Linux Systems Engineer

Chicago

We are seeking a versatile and driven SRE / Trading Systems Engineer to join our execution engineering team. In this position, you will take end-to-end ownership of systems that operate directly in the live trading critical path - spanning hardware, network connectivity, application performance, and exchange connectivity. This role is intentionally hybrid. It is neither purely operational support nor solely project-focused engineering, it is both. Your time will be divided between: **Operational ownership of live trading systems**, maintaining stability and resolving production incidents quickly and effectively. This aspect of the role is high-velocity and highly visible, requiring strong troubleshooting skills, clear communication, and composure under pressure. If you thrive on solving real-time issues and seeing immediate results from your work, this will be a strong fit. **Engineering-driven improvement initiatives**, focused on strengthening the reliability, performance, and automation of the same systems you support. The objective is straightforward: reduce incidents, accelerate recovery, increase proactive monitoring, and continuously elevate system robustness. Deep production ownership informs better engineering, understanding system behavior under real-world stress is key to improving it. Execution infrastructure is core to trading performance and requires dedicated stewardship to ensure seamless operation throughout the trading day. You will play a central role in optimizing current performance while building a stronger, more resilient platform for the future. You will join a team of experienced engineers who prioritize operational discipline and continuous refinement, with meaningful responsibility across complex, real-time interactions spanning trading and technology. **Your Core Responsibilities** * Participate in structured on-call rotations to provide real-time coverage for mission-critical execution systems * Safeguard trading continuity by triaging and resolving system issues with urgency and sound judgment * Investigate novel production incidents, collaborating across trading, development, infrastructure, and external exchanges * Continuously monitor system health and identify potential risks before they affect trading * Develop automation tools to improve orchestration and operational efficiency * Conduct root cause analysis to permanently eliminate recurring issues * Partner with trading and technology teams to evolve and implement system architecture * Strengthen monitoring, observability, and overall system resilience * Maintain and optimize core market connectivity infrastructure **What You'll Gain** * Direct exposure to advanced, low-latency trading infrastructure * Immediate and visible impact on live trading systems * Broad technical development across hardware, networking, systems, and application layers * Collaboration with highly skilled traders and engineers * Ownership and autonomy over business-critical systems **Your Skills and Experience** * Genuine enthusiasm for problem-solving and emerging technologies * 2--5+ years of experience in Site Reliability Engineering, Production Engineering, Systems Integration, or a similar role within a heavily on-premises environment * 2--5+ years of hands-on experience with Linux systems, server management, and network configuration * Strong grounding in networking fundamentals, including routing protocols, TCP/UDP, multicast, network offload, and kernel bypass technologies * Proficiency in Python and Bash * Demonstrated technical curiosity through personal projects, home labs, open-source contributions, or deep exploration of operating systems and networking concepts * Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related engineering discipline (or equivalent practical experience) **Preferred Experience** * Familiarity with MySQL, MongoDB, or other NoSQL databases