office each month. All trading is US based, with support checks starting at 7:30am Eastern Time.
Key Responsibilities:

• Deliver new execution functionality. You will extend execution logic, roll out to new clients and to new exchanges, make enhancements to the supporting infrastructure (e.g. compliance reporting, client billing).
• Support the system: you will answer client questions, resolve issues, and run regular checks.
• Improve our engineering. You will remain up to date with advances in software technology and make pragmatic decisions about how to evolve the platform. In day-to-day work, you will always be looking to raise the quality of our codebase and our development process.
• Assist Business development. You will support discussions with potential new clients, explain what is possible, look for ways to innovate and expand the business.
  

Required Qualifications:

• 1+ years experience in interacting directly with clients/users, ideally in financial trading systems
• 2+ years experience of C++ 11 or more recent
• Experience with Python and Linux
• Aptitude for multi-tasking, handling interruptions and priority shifts
  

Also valuable, experience with any of the following technologies:

• Financial Information eXchange (FIX) Protocol
• GoogleTest unit testing framework
• Linux systems administration
• SQL, ideally PostgreSQL
• Middleware, ideally AERON
• Microsoft Azure cloud computing services
• Tableau
• CI/CD pipelines
  

Optimal is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.