Director Data & Analytics API Experience - Data Services at CME Group in Belfast

Apply for a full‑time on‑site position in Belfast, NIR, GB. This Director role focuses on building a unified API‑first distribution framework for CME Group’s unique data and analytics products.

CME Group runs some of the world’s largest and most important trading venues, including derivatives exchanges and FX/FI platforms. The trading participants include leading investment banks, hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, investment managers, and retail traders, as well as independent software vendors (ISVs) and data redistributors. To support our unique data and analytics products, we are now building a unified API‑first distribution framework, simplifying consumption and value extraction.

The Role: We are seeking a key stakeholder for the CMEG External Data‑Analytics (DA) APIs and distribution services. This is a high‑impact, individual‑contributor (IC) role that serves as a technical link between our APIs and the customer. You will craft SDKs and delivery mechanisms to make complex market data easy to consume, translate direct customer feedback into refined requirements for the product team, and solve integration hurdles firsthand.

Responsibilities

• Build a high‑performance Python SDK that mimics the industry’s best “one‑line‑to‑insight” user experiences, guiding users from installation to action in seconds.
• Ensure the SDK provides a single front door for internal users, allowing them to ‘pip install’ and access BigQuery datasets through the same idiomatic Python patterns designed for customers.
• Develop and maintain a suite of SDKs in popular languages such as Python and C++ to make integrating with our APIs as simple as possible.
• Implement a publicly accessible schema registry (Protobuf, JSON, or Avro) that allows internal teams and partners to generate their own client software.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to clearly communicate CME Group’s D&A value proposition and simplify public messaging.
• Evaluate, implement, and maintain an API documentation library; migrate existing fragmented solutions to this central repository.
• Create first‑class, detailed technical reference documentation that serves as the definitive contract for all API behaviour and usage.
• Develop practical tutorials, code samples, and dashboard templates to empower customers to self‑serve and validate products rapidly.
• Work with our customers and product teams to extend data offerings to meet customer cloud demand, abstracting cloud‑specific technologies and provisioning a common messaging layer.
• Improve data delivery for deep history and data sharing services so that accessing large datasets feels identical to a standard, programmatic API call.
• Use a centralized schema registry to enforce identical data models and field names across different services and latency tiers.
• Ensure a unified CMEG credential system that retires legacy approaches and hides cloud‑specific complexity from the user.
• Support external‑facing distribution technologies to provision products, including Bobsled, SFTP, Curl, and email.
• Build capabilities to track user activity and generate insights into user activity and product value.
• Be a key stakeholder in API lifecycle plumbing, including GitHub governance and CI/CD pipelines for PyPI publishing.
• Conduct a survey of existing APIs (RPC over HTTP, JSON, XML, REST, WebSocket, S3, Pub‑Sub, etc.) to identify fragmentation, authentication gaps, and consolidation opportunities.
• Define and document a hybrid versioning model to manage API updates while ensuring stability for partners and customers.

Qualifications

• Exceptional capacity and a genuine interest in the mechanics of capital markets.
• Obsessive focus on developer experience (DX); believe the API is the product and should be as easy to use as a “pip install” command.
• Experience designing, building, and deploying SDKs and APIs in the cloud.
• Polymathic ability to bridge business strategy, engineering, and technical writing.
• Highly proficient in Python, writing clean, idiomatic, and robust code for public consumption.
• Knowledge of Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Apigee, WebSockets, REST, GCS.
• Familiarity with OAuth 2.0, GitHub, Protobuf/Avro, SQL.

Company Benefits

• Bonus Programme
• Equity Programme
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Private Medical and Dental coverage
• Mental Health Benefit Programme
• Group Pension Plan
• Income Protection
• Life Assurance
• Cycle To Work
• EV Car Benefit Scheme
• Gym Membership
• Family Leave
• Education Assistance – MBA/Advanced Degree/Bachelor Degree
• Ongoing Employee Development Training/Certification
• Hybrid Working

Equal‑Opportunity Employer Statement

At CME Group, we embrace our employees’ unique experiences and skills to ensure that everyone’s perspectives are acknowledged and valued. As an equal‑opportunity employer, we consider all potential employees without regard to any protected characteristic.