---
title: 'Principal Software Engineer, Trading Systems at NinjaTrader'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-software-engineer-trading-systems-ninjatrader-chicago-nw5nqg5qem9r'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-13'
---

# Principal Software Engineer, Trading Systems at NinjaTrader

- **Company:** NinjaTrader
- **Location:** Chicago, IL
- **Posted:** 2025-06-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-13
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ninjatrader/jobs/4559838006

## Job description

Disclaimer: Please be advised that the most accurate and up-to-date information about our open roles—including job descriptions, compensation, and benefits—can only be guaranteed on our official job board. For the latest listings and details, please visit: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ninjatrader.

JOIN US ON OUR MISSION TO BECOME THE #1 RETAIL TRADING PLATFORM IN THE WORLD

Welcome to the dynamic world of NinjaTrader! As an industry-leading trading platform and futures broker, we're empowering traders to take control of their financial destiny. How do we do it? We provide cutting-edge products and services that enhance the trading journey. Whether a seasoned pro or just starting out, NinjaTrader equips traders with award-winning software and brokerage services to navigate the world's leading financial markets with confidence.

Our growth story is nothing short of exhilarating. Since 2003, NinjaTrader has been dedicated to understanding and supporting traders on their journey toward trading triumph. Through those efforts, our user base has grown to over 2 million users and we have become the number one rated futures brokerage worldwide.

But we're not stopping there. We're constantly evolving, pushing boundaries, and modernizing the futures industry. Our commitment to innovation means users will always have access to dynamic tools, real-time support, and a community of like-minded traders.

So, why work at NinjaTrader? Here, you're not just part of a team; you're part of a movement. We empower employees to reach new heights in their careers by providing a dynamic culture focused on social connection, professional development, and employee recognition initiatives. Sounds too good to be true? [Take it from our employees.](https://www.greatplacetowork.com/certified-company/7025362)

Join us as we redefine what's possible in trading, advocate for our customers, and continue our journey toward becoming the world's top retail-focused trading platform in the world.

What you’ll do:

In this pivotal role on our Trading Services team, you will design, evolve, and optimize our core trading infrastructure. You will help scale and enhance our highly scalable, low-latency trading system, ensuring it meets the highest standards of performance, scalability, and reliability. Your work will directly impact our ability to support rapid growth in the retail futures trading space.

In this role you will:

- Design, develop, and optimize our Scala-based trading services for high-volume, low-latency, 24x7 environments
- Lead architectural strategy for future-state scalability and performance optimization
- Mentor and guide junior engineers, promoting best practices and technical excellence
- Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, operations, and security teams to translate business requirements into robust and secure technical solutions
- Optimize system performance, with focus on JVM tuning for Scala/Akka-based distributed system
- Enhance monitoring and observability of services for real-time trade execution and operational transparency
- Ensure compliance with security policies, regulatory standards, and industry best practices

What we look for:

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- Extensive experience with high-performance, high-concurrency distributed trading systems
- Proven expertise in JVM and performance tuning for high-performance environments
- Experience supporting 24/7 production systems, ideally in trading environments
- Deep knowledge of networking and protocols (HTTP/HTTPS, WebSockets, DNS, TCP/IP)
- Experience with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions)
- Strong troubleshooting and debugging skills in high-pressure, real-time conditions
- Excellent communication skills, capable of clearly articulating technical concepts to diverse stakeholders
- Experience in functional programming languages within exchange/trading environments

Bonus Points for:

- Experience in low-latency, lock-free development and design
- Strong experience with multithreading and concurrency in high-performance environments
- Familiarity with binary or custom trading protocols
- Strong knowledge of messaging frameworks (Kafka, RabbitMQ) and network protocols (UDP, TCP)
- Hands-on experience implementing HTTP/WebSockets, REST APIs, OAuth, gRPC, and Redis APIs
- Deep understanding of order handling/matching engines
- Extensive experience with FIX or other market data/order-entry protocols
- Practical hands-on experience with cloud-native technologies (Kubernetes and Docker)
- Solid grasp of network communications, particularly IP multicast and TCP protocols used in market data feeds

Compensation:

The salary range for this role will be $195,000.00 - $220,000.00 USD annually. In addition, this position will also receive an annual target bonus of up to 15%. Bonus pay at NinjaTrader is based on individual performance (50%) as well as company/team performance (50%).

