---
title: 'Physical Design Engineer at Hudson River Trading'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/physical-design-engineer-hudson-river-trading-austin-nwhb84mkhx5t'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-16'
---

# Physical Design Engineer at Hudson River Trading

- **Company:** Hudson River Trading
- **Location:** Austin, TX / Boulder, CO / Chicago, IL / London, United Kingdom / New York, NY
- **Posted:** 2026-04-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-16
- **Apply:** https://www.hudsonrivertrading.com/careers/job/?gh_jid=7564973

## Job description

Hudson River Trading (HRT) is seeking a Physical Design Engineer with a broad, versatile skillset to join our growing Hardware team. In this role, you will help deliver performance-critical ASICs and advance our physical design methodologies on leading-edge process nodes.

The Hardware team at HRT builds high-performance compute engines using FPGA and ASIC technology to drive low-latency trading decisions on global markets. We create custom solutions across the full spectrum of speed and sophistication, from bespoke circuits to world-class machine learning accelerators.

## Responsibilities

- Drive design-for-test (DFT) methodologies and implementation
- Contribute to physical implementation, from RTL handoff through GDSII on advanced process nodes
- Partner on floorplanning and physical optimization for high-performance, latency-critical designs
- Close timing across multiple modes and corners while optimizing power, performance, and area (PPA)
- Diagnose and resolve physical design issues such as timing bottlenecks, congestion, and IR/EM violations
- Build, maintain, and improve repeatable, automated physical design flows
- Develop scripts and tooling to improve productivity, robustness, and insight into design behavior
- Collaborate closely with RTL, architecture, and other hardware engineers to influence design decisions early

## Qualifications

- Experience working in high-performance ASIC design environments
- Strong fundamentals in digital logic, circuit design, and process technology
- Familiarity with DFT concepts and testing methodologies
- Strong scripting and automation skills (Python, Tcl, shell), including parsing and analyzing tool outputs
- Ability to design robust methodologies, diagnose complex failures, and improve physical design flows
- Applied use of statistics in analyzing timing, power, or design data (preferred)
- Hands-on experience with static timing analysis and timing closure methodologies
- Expertise using industry-standard physical design and signoff tools (e.g., Innovus, PrimeTime)

This job is accepting ongoing applications and there is no application deadline.

The estimated base salary range for this position is 200,000 to 300,000 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 which includes medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, and enrollment in our company’s retirement savings plans. Employees will receive sick and parental leave, as well as other paid time off (including 20 vacation days and 10 paid holidays in the US). Please note that benefits and time off policies will vary across non-US locations.

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information. Culture

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.

You can review our [Global Applicant Privacy Notice](https://www.hudsonrivertrading.com/global-applicant-privacy-notice/), which explains how we process applicant information.

## About Hudson River Trading

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Hudson River Trading (HRT) is a multi-asset class quantitative trading firm that builds automated trading algorithms to provide liquidity on global markets.
- **Entity Type**: Private (no public ticker; no external funding rounds disclosed)
- **Headquarters**: New York City, New York, USA
- **Founded**: 2002
- **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed (current owner is Jason Carroll)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Financial services – algorithmic trading and market making.
- **Target customers**: Institutional market participants, exchanges, and liquidity consumers (B2B). The firm trades on over 200 markets worldwide.
- **Mission/purpose**: “We are thoughtful market leaders, committed to the health and longevity of global markets.” [hudsonrivertrading.com](https://www.hudsonrivertrading.com/)

## Products & Services
- **Automated Trading Algorithms**: Proprietary models developed by mathematicians, physicists, and software engineers to execute trades across equities, futures, options, and other asset classes. Emphasis on statistical analysis and high-performance infrastructure.
- **Market Making**: HRT provides two-sided liquidity on electronic exchanges, holding about 25% of capital overnight with an average holding time of roughly five minutes (distinct from stereotypical high-frequency trading firms). [wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River_Trading)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: In Q1 2021, HRT generated approximately **$1.2 billion** from trading, amid heightened market volatility (Bloomberg report). [wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River_Trading)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: No external investors (private, founder-owned). Member of the Principal Traders Group (Futures Industry Association). Acquired competitor Sun Trading in 2018.
- **Growth Signals**: Employs over 800 people across offices in New York, Chicago, Austin, Boulder, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Dublin. Continues to hire aggressively for roles in software engineering, algorithmic development, and research (130+ open roles as of mid-2026 per career page). [hudsonrivertrading.com/careers](https://www.hudsonrivertrading.com/careers/)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Advanced technology stack**: HRT’s distributed system is on the Pareto frontier of latency and throughput, giving researchers and engineers a unique platform for fast experimentation.
- **Collaborative culture**: Unlike many prop trading firms, HRT emphasizes shared R&D and cross-team cooperation (“the best ideas are born in a shared research and development environment”).
- **Ethical stance**: Internal code of ethics that exceeds regulatory requirements; transparent market participation (<1% of trading in dark pools).
- **Diversified strategies**: Multi-asset, multi-timeframe trading reduces single-point risk and enables resilience.

