Senior Trading Systems Developer

Who are we?

FalconX is a pioneering team of operators, investors, and builders committed to revolutionizing institutional access to the crypto markets. Operating at the intersection of traditional finance and cutting-edge technology, FalconX addresses the industry's foremost challenges: Navigating the digital asset market can be complex and fragmented, with limited products and services that support trading strategies, structures, and liquidity found in conventional financial markets. As a comprehensive solution for all digital asset strategies from start to scale, FalconX operates as the connective tissue empowering clients with seamless navigation through the ever- evolving cryptocurrency landscape.

The Role

We’re looking for a Senior Trading Systems Developer with strong experience in low-latency Rust and/or Java to architect and build our electronic trading execution platform. This platform will be central to supporting complex electronic trading algos, such as automated market making on exchanges and quant trading strategies. You will work on the core components that sit on the hot path of our execution stack — including market-data ingestion, order management, risk checks, session control, and high-throughput venue connectivity. You’ll be designing and developing scalable, low-latency components that are resilient under heavy load and tightly integrated with our execution stack and internal trading infrastructure.

What You’ll Do

• Build scalable services using Rust and Java, optimized for latency and throughput.
• Responsible for development of low latency services on Aeron, including OMS/EMS components, market-data pipelines, and venue gateway connectivity.
• Integrate with exchange APIs using FIX, REST, WebSocket, and venue-specific protocols.
• Model complex order lifecycles, state machines, and execution workflows into resilient, observable, fault-tolerant services.
• Design and maintain SBE message schemas and high-throughput message-bus communication on Aeron.
• Own full SDLC for your domain: design, test, ship, monitor.
• Collaborate closely with quant, trading, infra, and data teams to ensure the execution stack meets performance, safety, and reliability targets.
• Operate in a fast-paced Agile environment, contributing to team structure, sprint planning, and execution cadence

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of experience in trading systems, ideally with prior design ownership
• Strong background in Rust and/or Java (11+), including performance profiling, concurrency, lock-free programming, GC tuning, or memory-safe systems design.
• Experience in building EMS and execution systems that operate in microseconds latency range
• Deep understanding of order state machines, execution workflows, and institutional trade lifecycle mechanics
• Strong experience with Aeron or other high-throughput messaging frameworks.
• Hands-on experience integrating with FIX, REST, and WebSocket APIs.
• Strong experience designing normalized schemas and working with relational databases (e.g., Postgres, MySQL)
• Experience with low-touch and high-touch trading (MM, RFQ, internalization).
• Experience building scalable trade data pipelines and automated reconciliation systems to support real-time monitoring, trade surveillance, and audit compliance.
• Experience with Agile delivery, sprint planning, and team leadership
• Passion for clean architecture, maintainability, and performance

Bonus Points

• Prior experience in crypto markets or electronic trading in traditional finance.
• Experience integrating execution platforms with strategy containers, risk engines, or smart order routers.
• Knowledge of FIX protocol nuances and connectivity to major exchanges.
• Exposure to container orchestration, service mesh, or hybrid deployment architectures.

Compensation

The base pay for this role is expected to be between $179,000-$226,000 USD in the New York City Area. This role will also be eligible for other forms of compensation such as a performance linked bonus, equity, and a competitive benefits package. Actual compensation for a successful candidate will be determined based on a number of factors such as location, skillset, experience, qualifications and the level at which the candidate is hired.

Inclusivity Statement

FalconX is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and safe workspace for all people. Our roles are intended for people from all walks of life. We encourage all those interested in applying to our organization to submit an application regardless if you are missing some of the listed background requirements, skills, or experiences! As part of our commitment to inclusivity, FalconX would like to acknowledge that the EEOC survey has limited potential responses that you can select. For legal reasons, FalconX must use this language to align with federal requirements, however, we want to ensure that you are able to provide a response to our own voluntary survey questions about your identity that best aligns with your most true self.