Lead Linux Systems Engineer in Hampshire, Portsmouth

Lead Hardware Management Engineer – Global Quantitative Trading Firm | Up to £350k TC

A globally renowned quantitative trading firm is seeking a highly skilled Hardware Management Engineer to join its Research Infrastructure Engineering team. This group builds and optimises the high-performance platforms that underpin research and trading – spanning operating systems, workload scheduling, HPC, large-scale storage, and ultra-low latency networking.

In this role, you will partner directly with researchers and traders, driving the design, optimisation, and scalability of Linux-based systems that enable next-generation trading strategies. This is a hands-on, lead position with strong technical ownership, where your expertise in hardware, kernel tuning, and system performance will have a visible impact.

Responsibilities

• Engineer and manage high-performance Linux-based platforms supporting research and trading.
• Design and optimise workload scheduling, large-scale storage, and SDLC frameworks.
• Deliver Linux Kernel tuning and low-latency network optimisation.
• Implement telemetry collection and instrumentation for high-throughput applications.
• Stay ahead of industry trends, generating POCs for emerging technologies.
• Collaborate with research and trading teams to ensure systems performance meets evolving strategy needs.

Company:

• Technology-led culture – Drives both trading and internal investment decisions
• c.1,000 employees – Large enough for scale, small enough for individual impact
• New state-of-the-art London HQ – Core hub for engineering and trading, Free On-Site Gym
• Flat structure – Direct access to senior engineers and C-level leaders
• Strong Glassdoor rating
• Great work life balance (frequently quoted on Glassdoor) – Free Breakfast and Lunch, 2 days per week WFH
• Competitive Compensation – Year 1 guaranteed bonus, 13% pension, Potential for Sign-On Bonuses

Requirements:

• 10+ years’ Linux administration or platform engineering experience.
• Expertise in Linux Kernel tuning and hardware optimisation.
• Strong understanding of networking and storage performance.
• Experience with DevOps tooling (Terraform/Ansible).
• CI/CD pipeline experience (GitLab, Jenkins preferred).
• Programming/scripting ability in Python, Golang, or similar.
• Monitoring experience with Splunk, Prometheus, Grafana.
• Containerisation exposure (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Technical leadership experience is strongly advantageous.