Senior KDB+ Developer in London

Senior KDB+ Developer in London

London Full-Time 60000 - 80000 £ / year (est.) No working from home possible
United States Digital Space LLC

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Design and optimise high-performance data platforms using kdb+ while mentoring junior developers.
  • Company: Join a leading financial tech firm focused on innovation and collaboration.
  • Benefits: Attractive salary, flexible working options, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Dynamic team environment with a focus on continuous improvement and technical excellence.
  • Why this job: Make a significant impact in the finance sector with cutting-edge technology.
  • Qualifications: 8+ years of kdb+ experience and strong q language skills required.

The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ 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 responsibilities, mentoring junior developers and promoting best practices across the team.

Responsibilities

  • Design, develop, and maintain kdb+ tick systems, with a strong understanding of data organisation, schema design, and the 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.

Must have

  • 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.

Nice to have

  • 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).

Senior KDB+ Developer in London employer: United States Digital Space LLC

United States Digital Space LLC is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that prioritises innovation and collaboration in the heart of Greater London. With a strong focus on employee well-being and flexible work options, we provide ample opportunities for professional growth and development, making it an ideal environment for those looking to make a meaningful impact in the field of AI-enabled SaaS engineering.

United States Digital Space LLC

Contact Details:

United States Digital Space LLC Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Senior KDB+ Developer in London

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We think you need these skills to ace Senior KDB+ Developer in London

KDB+ Development
Q Language
Tick Architecture
Performance Tuning
Data Organisation
Schema Design
High Frequency Data Handling

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.

Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at United States Digital Space LLC.

Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at United States Digital Space LLC and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!

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How to prepare for a job interview at United States Digital Space LLC

Brush Up on Your Coding Skills

For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.

Know Your Tools and Frameworks

Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If United States Digital Space LLC uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.

Showcase Your Projects

Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.

Prepare for Behavioural Questions

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