Role: Quantitative Software Engineer (C++ / Low-Latency Systems)
Location: Dubai (on-site)
Overview
A fast-growing HFT firm is strengthening its core engineering group and is looking for a Quantitative Software Engineer to help build and optimise low-latency components used across their systematic trading teams. This position sits at the intersection of quantitative research, real-time systems, and performance-critical C++ development.
The role is being opened to support an expanding set of trading strategies and to ensure that new models can be deployed to production with high reliability, speed, and technical rigour. You will work closely with researchers and traders to convert prototype ideas into robust, latency-sensitive software.
What You'll Work On
During the first year, the engineer will focus on:
- Understanding the existing trading framework, infrastructure components, and data pipelines
- Improving runtime performance of active strategies through profiling, refactoring, and optimisation
- Converting research models into production-quality C++ implementations
- Designing and implementing new execution or strategy modules with strict latency constraints
- Taking ownership of critical code paths that affect end-to-end reaction time
- Streamlining the workflow between research and engineering to accelerate deployment cycles
Essential Technical Background
Quantitative & Algorithmic Knowledge
- Strong grounding in probability, statistics, mathematical modelling, or computational problem-solving
- Ability to collaborate with researchers to interpret models and ensure accurate, efficient implementation
C++ Systems Engineering
- Expert-level proficiency in modern C++ (17/20)
- Experience writing high-performance software with a focus on throughput, memory efficiency, and low latency
- Comfortable analysing and optimising code paths in performance-critical environments
Concurrency & Multithreading
- Familiarity with lock-free or low-contention data structures
- Ability to design concurrent systems tuned for predictable latency
Monitoring & Observability
- Hands-on experience with performance dashboards, metrics, and alerting (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana)
Education
- Degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, or a related quantitative discipline
Nice-to-Have Experience
- Knowledge of market data, exchange connectivity, or electronic trading systems
- Scripting for automation or tooling (Python, Bash)
- Cloud platform exposure for research or non-latency workloads
- Visualisation tools or experience building dashboards for model/strategy analysis
- Networking fundamentals (e.g., TCP/UDP, multicast, low-latency protocols)
Ways You'll Collaborate
- Partner with quant researchers to implement models efficiently
- Coordinate with traders to understand practical requirements of live strategies
- Work alongside senior engineers on performance tuning and architectural decisions
What We're Looking For
- Proactive and comfortable tackling complex technical challenges independently
- Precise, detail-focused, and driven by quality
- Able to balance theoretical correctness with pragmatic engineering decisions
- Calm, constructive communicator who contributes positively under pressure
