VP, Engineering

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JOIN US ON OUR MISSION TO BECOME THE #1 RETAIL TRADING PLATFORM IN THE WORLD

Welcome to the dynamic world of NinjaTrader! As an industry-leading trading platform and futures broker, we're empowering traders to take control of their financial destiny. How do we do it? We provide cutting-edge products and services that enhance the trading journey. Whether a seasoned pro or just starting out, NinjaTrader equips traders with award-winning software and brokerage services to navigate the world's leading financial markets with confidence.

Our growth story is nothing short of exhilarating. Since 2003, NinjaTrader has been dedicated to understanding and supporting traders on their journey toward trading triumph. Through those efforts, our user base has grown to over 2 million users and we have become the number one rated futures brokerage worldwide.

But we're not stopping there. We're constantly evolving, pushing boundaries, and modernizing the futures industry. Our commitment to innovation means users will always have access to dynamic tools, real-time support, and a community of like-minded traders.

So, why work at NinjaTrader? Here, you're not just part of a team; you're part of a movement. We empower employees to reach new heights in their careers by providing a dynamic culture focused on social connection, professional development, and employee recognition initiatives. Sounds too good to be true? Take it from our employees.

Join us as we redefine what's possible in trading, advocate for our customers, and continue our journey toward becoming the world's top retail-focused trading platform in the world.

What you'll do:

As VP of Product Engineering, you will own end-to-end engineering accountability for the platforms and systems that over 2.5 million traders depend on every day — including Desktop, Web, and Mobile trading applications, as well as the real-time backend infrastructure that powers them. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will lead a multi-director organization with a mandate to build a durable, high-performing engineering organization capable of predictable execution at scale while operating a 24x7 mission-critical trading platform. This role requires driving transformation while maintaining stability.

In this role you will:

• Lead a multi-director engineering organization spanning client platforms (Desktop, Web, Mobile) and real-time trading systems; set the tone for engineering culture, accountability, and craft

• Own performance management rigorously by establishing clear expectations, running structured calibrations, developing top performers, and addressing underperformance decisively

• Build leadership bench strength through strategic hiring and developing existing managers into senior leaders

• Partner with the CTO to translate business strategy into organizational design, headcount plans, and capability roadmaps

• Establish and enforce elevated engineering standards across code quality, testing rigor, deployment safety, incident response, and on-call excellence

• Drive measurable improvements in change failure rate, deployment frequency, and P1 incident trends to enable predictable execution

• Champion DORA metrics and SDLC best practices to ensure consistent quality across all teams

• Define and own the multi-year technical roadmap for client platforms and core trading systems including OMS, execution engine, market data, and exchange connectivity

• Lead platform modernization efforts, including retiring legacy infrastructure, evolving the Scala/Akka trading core, and expanding cloud-native capabilities on GCP while maintaining 99.95%+ uptime

• Enforce architectural guardrails and decision frameworks to ensure system coherence

• Achieve 80–90%+ roadmap execution through strong planning, prioritization, and delivery cadences

• Communicate engineering tradeoffs clearly to executive stakeholders and translate technical complexity into business terms

• Partner with Product, Design, Risk, and Compliance to align engineering investments with company priorities

• Champion AI-driven engineering initiatives including agentic development, AI-assisted code review, and debugging automation

• Measure and report on AI tooling impact across cycle time, defect rates, and developer experience

What you'll need:

• 15+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years leading organizations with multiple Directors or Sr. Engineering Managers

• Proven experience owning both client-facing platforms (web, mobile, or desktop) and backend distributed systems within the same role

• Demonstrated success improving engineering quality through reduced defect rates, improved deployment safety, and strong SDLC practices

• Experience in high-growth fintech, trading, payments, or similarly high-stakes environments where reliability has financial impact

• Deep expertise in distributed systems, event-driven architecture, low-latency systems, and cloud-native infrastructure (GCP or equivalent)

• Strong command of engineering delivery metrics such as DORA, change failure rates, and incident management

• Executive-level communication skills with the ability to translate technical complexity into business outcomes

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience

Bonus points for:

• Background in capital markets, brokerage, or futures and derivatives technology

• Experience with real-time trading systems such as OMS, EMS, exchange connectivity, or market data infrastructure

• Proficiency in C++, Java, Scala, Go, or similar programming languages

• Experience implementing AI-powered developer productivity tools at scale

• Experience navigating post-acquisition engineering integration

Compensation:

The salary range for this role will be $275,000.00 - $325,000.00 USD. In addition, this position will also receive an annual target bonus of 20%. Bonus pay at NinjaTrader is based on individual performance (50%) as well as company/team performance (50%).

Salary and bonus earnings are only two components of the total compensation package offered by NinjaTrader. NinjaTrader offers a 401K plan through ADP under which the company will match up to 3.5% of employee contributions. Annual paid time off allowance accrues at a rate of 23 days per year (some positions may qualify for more) plus seven paid holidays.

Location:

This role is based in Chicago, IL. *There may be remote flexibility for exceptional candidates in the following states: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, Wisconsin.

Hybrid:

For Chicago-based employees, we follow a hybrid work schedule: In-office Tuesday through Thursday, with remote work on Mondays and Fridays. In addition to these weekly remote days, we offer:

• 20 additional flex remote days annually

• 5 Company Wide Office-Optional weeks tied to major holidays

Our Core Benefits Include:

• Generous PTO

• 7 Paid Holidays Annually + 5 Conditional Holidays Annually

• 1 Service Day Annually

• 401k with 3.5% Company Match

• Paid Parental Bonding Leave

• Health, Vision, Dental Coverage

• Life and Disability Insurance Covered 100% by NinjaTrader

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.