Senior Quant Developer / Software Engineer – Houston, Texas : $200-400k

We’re working with a leading quantitative investment firm that is continuing to expand its technology and trading capabilities in Houston, Texas.

They’re looking for senior software engineers with strong mathematical and quantitative ability who want to work directly at the intersection of technology, trading and strategy.

This is not a traditional software engineering role. The firm is looking for people who can understand a trading problem, think commercially about the opportunity and then determine how technology can be used to develop, test and scale the solution.

The type of person we're looking for will typically have:

• Strong mathematical and analytical ability
• A strong software engineering background
• Experience working closely with a trading desk, quant or strategy team
• A commercial mindset and genuine interest in financial markets
• The ability to think about problems from both a trading and technology perspective

The key distinction is that they aren't looking for someone who simply receives a specification and builds it. They're looking for engineers who can understand why something needs to be built and how it can create value for the trading function.

Python is a core part of the environment, but this is very much a broader engineering opportunity than simply being a Python developer. The team works with large, distributed systems supporting quantitative research, strategy development, backtesting and production trading. Strong experience in areas such as the following would be highly relevant:

• Python & large-scale Python systems
• Distributed systems and scalable architecture
• Cloud — AWS, GCP or Azure
• Docker / Kubernetes
• CI/CD and automated testing
• Large-scale data processing and data pipelines
• Market data and time-series data
• Databases and distributed storage
• Quantitative research and analytics infrastructure
• Backtesting and simulation frameworks
• Production trading systems
• Performance optimisation / high-throughput systems

Experience with C++, Java or other performance-oriented languages could also be relevant, particularly for candidates who have worked in technically demanding Front Office environments.

Strategy & Trading. One of the most interesting aspects of the role is the proximity to the trading and strategy teams. That could mean building a new research platform, developing backtesting infrastructure, improving market-data pipelines, creating quantitative analytics or designing the technology required to support a new trading strategy.

Relevant candidates could come from quantitative hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, investment banks or highly technical technology companies.

We're also seeing relevance in profiles with:

• Front Office Python engineering experience
• Strategy / Quant Engineering
• Systematic trading technology
• Backtesting and research infrastructure
• Risk data pipelines
• Volatility-related technology
• Large-scale CI/CD and engineering platforms

The important thing is that candidates have moved beyond being purely delivery-focused developers and have demonstrated the ability to solve complex problems and work closely with the business.