Lead Network Engineer

Proprietary Trading Firm · India

Key Responsibilities

Infrastructure Ownership and Architecture

• Own the complete lifecycle of trading infrastructure including design, deployment, optimization, and operations
• Architect scalable, resilient, and deterministic infrastructure for latency-sensitive trading workloads
• Ensure high availability, performance consistency, and fault tolerance across environments

Network Engineering

• Design and manage ultra-low latency network architectures using L2 and L3 protocols
• Deep expertise in multicast, PTP, GPS clocking, time synchronization, and timestamping
• Manage exchange connectivity, market data feeds, cross-connects, and order entry paths
• Optimize switches, NICs, and network paths for microsecond and nanosecond-level performance

Data Centre and Colocation Management

• Own exchange colocation strategy across multiple markets and venues
• Manage rack design, cabling standards, power planning, cooling, and space utilization
• Coordinate installations, audits, and upgrades with exchanges and colocation providers
• Oversee dark fiber, metro links, and third-party connectivity providers

Linux and Systems Engineering

• Build and maintain high-performance Linux environments for trading and market data systems
• Perform kernel tuning, CPU isolation, NUMA optimization, IRQ tuning, and real-time performance enhancements
• Ensure OS level stability, security, and performance best practices

Hardware and Connectivity

• Own selection and validation of servers, NICs, switches, and low-latency hardware components
• Manage firmware, BIOS, and driver configurations for optimal performance
• Oversee hardware procurement, deployment, lifecycle management, and decommissioning
• Ensure optimal physical connectivity and cabling standards within data centres

Operations and Reliability

• Define monitoring, alerting, and incident response frameworks
• Lead root cause analysis for outages, latency spikes, or performance degradation
• Establish robust change management and operational best practices
• Ensure infrastructure meets security and compliance requirements

Leadership and Collaboration

• Lead, mentor, and scale a team of network, infrastructure, and systems engineers
• Partner closely with trading, quant, and development teams to meet performance objectives
• Drive long term infrastructure strategy aligned with trading and business growth
• Manage vendor relationships and negotiate with hardware, exchange, and service providers

Required Skills and Experience

• 5+ years of experience in infrastructure roles within HFT, prop trading, or latency-critical environments
• Deep hands-on expertise in low-latency networking and Linux performance tuning
• Strong experience with exchange colocation setups and market connectivity
• Proven leadership experience managing mission-critical infrastructure teams
• Exceptional troubleshooting and decision-making skills under pressure

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience in a leading HFT or proprietary trading firm
• Exposure to FPGA-based trading or market data systems
• Experience with automation, scripting, or infrastructure as code
• Strong understanding of trading infrastructure security and compliance