Senior Software Engineer / Technical Lead – Research Platform (Rust + Python)

About this role

<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-734d1ce e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child" data-id="734d1ce" data-element_type="container"> <div class="elementor-element elementor-element-e94af94 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor" data-id="e94af94" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type="text-editor.default"> <h1><strong>About Whistler Trading</strong></h1> <p>Whistler Trading was founded in 2022 with the ambition to build a new leader in systematic trading, and we're well on our way. We've invested heavily in research and infrastructure, developing lean, high-performance systems that let us go from idea to production faster than ever.</p> <p>Most importantly, we've built a team with incredible talent density. Our team includes alumni of top firms like Citadel and SIG, medalists from math and informatics olympiads, and individuals with deep domain expertise in trading, distributed systems, and real-time infrastructure. We value drive, rigor, and originality, and we back people who want to build something lasting.</p> <h2><strong>The Role</strong></h2> <p>We're building out our research platform team and looking for a Senior Software Engineer / Technical Lead to help drive this effort. You'll oversee a growing team of junior engineers building our high-frequency and mid-frequency trading research infrastructure, while staying hands-on with architecture and critical technical decisions.</p> <p>This isn't a pure management role. You'll write code, design systems, and solve hard technical problems. But you'll also mentor engineers, set technical direction, and ensure we're building research infrastructure that's fast, reliable, and enables our researchers to move quickly from idea to production.</p> <p>The ideal candidate has strong systems programming fundamentals, experience building research or data platforms, and a track record of leading technical projects and developing other engineers.</p> <h2><strong>What You'll Do</strong></h2> <p><strong>Lead the research platform team</strong>: Provide technical direction and mentorship to a team of junior engineers building our HFT/MFT research infrastructure. You'll help them grow while keeping the team focused and productive.</p> <p><strong>Design and build research infrastructure</strong>: Architect and implement high-performance systems in Rust and Python that enable our researchers to test ideas, analyze data at scale, and iterate quickly. This includes data pipelines, backtesting frameworks, simulation engines, and analytical tools.</p> <p><strong>Bridge research and production</strong>: Work closely with researchers and traders to understand their needs, then build tools and infrastructure that accelerate their work. You'll also help transition successful research into production trading systems.</p> <p><strong>Drive technical decisions</strong>: Own architecture and design decisions for the research platform. You'll balance performance, reliability, and development velocity, making pragmatic choices about when to optimize and when to ship.</p> <p><strong>Solve HPC challenges</strong>: Work on high-performance computing problems related to data processing, parallel computation, and system optimization. The research platform needs to handle large datasets efficiently and support rapid iteration.</p> <p><strong>Maintain engineering standards</strong>: Establish and uphold strong engineering practices through code reviews, documentation, and technical mentorship. You'll help the team build systems that are maintainable and well-engineered.</p> <p><strong>Stay hands-on</strong>: While you'll have leadership responsibilities, you'll remain actively involved in coding, design, and technical problem-solving. We need someone who can both guide the team and dive deep when needed.</p> <h2><strong>Skills and Qualifications</strong></h2> <p><strong>Experience</strong>: 7+ years of software engineering experience, with demonstrated ability to lead technical projects and mentor other engineers. Experience building research platforms, data infrastructure, or trading systems is valuable but not required.</p> <p><strong>Systems programming</strong>: Strong proficiency in Rust for performance-critical systems. Not all of your experience needs to be in Rust. If you have a strong C++ or systems programming background and are committed to working in Rust, that works too.</p> <p><strong>Python for research/data</strong>: Solid Python skills for building research tools, data analysis pipelines, and working with scientific computing libraries (numpy, pandas, etc.). Comfort moving between Rust for performance and Python for productivity.</p> <p><strong>High-performance computing</strong>: Experience with parallel programming, optimization, and building systems that process large datasets efficiently. Understanding of performance fundamentals and when optimization matters.</p> <p><strong>Technical leadership</strong>: Track record of leading technical projects, making architecture decisions, and helping other engineers grow. We're looking for someone who can provide clear technical direction without creating unnecessary process.</p> <p><strong>Problem-solving and pragmatism</strong>: Ability to balance competing priorities: speed vs. correctness, optimization vs. shipping, research needs vs. production stability. You can make good technical tradeoffs under uncertainty.</p> <p><strong>Communication</strong>: Clear, direct communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. You can explain complex systems simply and work effectively with researchers, traders, and engineers.</p> <p><strong>Education</strong>: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field (Master's or Ph.D. a plus). We value strong academic backgrounds, but proven experience and capability matter more than pedigree.</p> <p><strong>Nice to have</strong>:</p> <ul> <li>Experience in quantitative trading, quantitative research, or financial markets</li> <li>Background