Jobs › Hudson River Trading

Junior Trading Systems Engineer

Hudson River Trading · Chicago, IL · Trading Tech

Posted Oct 1, 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 project where you automated something that used to be manual.

What they are checking: Whether they have a real passion for automation, which the posting stresses.

Tell me about a time you learned a new technical skill quickly to solve a problem.

What they are checking: Whether they are eager and able to learn fast in a demanding environment.

What would you do

How would you safely upgrade software across trading servers worldwide without disrupting trading?

What they are checking: Whether they think about staged rollouts, testing and rollback for a 24/7 system.

You are on call and get paged at 3 a.m. for a hardware failure in an overseas data center. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they stay calm, protect trading first and communicate clearly during an incident.

What would you do if you found poor documentation for a critical system you had to fix?

What they are checking: Whether they solve the problem and then improve documentation for the next person.

About the work

A Linux server running a trading process is suddenly slower. How would you investigate?

What they are checking: Whether they know Linux tools for CPU, memory, disk and network and use them in a logical order.

What Linux settings would you look at to reduce latency for a trading application?

What they are checking: Whether they know about CPU isolation, interrupts, power states and kernel tuning.

Write a script that checks a fleet of servers for a configuration drift and reports differences.

What they are checking: Whether they can automate a real operations task cleanly in Python or shell.

How would you benchmark the performance of a trading stack before and after a change?

What they are checking: Whether they understand fair benchmarking, including noise, repeatability and measuring tail latency.

How would you tell whether a problem is caused by hardware or software?

What they are checking: Whether they can isolate faults across the stack using logs, tests and swaps.

Practice this interview out loud.

Offer builds a real interview for this exact role at Hudson River Trading from your resume and this job description, asks the questions one at a time, and tells you what landed. The first one is free.

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The full job description

As published by Hudson River Trading.

