Quantitative Technologist - FPGA Engineer - Chicago

Radix Trading is a proprietary firm focused on quantitative research and scientific trading. We’re one of the most active liquidity providers on electronic exchanges globally, and have leveraged a culture of open, collaborative innovation to scale the reach of our ideas and pace of iteration, without having to scale our headcount. We operate in Chicago, New York, and Amsterdam.

In our industry, the vast majority of ideas will fail. So, since inception, we’ve focused on continuous enhancement of our automated research platform and cutting-edge technology, allowing us to fail faster than the day prior, glean insights from each idea, and leverage individual contributions to the fullest across our entire organization. 

We’re led by Ben Blander and Michael Rauchman.

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Ben Blander - former head of Citadel’s high frequency group and a key contributor in growing their P&L from $75 million in 2005 to $1.15 billion in 2008. Previously Ben earned a PhD in Math (Algebraic Topology under Peter May) from the University of Chicago.

Michael Rauchman - formerly GETCO's CTO, head of Americas equities, and global head of ForEx. As a hands-on leader, Michael was instrumental in the development of many trading strategies as well as the underlying architecture and code.

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Why trading?

If you want to get near-immediate feedback on your best ideas, while leveraging cutting-edge technology, the trading industry is hard to beat. Every day we’re competing with some of the smartest, most driven people in the world trying to take our money -- and if we don’t stay at the very top of our game in research, technology, and economics, they will.

And while the highly-publicized wave of high-frequency or “flash” trading based on sheer speed of execution might have reached its limit, we see continued opportunities with our strategy of using statistical research to outsmart the competition.

Job description

As part of the FPGA team, you’ll work with cutting-edge technology to improve performance and latency of our systems. As a member of a small and dynamic team, you’ll not only work to solve production issues but also come to the table with new and innovative ideas for automated trading.

Job Functions:

> Design and build new scalable systems 

> Maintaining FPGA code

> Use Python for unit testing

> Use model-sim for simulation

> Debug and fix FPGA issues

> Innovate and design solutions that will overcome current limitations 

Key Capabilities:

> PhD in Electrical Engineering or another closely-related engineering discipline

> Highly analytical mindset

> Excellent communication skills, both written and oral

> Results oriented, highly flexible, team player

> Can tackle new things without a lot of help ; fast learner

> Driven and self-guided

> Ability to function independently and take ownership

> Ability to multitask and iterate quickly towards a better solution

> Proficiency with Python for unit testing

> Experience coding in VHDL /verilog

> Used Xilnix and/or Altera FPGAs

> Familiar with Modelsim

> Previously worked on large FPGA stratix V or/and Virtex ultra-scale+ is a plus

> Knowledge of networking protocols:IP,/TCP/UDP etc.

***We will eventually require 2+ academic recommendation letters, but these are not required to apply upfront. Preference for existing letters, at least 1 being from your advisor --- these should ideally have been written for academic positions, scholarships, research grants etc ---- no need to have your references write something new