Software Engineer - Pre-trade analytics, risk, portfolio optimization

About the role

Clear Street

Senior Software Engineer, Pre‑trade Analytics & Risk

About Clear Street

Clear Street exists to give every sophisticated investor access to every asset in every market through a single, unified platform. Built for speed, transparency, and scale, it delivers modern infrastructure once reserved for the largest institutions. This cloud‑native, end‑to‑end capital markets engine powers investor growth today and reshapes how markets can be accessed tomorrow. More information is available at https://clearstreet.io.

The Role

You will play a foundational role in the Alpha Platform, a modern, AI‑driven system focused on pre‑trade analytics, risk, hedging, portfolio optimization, and customized client exposure management. You will own complex trade‑off analysis, clean system design, and efficient implementation across the full stack-from data ingestion and processing pipelines to AI‑driven analytics and client‑facing API layers. You will help define and evolve engineering standards while fostering a culture of excellence.

The Team

Your colleagues are highly talented engineers passionate about pushing the boundaries of financial technology. Together, you will build a platform at the forefront of innovation, serving institutional clients globally. You will work with cutting‑edge tools, collaborate across diverse backgrounds, and directly influence the financial industry. The team values creativity, innovation, and strong work ethic, and is committed to providing the support and resources needed for success.

What You Will Do

• Map intake paths for incoming data, validating correctness before deeper processing begins.
• Build services in Java and Python that power risk, analytics, and portfolio optimization, using FastAPI, Pydantic, and async patterns for high‑SLA behavior.
• Guide system design so both engineers and non‑technical stakeholders understand trade‑offs, data structures, and architectural paradigms.
• Govern pipelines with storage and processing technologies, ensuring risk calculations remain accurate and exposure management stays reliable.
• Drive end‑to‑end ownership from prototype to production, navigating ambiguity without hand‑holding at each step.
• Ship features that support pre‑trade analytics, hedging, portfolio optimization, and customized client exposure management.
• Mentor team members, define engineering standards, and coach on Spec‑Driven Development paired with AI‑assisted workflows.
• Partner with institutional users to clarify requirements, validate behavior, and align services with market needs.

Requirements

• At least five years of professional experience implementing highly scalable services in Java (with deep fluency in the Spring Framework ecosystem) and/or Python (with deep fluency in FastAPI, Pydantic, and async patterns).
• Fluency with storage and processing technologies such as PostgreSQL and data processing libraries such as Pandas or Polars, with understanding of domain concepts in risk or pre‑trade analytics.
• Comfortable working with gRPC, PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker, Gradle, uv, AWS, and Kubernetes.
• Fluent in AI‑assisted development workflows, leveraging tools such as Claude Code, and comfortable with Spec‑Driven Development (SDD).
• Takes end‑to‑end ownership of problems, defining approach independently and driving solutions from design through production delivery.
• Can clearly articulate nuances of system design and architectural paradigms to both engineers and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Prioritizes end‑user experience, reflected in API design, functionality, and performance.
• Strong command of design patterns, data structures, and algorithms.

Nice to Have

• Hands‑on experience with financial instruments, swaps, custom baskets, the trade lifecycle, performance calculations and attribution, and factor models.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to join a growing team where you can make a real difference.
• A modern, high‑quality codebase with minimal technical debt and significant room to build new services and features.
• A team that embraces AI assistance with a strong focus on DevOps, observability, and CI/CD best practices.
• A meritocratic environment with competitive compensation.

Location and Engagement

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Location: USA

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Engagement: Full-time

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Compensation: $180,000 to $250,000 USD per year

Skills & Tools

Java, Python, FastAPI, Pydantic, async patterns, PostgreSQL, Pandas, Polars, gRPC, Redis, Docker, Gradle, uv, AWS, Kubernetes, Claude Code, Spec‑Driven Development.