Hudson River Trading (HRT) is seeking a Junior Trading Systems Engineer to join our growing Trading Systems Infrastructure team. This team designs, builds, and maintains the infrastructure that powers our global trading, and is responsible for ensuring optimal performance and uptime of the ultra low-latency operating systems, automation software, and development tools that allow our trading strategies to run worldwide 24/7. As a Junior Trading Systems Engineer, you’ll work on projects focusing on our real-time production trading environment and tackle problems that require high availability, high throughput, and ultra low-latency solutions. The ideal candidate possesses a passion for coding and automation, is eager to learn new skills to help build an elegant stack, and has the ability to handle challenging technical issues within a dynamic and fast-paced environment.&nbsp; Responsibilities • Manage worldwide Linux-based trading infrastructure by contributing to the planning and execution of complex technical projects and tasks • Troubleshoot hardware and software issues across the stack&nbsp; • Plan and implement system installations and upgrades&nbsp; • Deploy, configure, and test internal and external applications&nbsp; • Improve documentation and reduce technical debt • Benchmark the performance of the trading stack, working with subject matter experts across the organization • Join an on-call rotation schedule to cover trading hours and weekend shifts, as needed Qualifications • 2+ years of relevant experience managing Linux systems: you can install packages, manage users, control services, and know where to look for system logs, and you understand TCP/IP networking, default gateways, and how to debug connectivity problems • Familiarity installing and configuring Linux systems, from hardware and networking to kernel to applications&nbsp; • Knowledge of Debian/Ubuntu is desirable • Basic familiarity with configuration management tools, particularly SaltStack – some knowledge of Puppet, Ansible, Chef, or CFEngine is also desirable • Project Management Skills • Proven programming experience: you don't just know what big-O notation is, you've also built working software and can explain and defend your design • Basic shell (bash) scripting experience • Experience using JIRA • Strong cross-functional communication and organization skills • Experience with production systems, as well as some cloud experience in AWS or GCP, is desirable but not required The estimated base salary range for this position is 120,000 to 160,000 USD per year (or local equivalent). The base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. This role will also be eligible for discretionary performance-based bonuses and a competitive benefits package. Culture <span data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hudson River Trading (HRT) brings a scientific approach to trading financial products. We have built one of the world's most sophisticated computing environments for research and development. Our researchers are at the forefront of innovation in the world of algorithmic trading. \n\nAt HRT we come from a variety of disciplines: mathematics and computer science, physics, and engineering, media and tech. We’re a community of self-starters who are motivated by the excitement of being at the cutting edge of automation in every part of our organization - from trading, to business operations, to recruiting and beyond. Our culture celebrates great ideas whether they come from HRT veterans or new hires. At HRT we’re friends and colleagues – whether we are sharing a meal, playing the latest board game, or writing elegant code. We embrace a culture of togetherness that extends far beyond the walls of our office.\n\nFeel like you belong at HRT? Our goal is to find the best people and bring them together to do great work in a place where everyone is valued. HRT is proud of our diverse staff; we have offices all over the globe and benefit from our varied and unique perspectives. HRT is an equal opportunity employer; so whoever you are we’d love to get to know you."}" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":13185,"3":{"1":0},"10":1,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"IBM Plex Sans","16":11}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{"1":0}{"1":328,"2":{"2":{"1":2,"2":16711935}}}{"1":402}{"1":917,"2":{"2":{"1":2,"2":16711935}}}{"1":945}">Hudson River Trading (HRT) brings a scientific approach to trading financial products. We have built one of the world's most sophisticated computing environments for research and development. Our researchers are at the forefront of innovation in the world of algorithmic trading. At HRT we welcome a variety of expertise: mathematics and computer science, physics and engineering, media and tech. We’re a community of self-starters who are motivated by the excitement of being at the cutting edge of automation in every part of our organization—from trading, to business operations, to recruiting and beyond. We value openness and transparency, and celebrate great ideas from HRT veterans and new hires alike. At HRT we’re friends and colleagues – whether we are sharing a meal, playing the latest board game, or writing elegant code. We embrace a culture of togetherness that extends far beyond the walls of our office. Feel like you belong at HRT? Our goal is to find the best people and bring them together to do great work in a place where everyone is valued. HRT is proud of our diverse staff; we have offices all over the globe and benefit from our varied and unique perspectives. HRT is an equal opportunity employer; so whoever you are we’d love to get to know you. Please be advised: Use of AI tools by an applicant during interviews or assessments is strictly prohibited, unless otherwise instructed or agreed upon. We employ various methods to evaluate the authenticity of candidate responses. If we determine that AI assistance was used by an applicant during an interview or an assessment, we reserve the right to immediately end the interview or assessment, disqualify the applicant’s candidacy and/or rescind any job offers extended. <span data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Hudson River Trading (HRT) brings a scientific approach to trading financial products. We have built one of the world's most sophisticated computing environments for research and development. Our researchers are at the forefront of innovation in the world of algorithmic trading. \n\nAt HRT we come from a variety of disciplines: mathematics and computer science, physics, and engineering, media and tech. We’re a community of self-starters who are motivated by the excitement of being at the cutting edge of automation in every part of our organization - from trading, to business operations, to recruiting and beyond. Our culture celebrates great ideas whether they come from HRT veterans or new hires. At HRT we’re friends and colleagues – whether we are sharing a meal, playing the latest board game, or writing elegant code. We embrace a culture of togetherness that extends far beyond the walls of our office.\n\nFeel like you belong at HRT? Our goal is to find the best people and bring them together to do great work in a place where everyone is valued. HRT is proud of our diverse staff; we have offices all over the globe and benefit from our varied and unique perspectives. HRT is an equal opportunity employer; so whoever you are we’d love to get to know you."}" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":13185,"3":{"1":0},"10":1,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"IBM Plex Sans","16":11}" data-sheets-textstyleruns="{"1":0}{"1":328,"2":{"2":{"1":2,"2":16711935}}}{"1":402}{"1":917,"2":{"2":{"1":2,"2":16711935}}}{"1":945}">You can review our Global Applicant Privacy Notice , which explains how we process applicant information. &nbsp;

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