## Strategic Focus
- **Talent acquisition**: Actively recruiting from top math, computer science, and physics programs, as well as experienced engineers from big tech (Wall Street Journal noted HRT’s efforts to attract talent from Silicon Valley).
- **Global expansion**: Continued office openings in Asia and Europe to access more markets and liquidity pools.
- **Infrastructure investment**: Ongoing development of low-latency, high-throughput systems to maintain a competitive edge in algorithmic trading.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: HRT describes itself as “a small tech company with a big impact” – a community of curious, collaborative problem-solvers. Core values include automation & efficiency, make it better, togetherness, and inclusivity. [hudsonrivertrading.com/life-at-hrt](https://www.hudsonrivertrading.com/life-at-hrt/)
- **Hybrid/remote policy**: Majority of teams adopt an even split between in-office and remote work; some roles require full-time presence. Relocation assistance is available.
- **Perks & benefits**: Company-paid medical/dental (no premiums), 401k/pension matching, generous parental leave (via Progyny), caregiver support (Vivvi), fitness centers/reimbursement, daily catered meals, coffee bar, and regular social events (company trips, happy hours, volleyball tournaments).
- **Engineering environment**: Strong emphasis on C++, Python, OS internals, CPU architecture, and networking. Engineers work on everything from high-frequency trading engines to research infrastructure.

## Sources
1. [hudsonrivertrading.com](https://www.hudsonrivertrading.com/) – Company overview, mission, and philosophy.
2. [hudsonrivertrading.com/careers](https://www.hudsonrivertrading.com/careers/) – Job types, locations, and role descriptions (Algo Developer, Software Engineer, Algo Software Engineer).
3. [hudsonrivertrading.com/life-at-hrt](https://www.hudsonrivertrading.com/life-at-hrt/) – Benefits, culture, diversity & inclusion, work environment.
4. [wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River_Trading) – History, business model, trading statistics (5% of US trading in 2014, Q1 2021 revenue, acquisition of Sun Trading).

## Other roles at Hudson River Trading

- [Treasury Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/treasury-associate-hudson-river-trading-singapore-tcb1v5rwtmc2) — Singapore
- [Middle Office Analyst - Macro](https://feeny.ai/job/middle-office-analyst-macro-hudson-river-trading-new-york-7f927v0v0zcm) — New York, NY
- [Middle Office Analyst - FX](https://feeny.ai/job/middle-office-analyst-fx-hudson-river-trading-new-york-xmzj7mkmndkk) — New York, NY
- [Research Data Expert](https://feeny.ai/job/research-data-expert-hudson-river-trading-london-wkpsmgkvq2hd) — London, United Kingdom / New York, NY / Singapore
- [Endpoint Engineer - Mobile](https://feeny.ai/job/endpoint-engineer-mobile-hudson-river-trading-new-york-yjq5r5gamjgq) — New York, NY
- [Data Scientist Intern - 2027](https://feeny.ai/job/data-scientist-intern-2027-hudson-river-trading-london-9v55cdzm81q0) — London, United Kingdom / New York, NY
- [Business Operations Analyst - Data](https://feeny.ai/job/business-operations-analyst-data-hudson-river-trading-new-york-m22jmy78cman) — New York, NY
- [Senior Technical Procurement Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-procurement-specialist-hudson-river-trading-new-york-072n2fyvp9yq) — New York, NY
- [Security Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/security-engineer-hudson-river-trading-mumbai-gzk84yacxkf9) — Mumbai, India
- [Software Engineer - Low Level (C++)](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-low-level-c-hudson-river-trading-singapore-8gf6g9651d9w) — Singapore