At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and optimise high-performance data platforms using kdb+ while mentoring junior developers.
- Company: Leading tech firm in London with a focus on innovation and collaboration.
- Benefits: Competitive pay, hybrid work model, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Embrace a culture of continuous improvement and technical excellence.
- Why this job: Join a dynamic team and make an impact in the financial tech space.
- Qualifications: 8+ years of kdb+ experience and strong q language skills required.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
We are seeking an experienced Senior KDB+ Developer to design, develop, and optimize high-performance data platforms built on kdb+. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in kdb+ tick architecture, performance tuning at scale, and close collaboration with business stakeholders particularly within Risk functions to deliver robust, efficient, and maintainable solutions. This role also includes technical leadership, mentoring junior developers, and promoting best practices across the team.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and maintain kdb+ tick systems, with strong understanding of data organisation, schema design, and performance implications of different architectural approaches.
- Build and operate solutions handling large-scale, high-frequency datasets, ensuring low latency, high throughput, and efficient memory usage.
- Analyse and optimise q queries, data models, and ingestion pipelines for both real-time and historical workloads.
- Collaborate closely with Risk function teams to translate business requirements into efficient, scalable, and performant kdb+ solutions.
- Take ownership of performance diagnostics, including CPU, memory, disk I/O, and network considerations across kdb+ processes.
- Develop robust and reusable q libraries, utilities, and frameworks with a strong focus on clean, maintainable, and performant code.
- Drive continuous improvement through refactoring, performance benchmarking, and adoption of best practices.
- Mentor and guide junior and mid-level developers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, code quality, and knowledge sharing.
- Participate in design reviews, production support, and root cause analysis of complex system issues.
- Work collaboratively within an Agile or iterative delivery environment, contributing to design, implementation, testing, and release phases.
Required Skills & Experience
- 8+ years of hands-on experience in kdb+ development in a production environment.
- Strong expertise in q language, including table design (splayed, partitioned, segmented), in-memory vs on-disk trade-offs, efficient joins, aggregations, and windowed analytics.
- Deep understanding of kdb+ tick architecture, including ticker plant, RDB, HDB, and associated patterns.
- Proven experience working with large datasets and optimising queries for performance and scalability.
- Strong background in Unix/Linux environments, including shell scripting for automation, monitoring, and operational tooling.
- Solid understanding of software delivery processes and methodologies (Agile, CI/CD, version control, release management).
- Ability to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, demonstrating systematic reasoning and problem-solving skills.
Desirable / Nice-to-Have Skills
- Knowledge of inter-process communication mechanisms in kdb+ and integration with external systems.
- Experience tuning kdb+ systems for low latency and high availability.
- Familiarity with data quality checks, validation frameworks, and operational resilience patterns.
- Exposure to financial markets data (e.g., market data, trading, risk, or post-trade workflows, equity asset class).
Personal Attributes
- Passion for writing clean, efficient, and well-structured code.
- Proactive mindset with a strong focus on continuous improvement.
- Comfortable taking ownership and working independently on complex technical problems.
- Collaborative team player who enjoys mentoring others and raising overall technical standards.
Senior KDB+ Developer in Basingstoke employer: StackStudio Digital Ltd.
Contact Detail:
StackStudio Digital Ltd. Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior KDB+ Developer in Basingstoke
✨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’s already in the game. Building relationships can open doors that a CV just can’t.
✨Show Off Your Skills
Don’t just talk about your experience; demonstrate it! Create a portfolio showcasing your kdb+ projects or contribute to open-source initiatives. This gives potential employers a taste of what you can do and sets you apart from the crowd.
✨Ace the Interview
Prepare for those tricky interview questions by practising your responses. Think about how your past experiences relate to the role and be ready to discuss specific challenges you’ve tackled. Confidence is key!
✨Apply Through Our Website
When you find a role that excites you, apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets the attention it deserves. Plus, we love seeing passionate candidates who are eager to join our team.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior KDB+ Developer in Basingstoke
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV is tailored to the Senior KDB+ Developer role. Highlight your experience with kdb+, q language, and any relevant projects that showcase your skills in performance tuning and data architecture.
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter should tell us why you're the perfect fit for this role. Share specific examples of how you've collaborated with business stakeholders and mentored junior developers, as these are key aspects of the position.
Showcase Your Technical Skills: Don’t shy away from listing your technical skills! We want to see your expertise in kdb+ tick architecture, query optimisation, and any experience you have with Unix/Linux environments. Be specific about your achievements!
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother application process. It helps us keep track of your application and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates from us!
How to prepare for a job interview at StackStudio Digital Ltd.
✨Know Your KDB+ Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your kdb+ knowledge, especially around tick architecture and performance tuning. Be ready to discuss specific projects where you've optimised queries or handled large datasets, as this will show your hands-on experience.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare to share examples of how you've tackled complex technical issues in the past. Think about times when you had to analyse performance diagnostics or collaborate with stakeholders to deliver a solution. This will demonstrate your systematic reasoning and problem-solving abilities.
✨Emphasise Collaboration and Mentoring
Since this role involves mentoring junior developers, be prepared to talk about your experience in guiding others. Highlight any instances where you've fostered a culture of technical excellence or contributed to team knowledge sharing.
✨Familiarise Yourself with Agile Methodologies
As the role requires working in an Agile environment, make sure you understand Agile principles and can discuss your experience with CI/CD processes. Being able to articulate how you've contributed to design, implementation, and testing phases will set you apart.