Senior Software Engineer - Trading

As a Senior Software Engineer - Trading at Alpaca, your main responsibilities will include developing and optimizing our algo trading platform, ensuring low latency and high throughput for our clients. You'll also be involved in system design, tackling concurrency challenges, and implementing effective order management systems (OMS). Engaging closely with both frontend and backend components, you'll use various coding languages to write quality code and make decisions that enhance user experience.

To qualify for the Senior Software Engineer - Trading position at Alpaca, candidates should have extensive experience in software engineering, particularly with trading or exchange systems. Familiarity with low-level and high-level programming languages such as C++, Go, and Python is crucial. Competence in system design, scalability, and messaging systems will be highly regarded. Previous experience in algo trading and financial market knowledge can enhance your application.

Yes, the Senior Software Engineer - Trading role at Alpaca is fully remote for candidates located in North America, particularly in the Eastern Time Zone. We pride ourselves on a flexible work environment that allows you to collaborate with a globally distributed team while working from your chosen location.

In the Senior Software Engineer - Trading position at Alpaca, you'll work with a modern technology stack that may include C/C++, Go, Rust, Java, and Python. You'll also gain exposure to message brokers and queues, as well as cloud platforms like GCP, alongside tools for containerization such as Docker and Kubernetes, defining the future of our trading platform.

At Alpaca, a Senior Software Engineer - Trading receives competitive salary and stock options, along with comprehensive health benefits starting from day one, including medical, dental, and vision. We also provide a generous home-office setup stipend and monthly allowances to support your remote work needs, fostering an environment where employees can thrive and feel motivated.

When answering this question, highlight specific experiences where you've successfully implemented or optimized low-latency systems. Discuss any technologies you’ve used, challenges you've overcome, and the impact of your work on system performance and trading efficiency.

In your response, explain your methodology for designing systems with high availability. Share examples of architectural design patterns you've utilized, such as load balancing or failover strategies, and discuss how you've ensured minimal downtime in production environments.

When discussing your experience with messaging systems, mention specific brokers you've used (like RabbitMQ or Kafka), detailing how they were integrated into your projects. Emphasize the importance of message reliability and processing speed in trading applications.

Share a specific example of a complex algorithm or data structure you’ve worked on, emphasizing its relevance to trading. Detail the problem it solved, the performance improvements it brought, and any lessons learned during its development and implementation.

Highlight your proactive approach to continuous learning, like following industry blogs, participating in forums, or attending webinars. Discuss any specific technologies or trends you’re currently exploring and how they could impact your role as a Senior Software Engineer - Trading.

Discuss various techniques you apply for code optimization, such as profiling tools to identify bottlenecks, employing algorithms for efficient processing, and using caching strategies. Provide examples where your optimizations significantly improved application performance.

In your response, detail your experience in designing and building APIs, particularly in financial services. Highlight how you ensure security, scalability, and documentation, as well as how you test your APIs for functionality and performance.

Explain how you manage concurrency in your applications, mentioning any tools or patterns you utilize. Discuss the challenges concurrency presents, particularly in trading systems, and how you’ve addressed them in past projects.

Share a specific incident where you had to quickly diagnose and resolve a significant issue in a production environment. Discuss the steps you took, the collaboration involved, and the final resolution, highlighting your problem-solving skills.

Discuss your approach to task prioritization, especially under tight deadlines. Explain how you assess urgency and importance, consider stakeholder input, and adapt to changing priorities while keeping team communication strong.