At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and optimise high-performance trading systems using cutting-edge technologies.
- Company: Join Bullish, a leading global digital asset platform with a focus on innovation.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, remote work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team committed to excellence and collaboration.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in the fast-paced world of digital assets and trading technology.
- Qualifications: Expertise in Java, Linux internals, and low-latency system optimisation required.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
About Bullish
Bullish is an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. These include:
- Bullish Exchange – a regulated and institutionally focused digital assets spot and derivatives exchange, integrating a high-performance central limit order book matching engine with automated market making to provide deep and predictable liquidity. Bullish Exchange is regulated in Germany, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar.
- CoinDesk Indices – a collection of tradable proprietary and single-asset benchmarks and indices that track the performance of digital assets for global institutions in the digital assets and traditional finance industries.
- CoinDesk Data - a broad suite of digital assets market data and analytics, providing real-time insights into prices, trends, and market dynamics.
- CoinDesk Insights – a digital asset media and events provider and operator of Coindesk.com, a digital media platform that covers news and insights about digital assets, the underlying markets, policy, and blockchain technology.
Reports to: Director, Engineering
Engineering Organization & Culture
At Bullish, we are engineering the institutional standard for the digital asset industry. Our mission is to build a platform where security and compliance are the foundational core, requiring a commitment to technical excellence that goes beyond simply delivering code. We operate as a global engineering organization, setting a high bar in a demanding environment for those driven to do the best work of their careers alongside world-class peers. We value engineers who treat development as a craft and own the outcome from concept to deployment. You will be expected to navigate the unknown, bring structure to ambiguity, and help shape the frameworks and processes that drive our global teams forward. We refuse to compromise on quality and seek problem solvers who thrive on high-impact technical challenges.
The Team: Trading Platform Engineering
The Trading Platform Engineering team is responsible for designing and optimizing the high-performance, mission-critical foundation that powers our trading activities. Operating at the intersection of software and hardware, the team builds low-latency systems that demand expert-level proficiency in Linux kernel internals, networking pipelines, and distributed systems architecture. The team focuses on architectural excellence, reliability, determinism, and the relentless elimination of tail latency.
What You’ll Do
- High-Performance Service Development: Design, build, and optimize high-performance systems using C and Java.
- Kernel & User Space Engineering: Engineer performance-critical components across user space and kernel interfaces, focusing on memory, scheduling, I/O, and networking paths.
- Advanced Networking: Develop and tune networking pipelines (multicast/unicast UDP and TCP) and implement kernel-bypass or fast-path networking (e.g., DPDK, XDP).
- Kernel Optimization: Interact with and optimize Linux kernel subsystems, including memory management, schedulers, device drivers, and filesystems (VFS).
- Latency & Determinism: Optimize systems for deterministic latency through CPU isolation, thread pinning, NUMA locality, cache awareness, and lock contention reduction.
- Distributed Systems: Apply distributed systems patterns, such as sequencer (virtual synchrony), for total ordering and consistency.
- Profiling & Debugging: Use tools like perf, strace, eBPF, and flame graphs to identify and eliminate system bottlenecks.
- Operational Excellence: Collaborate cross-functionally to deliver robust production systems with clear SLOs, reproducible performance tests, and actionable runbooks.
What You’ll Bring
- Language Mastery: Expert-level proficiency in Java.
- Linux Internals: Deep understanding of Linux kernel internals, including memory management, driver models, and scheduler tuning.
- Low-Latency Expertise: Practical experience in end-to-end latency optimization, jitter reduction, and techniques like lock-free or wait-free programming.
- Networking Depth: Experience with socket options, buffer sizing, epoll, io_uring, RSS, and NIC queue configuration.
- Distributed Systems Knowledge: Understanding of sequencer-based total order broadcast, partial order broadcast and the tradeoffs between latency, throughput, and availability.
- Concurrency & Systems: Solid understanding of concurrency, synchronization primitives, and memory models.
- Analytical Mindset: A focus on measurement over assumption, using benchmarks and profiles to drive decisions and communicate complex tradeoffs.
- Collaborative Craftsmanship: Commitment to high code quality through rigorous reviews, mentoring, and clear documentation.
Nice To Haves
- Trading Infrastructure: Experience in financial markets (e.g., market data, order routing, or FIX/exchange-native protocols).
- Time Synchronization: Familiarity with PTP or other high-precision time synchronization for low-latency environments.
- Observability: Experience using eBPF and tracing for observability in production.
- Hardware Interfacing: Knowledge of RDMA, NIC offloads (TSO, LRO), or experience maintaining kernel modules and device drivers.
- JVM Tuning: Experience with low-latency JVM practices and deterministic GC tuning for Java-based systems.
- Advanced Benchmarking: Deep knowledge of benchmarking methodology, including workload design and variance analysis.
Bullish is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are fast evolving and striving towards being a globally-diverse community. With integrity at our core, our success is driven by a talented team of individuals and the different perspectives they are encouraged to bring to work every day.
Lead Engineer, Trading Platform Engineering in London employer: Bullish, Inc.
At Bullish, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters innovation and collaboration among world-class engineers. Located in London, our team thrives in a high-performance environment where technical excellence is paramount, providing ample opportunities for professional growth and development. With a commitment to diversity and integrity, we empower our employees to contribute their unique perspectives, making Bullish not just a workplace, but a community dedicated to shaping the future of digital assets.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead Engineer, Trading Platform Engineering in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Get out there and connect with folks in the industry. Attend meetups, webinars, or even just grab a coffee with someone who works at Bullish. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings!
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you’ve got a portfolio or GitHub with projects that highlight your expertise in Java, Linux internals, or low-latency systems, make sure to share it. It’s a great way to demonstrate what you can bring to the table.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for the interview like it’s the championship game! Research Bullish, understand their tech stack, and be ready to discuss how your experience aligns with their mission. Practice common technical questions and be ready to showcase your problem-solving skills.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in joining the Bullish team. Don’t miss out on this opportunity!
We think you need these skills to ace Lead Engineer, Trading Platform Engineering in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV is tailored to the Lead Engineer role. Highlight your experience with high-performance systems, Linux internals, and any relevant projects that showcase your skills in C and Java. We want to see how you fit into our mission!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're passionate about trading platform engineering and how your background aligns with our goals at Bullish. Let us know what excites you about the role and our company.
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills:In your application, don’t just list your skills—show us how you've used them to solve real-world problems. Whether it's optimising latency or developing networking pipelines, we want to hear about your achievements and the impact they had.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website for the best chance of getting noticed. It’s the easiest way for us to keep track of your application and ensure it reaches the right people. Don’t miss out!
How to prepare for a job interview at Bullish, Inc.
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your Java and Linux kernel internals. Be ready to discuss your experience with low-latency systems and how you've tackled performance issues in the past. They’ll want to see that you can not only talk the talk but also walk the walk when it comes to technical challenges.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare examples of how you've navigated ambiguity and brought structure to complex problems. Think about specific instances where you optimised systems for latency or improved performance. This is your chance to demonstrate your analytical mindset and how you measure success through data.
✨Familiarise Yourself with Distributed Systems
Since the role involves working with distributed systems, be ready to discuss patterns like sequencer-based total order broadcast. Brush up on the trade-offs between latency, throughput, and availability, and be prepared to explain how you’ve applied this knowledge in real-world scenarios.
✨Collaborate and Communicate
They value collaborative craftsmanship, so think about how you can showcase your teamwork skills. Prepare to discuss how you’ve contributed to code reviews, mentored others, or documented processes. Clear communication is key, especially when discussing complex technical concepts.
