ADSS is a successful retail and institutional brokerage based in Abu Dhabi. The company is currently undergoing a multi-year transformation to become a fast growing, purpose-led, data-driven enterprise that delivers market-leading personalized content, propositions and experiences to traders. To reinforce client-centricity the company structure, technology and operations are being redesigned alongside the crafting of a high-performance culture underpinned by The ADSS Way. The objective is for ADSS to become a dynamic and innovative, trusted market leader as measured by feedback from clients, talent, shareholders and competitors.

The Trading System Engineer, plays a critical role in the firm's continuous transformation journey, contributing to the strategic evolution of our technology landscape. This position is responsible for leading the design, development, and maintenance of high-performance, low-latency trading systems and infrastructure. This role ensures the stability, scalability, and efficiency of all trading enablement platforms, directly supporting the firm's competitive edge in the global financial markets. This role requires a blend of deep technical expertise, leadership skills, and a strong understanding of financial trading workflows.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Strategic & Leadership Responsibilities

Define and execute the technical roadmap for trading systems infrastructure, aligning with business objectives and regulatory requirements.
Provide technical leadership to a team of Trading System Engineers, fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Drive system modernization, automation, and performance optimization initiatives.
Ensure adherence to engineering standards, system governance, and secure operating practices.

Architecture & System Design

Lead the design and architecture of scalable, secure, and high‑performance trading systems.
Oversee integration of new components, trading workflows, APIs, market data feeds, and connectivity modules.
Partner with Platform Engineering, Development, DevOps, and Database teams to ensure cohesive architecture across all trading‑related components.

Operational Excellence

Ensure stability, reliability, and availability of all trading systems through proactive monitoring and tuning.
Oversee performance engineering with a focus on low‑latency, deterministic behavior and throughput optimization.
Lead root‑cause analysis and resolution of complex production issues.
Ensure all patches, releases, and changes are executed safely, efficiently, and in alignment with change‑management policies.

Trading Platform Support & Incident Management

Act as escalation owner for high‑severity trading‑system incidents.
Guide engineers in troubleshooting, investigating system anomalies, and resolving issues impacting trading availability or performance.
Collaborate with DevOps and Support teams to maintain end‑to‑end monitoring and rapid‑response procedures.
Automation & Tooling
Champion automation of routine processes, system checks, deployments, and operational tasks.
Implement automated alerting, monitoring dashboards, log analytics, and observability tools across critical trading components.
Ensure consistent CI/CD practices for trading system releases.

Stakeholder & Cross‑Functional Collaboration

Partner with Front Office, Risk, Operations, Product, and Compliance teams to understand requirements and deliver system enhancements.
Communicate platform status, risks, incidents, and technical updates to internal leadership.
Collaborate with vendors, external partners, and technology providers to optimize trading ecosystem components.

Governance, Compliance & Risk

Ensure trading systems comply with regulatory standards, audit requirements, and security controls.
Maintain documentation relating to architecture changes, platform configurations, incidents, and operational procedures.
Identify and mitigate technology risks; escalate issues where required.

Qualifications

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
Relevant certifications in low‑latency systems, cloud engineering, networking, or DevOps are advantageous.

Experience

Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in software engineering, with at least 2-3 years focused on developing and supporting high-frequency or low-latency trading systems in a financial services environment.
Proven experience in a leadership or management role, including direct people management, project oversight, and technical mentorship.
Experience working with FIX engines, pricing engines, APIs, and market‑connectivity gateways is highly desirable.
Demonstrated expertise in system tuning, performance profiling, and capacity planning for mission-critical applications.

Skills and Competencies

Strong understanding of trading workflows, order lifecycle, and market‑structure fundamentals.
Expertise in system monitoring, performance tuning, and low‑latency engineering.
Proficiency with Linux, networking, messaging systems, and scripting or automation tools.
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, deployment frameworks, observability systems, and distributed architectures.

Senior Associate - Trading System Engineer