JobsChicago Trading Company

Trade Support Engineer

Chicago Trading Company · Chicago, IL · Technology

Posted Sep 11, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Sep 20, 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.

Behavioral

Walk me through a time a live trading system went down and you were the one who had to figure out why. What did you actually do in the first five minutes?

whether they have a real triage instinct versus a rehearsed process, and how they behave under actual pressure

Describe the worst production incident you've been part of. What was your role, and what changed afterward because of it?

ownership of outcomes and whether they drive follow-through like retrospectives and fixes, not just firefighting

Tell me about a time you had to explain a technical problem to someone non-technical, like a trader, in the middle of a stressful situation. How did you decide what to say?

ability to translate technical detail into something a trader can act on quickly

What's a runbook or piece of documentation you've written or improved, and how did you decide what belonged in it?

whether they actually build institutional knowledge or just fix things and move on

Tell me about a time you disagreed with a developer or trader about the cause of an issue. How did you resolve it?

collaboration and conflict resolution across technical and non-technical stakeholders

Technical

Tell me about a bash or python script you wrote to automate something manual. What was the process before, and what did it look like after?

real hands-on scripting experience versus theoretical knowledge of the languages

Give me an example of a Linux command line troubleshooting session you'd run if a process is consuming abnormal CPU or memory on a production box. Walk me through it.

actual CLI fluency versus familiarity with the idea of Linux troubleshooting

How would you write a SQL or Snowflake query to pull all failed orders from the last hour, if you had a table of order events with status and timestamp columns?

basic database querying competence for a role that touches order and trade data

If you had to monitor a production trading environment for anomalies without being told exactly what to look for, what signals would you set up alerts on?

proactive thinking about monitoring and whether they understand what matters in a trading system versus generic infrastructure

Situational

Say it's 9:35am, markets are open, and a trader tells you orders aren't going through on one of the exchange connections. What do you check first, and why?

whether their diagnostic order of operations makes sense for a live trading context, not just general IT triage

You're in the middle of resolving an incident and a trader is asking you for updates every two minutes while you're still trying to diagnose the root cause. How do you handle that?

ability to manage stakeholder communication without sacrificing focus on the actual fix

You've resolved an outage but you're still not sure what actually caused it. The trading day is over and everyone wants to move on. What do you do next?

whether they push for root cause and documentation even when the pressure is off

Two systems are both showing errors at the same time and you don't know if they're related or coincidental. How do you figure out which one to chase first?

prioritization logic when facing ambiguous, simultaneous problems

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The full job description

As published by Chicago Trading Company.

<div class="content-intro"><p>Chicago Trading Company (CTC) is a premier proprietary trading firm specializing in options market making. &nbsp;Our collaborative culture fuels innovation in quantitative research, systematic trading strategies, and cutting-edge trading technology. &nbsp;For over three decades CTC has provided critical liquidity across derivatives exchanges worldwide - making them fairer, more transparent, and more efficient.</p> <p>We strive to be the most innovative firm in the industry today, tomorrow, and long into the future while upholding ethical excellence. We believe that CTC makes a positive impact on the markets, the lives of our employees, and all the communities to which we belong. Started in 1995 by a team of forward-thinking Traders, we are proud to call ourselves an industry leader that keeps making markets and each other better.</p></div><p>&nbsp;</p> <p>We are seeking a highly motivated, technically adept Trade Support Engineer. In this high-impact role, you’ll collaborate directly with traders and developers to troubleshoot critical live trading issues, manage complex incidents, and ensure the stability and resilience of production trading systems. You will be relied upon for swift problem diagnosis under pressure, rapid resolutions to minimize system downtime, and clear, concise communication across both technical and non-technical teams. This is an individual contributor role for an engineer who likes autonomy, thrives in urgent situations, and is eager to make meaningful contributions to a cutting-edge trading operation.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>WHAT YOU’LL DO</strong></p> <ul> <li>Troubleshoot and resolve live trading system issues, minimizing downtime during outages and communicating status updates to stakeholders</li> <li>Monitor real-time production environments, respond to anomalies, and escalate as needed</li> <li>Automate workflows and manual processes using Linux, Python, and Bash to improve operational efficiency</li> <li>Collaborate directly with traders and developers to relay critical system and software issues, and assist with patching and recovery</li> <li>Contribute to process improvements, documentation, and knowledge-sharing materials (runbooks, FAQs, retrospectives)</li> <li>Own incident response, follow up on lessons learned, and drive continuous improvement of support operations</li> </ul> <p><strong>WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR</strong></p> <ul> <li>Experience troubleshooting in a Linux environment via CLI&nbsp;</li> <li>Knowledge of Python and Bash scripting for automation</li> <li>Prior experience supporting end users in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment</li> <li>Excellent problem-solving and communication skills; comfortable working with technical and non-technical teams</li> <li>Detail-oriented with a proactive, ownership-driven approach to incident management and process improvement</li> <li>Experience querying databases (SQL, Snowflake) preferred</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description"><p><strong>Compensation</strong></p> <p>The salary range for this role is listed below. This role is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. The discretionary bonus will be dependent upon the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, and firm performance.&nbsp;</p></div><div class="title">Salary Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$175,000</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$225,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p>Most teams at CTC, with the exception of Trading, follow a hybrid workplace model, subject to change based on business need.</p> <p><strong>Our Benefits&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>We strongly believe in the well-being of our employees and their families so we offer outstanding benefits to support you both professionally and personally. These benefits include generous time off, insurance coverage, paid parental leave, free breakfast and lunch (plus healthy snacks, of course), wellness reimbursement, and a variety of other benefits focused on providing the best employee experience.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>(Disclaimer: interns and contractors are not eligible for benefits at CTC)&nbsp;</em></p> <p><strong>Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion</strong></p> <p>At CTC, we aim to cultivate a workplace that celebrates diversity and each person feels included, engaged and empowered. Where each of us feels we belong. We are committed to having a diverse workforce and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. CTC does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.&nbsp;</p> <p>If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or to apply for a position, please contact us at info@chicagotrading.com. Note that emails sent to this email account for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.</p> <p><strong>Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)</strong></p> <p>Information submitted by job applicants may be subject to review and analysis by automated systems, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), as part of the recruitment process. Such systems are utilized to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our hiring procedures. Applicants are advised that any information provided may be evaluated by AI tools to ensure an equitable and thorough assessment.</p></div>

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