Jobs › DRW

Senior Software Engineer, Trading Platform, C++

DRW · Chicago, IL · $175,000–$240,000 a year · Trading Platform Development

Posted Sep 29, 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

The Core Infrastructure team maintains DRW's global low-latency trading platform, including order routing, market data and risk. Which of those areas have you worked in most deeply?

What they are checking: Direct experience with the core components the posting names.

Tell me about a production incident in a trading system you helped resolve.

What they are checking: Calm incident handling and follow-through on lasting fixes.

What would you do

Many trading teams depend on your platform. How do you roll out changes without breaking them?

What they are checking: Careful release practices like versioning, feature flags and staged rollouts for shared infrastructure.

An exchange changes its protocol with short notice. How do you handle it?

What they are checking: Responding to external changes quickly while keeping the platform stable.

How do you balance requests from different trading teams that want different things from the platform?

What they are checking: Product judgment for shared infrastructure serving many internal customers.

About the work

How would you design a market data handler that normalizes feeds from many exchanges with minimal latency?

What they are checking: Low-latency C++ design skill combined with knowledge of exchange feed protocols.

Walk me through the life of an order through a smart order router.

What they are checking: Understanding of order routing logic, venue selection and the risks in that path.

How would you add a new pre-trade risk check without adding meaningful latency?

What they are checking: Balancing safety and speed in a platform many trading teams depend on.

Explain how you'd use CPU caches, memory layout and threading to reduce latency.

What they are checking: Deep performance engineering knowledge needed for a low-latency platform.

How do you test platform code that runs across global deployments?

What they are checking: Testing strategy that accounts for different exchanges, time zones and environments.

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The full job description

As published by DRW.

DRW is a diversified trading firm with over 3 decades of experience bringing sophisticated technology and exceptional people together to operate in markets around the world. We value autonomy and the ability to quickly pivot to capture opportunities, so we operate using our own capital and trading at our own risk. Headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia, we trade a variety of asset classes including Fixed Income, ETFs, Equities, FX, Commodities and Energy across all major global markets. We have also leveraged our expertise and technology to expand into three non-traditional strategies: real estate, venture capital and cryptoassets. We operate with respect, curiosity and open minds. The people who thrive here share our belief that it’s not just what we do that matters–it's how we do it. DRW is a place of high expectations, integrity, innovation and a willingness to challenge consensus. DRW is looking for an outstanding Software Engineer with an expertise in C++ to work in our Chicago office. In this role, you will be a part of our Core Infrastructure team which is responsible for designing, developing and maintaining DRW's low latency trading platform which is deployed global.  You will be tasked with working on various areas of the technical stack including order routing, market data, and risk systems.   To qualify for this role, you: • Minimum of 5 years of experience working developing high-availability systems in C++ with very tight resource/latency constraints • Have a background in multi-threaded programming and a strong understanding of hardware/software interaction • Are comfortable working “under the hood” and you are quite skilled in performance tuning (applications, Linux, socket I/O, etc.) and troubleshooting • Have experience working with C++ libraries like STL and Boost • Are up to date on the C++23 standards and have opinions about them • Have worked on challenging projects that involved things like building a custom compiler, writing a matching engine, or working with large amounts of data in real time • Have strong English verbal and written communication skills Bonus points if you have: • Experience working in the trading industry or another ultra-low latency sensitive business that involves solving remarkably complex problems • Experience working with Research teams and Quants • Experience working within gaming or streaming The annual base salary range for this position is $175,000 to $240,000 depending on the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and relevant skill set. The position is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition, DRW offers a comprehensive suite of employee benefits including group medical, pharmacy, dental and vision insurance, 401k (with discretionary employer match), short and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance, health savings accounts, and flexible spending accounts. For more information about DRW's processing activities and our use of job applicants' data, please view our Privacy Notice at https://drw.com/privacy-notice . California residents, please review the California Privacy Notice for information about certain legal rights at https://drw.com/california-privacy-notice . [#LI-VD1]  

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