Website:
khawk.com
Job details:
Python Developer — Systematic Trading Systems
Full-time · Chennai, India · 2-3 years at a systematic/quantitative trading firm required
ABOUT KHAWK
Khawk, LLC is a New York-based systematic trading firm managing capital across equities, futures, and options on behalf of institutional allocators. We run a lean, technically driven operation built entirely on proprietary infrastructure — from execution and market data to real-time P&L reporting. Nothing here is a sandbox: every system is production-critical, touches live capital, and runs against real markets every trading day. We hire engineers who have already operated at that standard and expect it of themselves.
THE ROLE
We are seeking a sharp, proven Python developer to take full ownership of the software systems that underpin Khawk’s trading operations — market data pipelines, execution infrastructure, internal reporting, and system monitoring. You will work directly with the founding team, operate with genuine autonomy, and carry personal responsibility for reliability in a live trading environment.
This is not a role where you’ll be learning what a trading firm looks like from the inside. We are only considering candidates with a minimum of 2 years of hands-on experience working directly at a quantitative or systematic trading firm — a proprietary trading shop, systematic hedge fund, or similar. You should already know what it means when a market data feed drops mid-session, when a fill doesn’t reconcile against the clearing broker, or when a monitoring gap costs real money. You’ll be expected to operate at that level from day one.
WHAT YOU’LL OWN
Market data infrastructure Own and extend pipelines consuming real-time feeds from exchanges including CME, NYSE, and Nasdaq via the Options IT AtlasFeed API. You are accountable for data integrity, uptime, latency, and alerting across the entire stack — if the data is wrong or late, the firm trades blind.
Execution and connectivity Own FIX connectivity to broker-dealers, order routing logic, and daily trade reconciliation against clearing broker records. Breaks get found and fixed the same day, by you.
P&L and reporting systems Build and maintain internal reporting tools tracking real-time P&L across equities, futures, and options positions, and drive development of the firm’s proprietary budget and performance tracking application. Your numbers are the numbers the founding team trades and manages the business against.
Infrastructure and automation Manage and improve Linux-based server infrastructure on AWS EC2. Automate operational workflows including data sync, reconciliation, invoice processing, and system health monitoring — with the goal that the daily production cycle runs itself and tells you loudly when it can’t.
REQUIREMENTS
Required — non-negotiable
- 2+ years of experience working directly at a quantitative or systematic trading firm (proprietary trading firm, systematic hedge fund, or equivalent). Applicants without direct trading-firm experience will not be considered — fintech, banking, or brokerage-adjacent roles do not qualify.
- 3+ years of professional Python development experience in production environments
- Hands-on experience supporting live trading in equities, futures, or options — market data, execution, reconciliation, or risk/P&L systems
- Deep fluency with REST APIs and real-time data pipelines
- Strong Linux / bash proficiency, with real operational responsibility behind it (on-call, production incidents, live systems)
- Strong SQL and relational database skills
- Rigorous command of data structures and algorithms
- A demonstrated record of precision and reliability on systems where mistakes are measured in dollars
Nice to have
- Experience with the FIX protocol (session management, order flow, drop copies)
- Working knowledge of CME, NYSE, or Nasdaq market structure
- AWS / cloud infrastructure experience
- Node.js or JavaScript backend experience
- Familiarity with Level 1/2 market data feeds
- Experience with AI/ML frameworks (LLMs, model integration, or data science pipelines)
WHAT WE OFFER
- Ownership of production trading systems from day one — not a support seat; these become your systems
- A small, senior team where your work is visible daily and your judgment carries real weight
- Direct partnership with the founding team and a genuine voice in the firm’s technical direction
- Competitive base salary plus performance-based compensation tied to the quality of your work
- Schedule flexibility, working closely with a New York-based team
- Breadth across the full technical stack — market data, execution, infrastructure, and reporting — rather than a narrow lane
HOW TO APPLY
Send your resume to hr@khawk.com along with a brief note covering:
- The trading firm(s) you’ve worked at, for how long, and what you owned there — this is the first thing we screen for
- The most significant production system you have personally built or operated in a live trading environment
- We review every application and respond within a few business days. Applications that do not address the trading-firm experience requirement directly will not be reviewed.
Click on Apply to know more.