Salary and bonus earnings are only two components of the total compensation package offered by NinjaTrader. Additional details on our total compensation package and benefits are listed below.

Our Core Benefits Include:

- Generous PTO
- 7 Paid Holidays Annually + 5 Conditional Holidays Annually
- 1 Service Day Annually
- 401k with 3.5% Company Match
- Paid Parental Bonding Leave
- Health, Vision, Dental Coverage
- Life and Disability Insurance Covered 100% by NinjaTrader

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

## About NinjaTrader

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: NinjaTrader is an award-winning futures trading platform and brokerage that empowers active traders with advanced software, analytics, and brokerage services.
- **Entity Type**: Private (subsidiary of Payward, Inc. / Kraken, acquired March 2025)
- **Headquarters**: Chicago, Illinois, United States
- **Founded**: 2004 (company began operations in 2003 per its website)
- **Founders**: Not publicly available

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Financial Services – Futures Trading, Brokerage, Fintech
- **Target customers**: B2C (active retail futures traders) and B2B (third-party developers and institutions via its platform ecosystem)
- **Mission**: “Empower traders worldwide with award-winning technology and brokerage services” and “build products and services that empower active traders to easily analyze and react to data from the world's leading financial markets.”

## Products & Services
- **NinjaTrader Platform**: Award-winning trading software for futures, featuring advanced charting, market analytics, trade simulation, and trading system development. Available on desktop (PC/Mac), web, and mobile.
- **Brokerage Services** (via NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC): Futures brokerage with low commissions ($0.09 per contract), low intraday margins ($50), and no deposit minimum.
- **Add-on Ecosystem**: 1,000+ third-party add-ons and a C#-based development framework for building custom indicators, strategies, and tools.
- **Simulated Trading**: Free unlimited simulated trading for practice and strategy testing.
- **Education**: Free premium trading education tools and resources.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Acquired by Kraken in March 2025 for $1.5 billion (valuation at acquisition). Prior private equity round in 2020 led by Long Ridge Equity Partners.
- **Key Metric**: Annual revenue of $75 million (latest available); over 2 million users globally.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Long Ridge Equity Partners (lead investor in 2020), Kraken (acquirer), Payward, Inc. (parent company). Also acquired Tradovate in 2022 for $115 million.
- **Growth Signals**: 25.7% YoY headcount growth (353 employees, +104 YoY); active job postings up 114.3% YoY; operates in 28 countries; Great Place to Work Certified.

## Competitive Advantages
- #1 rated futures broker (self-reported) with award-winning software.
- Integrated platform + brokerage (one-stop shop for futures traders).
- Large, loyal user base (over 2 million) and strong community.
- Low-cost structure (low commissions, low margins) appealing to active traders.
- C# development framework enables a rich ecosystem of custom tools and third-party add-ons.
- Multi-device support (desktop, web, mobile) for seamless trading.

## Strategic Focus
- Mission to “become the #1 retail trading platform in the world.”
- Modernizing the futures industry through continuous product innovation.
- Expanding globally (already in 28 countries) and deepening integration with Kraken’s crypto ecosystem.
- Scaling engineering and product teams to build next-generation trading tools.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Dynamic culture focused on social connection, professional development, and employee recognition initiatives.” Great Place to Work Certified.
- **Benefits**: Health, vision, dental coverage; 401(k) with company match; 100% employer-paid life and disability insurance; generous PTO; paid holidays.
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Many roles are listed as “Chicago or Remote*” (e.g., Sr. Data Engineer, Staff Software Engineer). HQ in Chicago with a hybrid-friendly approach.
- **Engineering Culture**: Strong technical teams working on trading systems, data engineering, AI, and backend services. Tech stack includes C#, Scala, and modern cloud infrastructure. Internship program available.
- **Career Development**: Emphasis on internal career development and employee recognition.

## Sources
1. [ninjatrader.com](https://ninjatrader.com/careers/)
2. [job-boards.greenhouse.io](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ninjatrader)
3. [ninjatrader.com](https://ninjatrader.com/careers/job-openings/)
4. [ninjatrader.com](https://ninjatrader.com/)
5. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ninjatrader-group-llc)

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