Sr. Software Engineer I, Evaluation Services (Scala)

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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:

We are seeking a Sr. Software Engineer to join our Evaluation Services team. Our Evaluation Services business powers funded trader programs that give aspiring traders a pathway to professional trading capital. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain the Scala-based backend systems that power our auto-liquidation engine, risk evaluation, and trading services—the core systems our platform and our partners depend on. You will own complex backend problems end-to-end and work alongside Trading Services Engineers, frontend engineers, QA, and solutions engineers to deliver high-quality, production-ready features in a fast-paced environment.

In this role you will:

Design and implement backend services in Scala for evaluation, risk, and trading services workloads—including real-time auto-liquidation, account state management, and post-trade processing

Build and evolve actor-based systems (Akka or similar) that handle high-throughput market data, position changes, and event-driven workflows

Own significant features end-to-end: from technical spec through implementation, code review, and production hand-off

Design data models and database changes (PostgreSQL, including JSONB where appropriate), and contribute to the shared master schema, Protobuf, and SQL repositories

Diagnose and resolve complex backend issues—including production incidents—by analyzing logs, tracing distributed flows, and reproducing edge cases under realistic load

Drive code quality across the team: thorough PR reviews, clear acceptance criteria, dev-testing discipline, and proper instrumentation and observability

Collaborate with Trading Services, Solutions Engineering, and Product to translate business requirements into well-scoped, well-estimated stories

Contribute to architectural decisions and long-term tech-debt remediation, including modernization of legacy Scala services and evaluation of new event-bus technologies

Mentor junior team members on Scala idioms, functional design, testing practices, and incident response

Develop deep expertise in NinjaTrader's evaluation platform and partner integrations to provide authoritative backend leadership

What you'll need:

5+ years of backend software engineering experience building production systems that handle real-time data, concurrency, and high availability

Strong, hands-on Scala expertise—idiomatic Scala, functional patterns, testing (ScalaTest or similar), and comfort working in a large existing Scala codebase

Experience with actor-based concurrency models (Akka, Pekko, or equivalent)—understanding of supervision, message passing, and back-pressure

Solid relational database skills with PostgreSQL—schema design, indexing, query optimization, and judgment on when JSONB is appropriate vs. when a normalized structure is correct

Comfort with event-driven architectures, message buses (Kafka, Pub/Sub, or similar), and asynchronous workflows

Excellent troubleshooting skills with the ability to read logs, trace requests across distributed systems, and isolate root cause under pressure

Demonstrated ability to write clear technical specs, scope work realistically, and flag risk early

High-quality standards for code, tests, documentation, and PRs—and willingness to enforce the same standards in code review

Ability to think on your feet and adapt quickly when priorities shift or unexpected issues arise

Outstanding written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate backend tradeoffs for both technical and non-technical audiences

Self-starter who thrives in ambiguity and can manage multiple complex backend efforts simultaneously

Bonus Points for:

Experience with trading platforms, fintech, or capital markets technology

Understanding of trading concepts: order routing, market data, position management, risk and liquidation logic, and P&L calculation

Familiarity with Protobuf, gRPC, or schema-based service contracts

Experience migrating or modernizing legacy Scala systems or evaluating Scala → Rust/Go transitions

Background in observability: distributed tracing, structured logging, and metrics (Datadog, GCP, or similar)

Prior experience supporting enterprise or B2B partner integrations

Compensation:

The salary range for this role will be $125,000.00 - $175,000.00 USD. In addition, this position will also receive an annual target bonus of 10%. 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 18 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 stat