At a Glance
- Tasks: Build tools and automation to enhance platform reliability and performance.
- Company: A leading global fintech firm with a focus on innovation and growth.
- Benefits: Hybrid working, competitive salary, and strong career progression opportunities.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with opportunities for continuous improvement and learning.
- Why this job: Join a high-impact role in a dynamic environment solving complex distributed systems challenges.
- Qualifications: Strong Java experience, knowledge of containers, and a DevOps mindset.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
A well-established global fintech business operating large-scale trading platforms across multiple asset classes including equities, leveraged products, futures, options, and digital assets. Their technology supports a significant international client base and processes high volumes of real-time trading activity every day.
They are continuing to invest heavily in engineering, platform resilience, and product growth, with a strong focus on modern systems, high standards, and sustainable delivery.
This is a senior engineering opportunity within a specialist Site Reliability Engineering team focused on performance, uptime, and operational excellence across a business-critical trading platform. The role combines software engineering with reliability engineering. You’ll be involved in designing and building internal tooling, improving observability, automating operations, supporting development teams, and helping ensure trading systems remain stable, scalable, and high performing.
It would suit someone who enjoys solving technical problems at scale and wants to work close to production systems where speed, resilience, and continuous improvement matter.
What you will do:
- Build tools, automation, and internal services that improve platform reliability
- Implement monitoring, telemetry, and observability standards across distributed systems
- Analyse performance across application, OS, and network layers to identify bottlenecks
- Help define and improve SLOs / SLAs for critical services
- Support engineering teams with architecture, scalability, and containerisation initiatives
- Lead or contribute to incident response and post-incident reviews
- Improve event-driven and messaging systems for resilience and throughput
- Drive infrastructure automation and engineering best practices
What you will need:
- Strong Java development experience in production environments
- Good understanding of JVM performance tuning and backend optimisation
- Experience with distributed systems and troubleshooting at scale
- Hands-on knowledge of containers / orchestration (Kubernetes, Nomad, or similar)
- Experience with messaging systems such as Kafka, ActiveMQ, or similar
- Understanding of observability, monitoring, and tracing concepts
- Strong DevOps / CI/CD mindset
- Background in financial services or other mission-critical environments is beneficial
- Strong communication skills and ability to work across teams
Why consider it:
- High-impact role supporting live trading systems
- Strong blend of software engineering and SRE work
- Complex distributed systems challenges
- Well-known fintech brand with strong career progression
- Hybrid working and strong overall package
Contact Ciara Clarke at Harrington Starr for a confidential discussion on this role.
Senior PHP Software Engineer (Remote) in London employer: Harrington Starr
Contact Detail:
Harrington Starr Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior PHP Software Engineer (Remote) in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the fintech space, especially those who work with trading platforms. A friendly chat can lead to insider info about job openings or even a referral.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio showcasing your projects, especially those related to Java and SRE. This gives potential employers a taste of what you can do and sets you apart from the crowd.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for technical interviews by brushing up on your problem-solving skills. Practice coding challenges and system design questions that relate to distributed systems and performance tuning. We all know how crucial these are in the fintech world!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, we love seeing candidates who take the initiative to connect directly with us.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior PHP Software Engineer (Remote) in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV highlights your experience with Java development and any relevant SRE work. We want to see how your skills align with the role, so don’t be shy about showcasing your achievements in distributed systems and performance tuning!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you’re passionate about fintech and how your background makes you a perfect fit for our team. We love seeing enthusiasm and a clear understanding of the role.
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills: In your application, give examples of how you've tackled technical challenges in the past. We’re all about solving problems at scale, so share those stories that demonstrate your analytical thinking and creativity!
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it shows you’re keen on joining our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at Harrington Starr
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your Java development skills, especially in production environments. Be ready to discuss JVM performance tuning and backend optimisation, as these are crucial for the role.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare examples of how you've tackled technical problems at scale. Think about specific instances where you've improved platform reliability or automated operations, as this will resonate well with the interviewers.
✨Familiarise Yourself with Distributed Systems
Since the role involves working with distributed systems, be prepared to discuss your experience troubleshooting at scale. Highlight any hands-on knowledge you have of containers and orchestration tools like Kubernetes.
✨Communicate Effectively
Strong communication skills are key, so practice articulating your thoughts clearly. Be ready to explain complex concepts in a way that’s easy to understand, especially when discussing observability and monitoring standards.