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Data Engineer - Infrastructure

IMC Trading · Chicago, IL · Systems & Infrastructure

Posted Sep 30, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a large Hadoop or S3-compatible storage platform you've run. What broke and how did you fix it?

What they are checking: Real operational experience with large storage systems, not just setup.

Tell me about a time you automated a manual infrastructure task. What did it save?

What they are checking: Whether they reduce toil through automation, a main theme of the role.

What would you do

A Kafka cluster starts falling behind and consumers lag. How do you investigate?

What they are checking: Troubleshooting Kafka with a focus on storage and disk performance.

Disk usage is growing faster than planned. How do you respond in the short and long term?

What they are checking: Capacity planning and the ability to keep infrastructure ready to scale.

How do you work with engineering teams who want storage that is both fast and cheap?

What they are checking: Whether they can partner with teams and explain tradeoffs in storage design.

About the work

How would you tune a Linux server to get the most I/O throughput for a storage workload?

What they are checking: Hands-on Linux performance tuning, a core skill the posting names.

How do you decide between Ansible and Puppet for a piece of automation?

What they are checking: Practical experience with both tools and when each fits.

What metrics would you track in Prometheus for a storage platform, and which would you alert on?

What they are checking: Whether they build useful observability instead of noisy alerts.

How would you replace a failing disk in a large storage cluster with no user impact?

What they are checking: Practical knowledge of replication, rebalancing and safe maintenance.

What filesystem and RAID choices would you make for a high-throughput workload, and why?

What they are checking: Whether they have low-level storage knowledge for bare metal systems and can justify each choice.

How would you run stateful storage services on Kubernetes, and what would worry you?

What they are checking: Familiarity with Kubernetes and its limits for storage-heavy workloads.

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The full job description

As published by IMC Trading.

We are hiring an Engineer to join our Data Engineering Infrastructure team, where you will help build and scale the storage and data platforms that power our HFT business. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys working close to the bare metal systems. Operating large-scale open-source storage, enterprise storage, tuning Linux systems for performance, automating infrastructure. As our data footprint grows, you will play a key part in keeping our infrastructure fast, reliable, and ready to scale. Your Core Responsibilities: • Design, deploy, and operate large-scale data storage infrastructure, including Hadoop, enterprise storage and S3-compatible platforms • Tune Linux systems for I/O throughput and overall performance • Automate configuration and deployment using Ansible, Puppet or other automation platform • Build observability into the platform with Prometheus and related tooling • Partner with engineering teams to deliver reliable, well-architected data solutions with a focus on Storage and Kafka • Familiarity with Kubernetes Your Skills & Experience: • 5+ years of experience in systems engineering with a strong focus on data storage • Strong Linux fundamentals, debugging skills, including performance tuning for I/O throughput • Hands-on experience with Ansible and Puppet for configuration management and automation • Familiarity with open-source, S3 API compliant, and enterprise storage technologies • Working knowledge of the Hadoop ecosystem, including YARN • Experience in Java and Python • Comfort working with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude in an enterprise setting • Experience with Prometheus-based monitoring and alerting The Base Salary range for the role is included below. Base salary is only one component of total compensation; all full-time, permanent positions are eligible for a discretionary bonus and benefits, including paid leave and insurance. Please visit Benefits - US | IMC Trading for more comprehensive information. Salary Range $175,000 — $225,000 USD About Us IMC is a research-driven trading firm where quantitative modeling, machine learning, and engineering shape how modern markets are traded. A stabilizing force in markets since 1989, we provide liquidity across trading venues, delivering the best outcome in value and risk management to investors. Using our own technology and capital, we build proprietary systems and algorithms that operate across global markets. Our researchers, traders, and engineers work as a collective, combining rapid experimentation, advanced infrastructure, and real-time feedback to turn insight into execution and execution into advantage.  

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