Senior C++ Developer – Algorithmic Trading Systems

Job Description – Senior C++ Developer – Algorithmic Trading Systems

Department: Kotak Institutional Equities Technology

Experience 7–10 years ( Candidates with strong low-latency trading platform experience may be considered based on depth of expertise.)

Overview Kotak Institutional Equities offers institutional brokerage, electronic execution, algorithmic trading, DMA, and derivatives solutions across Indian capital markets.

What You’ll Do Build and support low-latency trading and algorithmic execution platforms as a hands-on

Senior C++ Developer . Own design, development, performance, and production quality across

C++, STL, network programming, market data, exchange connectivity, low-latency design, and algo workflows . Collaborate with quant, trading, QA, production support, infrastructure, and business teams to deliver reliable trading solutions.

1. Low-Latency Trading Platform Development

• Design and enhance high-performance trading applications using

C++ and STL .

• Build low-latency components for order routing, execution, and market connectivity.
• Improve latency, throughput, resiliency, and system stability.

2. Algorithmic Trading & Execution Logic

• Build and enhance trading algorithms for better client execution outcomes.
• Work with quant, trading, and business teams on execution requirements and market behavior.
• Research, prototype, back-test, validate, and productionise new trading ideas.

3. Market Data & Exchange Connectivity

• Develop and support real-time market data and exchange connectivity applications.
• Work with TCP/IP, UDP, sockets, multicast, feed handlers, and order gateway connectivity.

4. Software Engineering & System Design

• Write clean, efficient, maintainable C++ code.
• Apply strong design, data structures, algorithms, and performance optimization techniques.
• Participate in architecture reviews, code reviews, and technical problem-solving.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues involving latency, throughput, memory, concurrency, and connectivity.

5. Delivery Ownership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Contribute to design decisions, coding standards, performance tuning, and production readiness.
• Own assigned modules and deliver timely, high-quality implementation.
• Coordinate with QA, DevOps, production support, infrastructure, and business teams.
• Support documentation, peer reviews, and continuous improvement.

Mandatory Skills & Experience Technical Skills

• Strong hands-on development experience in

C++ .

• Strong understanding of

C++ STL , data structures, algorithms, and memory management.

• Experience in building or supporting

low-latency trading platforms .

• Strong network programming knowledge: TCP/IP, UDP, sockets, and multicast.
• Good understanding of multithreading, concurrency, synchronization, and performance optimization.
• Experience working with Linux / Unix environments.
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills.

Trading Technology & Domain Skills

• Experience in

algorithmic trading , quantitative trading, or electronic trading systems.

• Good understanding of market data, order lifecycle, exchange connectivity, trading protocols, and execution workflows.
• Experience with Capital Markets trading platforms, preferably in Cash Equities and/or Derivatives.
• Understanding of exchange protocols and real-time trading system behaviour.

Programming & Scripting

• Strong C++ development experience is mandatory.
• Working knowledge of

Python is preferred.

• Shell scripting experience will be an added advantage.

Ownership & Collaboration Skills

• Strong individual ownership of technical modules and deliverables.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical thinking.
• Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with low-latency optimization techniques.
• Exposure to lock-free programming, memory pools, CPU affinity, kernel/network tuning, or high-performance messaging.
• Experience with FIX Protocol or exchange-native protocols.
• Exposure to back-testing frameworks or quantitative research platforms.
• Knowledge of DevOps, CI/CD, Git, build systems, and automated testing.

Education

• University degree in a quantitative or technical field.
• Preferably

B.E. / B.Tech / M.Tech in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or Quantitative Finance.

Candidate Profile Hands-on senior C++ engineer with strong exposure to low-latency trading platforms, market data, network programming, and algorithmic trading systems, with individual ownership of high-quality delivery.