Sr. Software Engineer II, Platform/API at NinjaTrader in Chicago, IL

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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:
NinjaTrader is investing in the platform that takes a prospective trader from initial sign-up to funded and trading, on a modern Node.js and TypeScript service architecture. We're hiring a Sr. Software Engineer II to own the service layer it runs on.
You'll own how those services are designed, deployed, and operated: event-driven orchestration, background processing, third-party integrations, and the reliability engineering that keeps a multi-step flow dependable at scale. As a senior engineer on the Activation & Onboarding squad, your work will significantly impact account approvals, time-to-funding, and how quickly we can open the platform to new markets.
In this role you will:
Design, develop, and maintain Node.js and TypeScript services that orchestrate account creation, identity verification, agreement handling, and funding hand-off
Build the event-driven and asynchronous processing that moves applicant and verification data between internal systems and outside providers, using message queues, pub/sub, and streaming pipelines
Own correctness in long-running, multi-step flows: idempotency, retry and resumption semantics, deduplication, and reconciliation for steps that cannot simply be replayed
Design and evolve the background task runners and job orchestration that drive downstream account creation and decisioning
Build the operational tooling the squad needs when an application stalls mid-flow: inspection of in-flight state, targeted replay, and safe requeue
Define service-level expectations for the flows you own, along with the monitoring and alerting that surface provider failures and applicant drop-off before a customer reports them
Design and implement scalable, resilient service architecture, using cloud-based infrastructure such as Google Cloud Platform and Kubernetes
Extend onboarding to new markets, brands, and account types, keeping jurisdiction-specific behavior configurable rather than forked
Coordinate technical direction with engineers on adjacent squads whose systems consume your events, and coach engineers at the Sr. Software Engineer I level through design review and pairing
What you'll need:
6+ years of professional software development experience building and operating backend services in production
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)
Deep Node.js and TypeScript expertise, with strong command of asynchronous patterns, concurrency, and backpressure
Proven production experience with event-driven architecture, including delivery guarantees and poison-message handling, on message queues, pub/sub, or streaming platforms such as Kafka or Google Cloud Pub/Sub
Demonstrated experience building idempotent, resumable workflows that stay correct under retries, partial failure, and out-of-order delivery
Strong SQL and schema design, plus hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and a major cloud platform
Demonstrated use of AI coding agents (Codex, Cursor, Claude Code) as a standard part of your engineering workflow, with the judgment to review and validate AI-assisted code before it ships
Excellent communication and the ownership to run a workstream end to end: design, implement, test, deploy, operate on-call, and iterate
Bonus Points for:
Experience with identity verification, KYC/AML, or fraud and risk decisioning systems
Experience in fintech, trading, or brokerage, particularly in a regulated financial services environment
Experience integrating third-party providers whose contracts and failure modes you do not control
Familiarity with workflow or saga orchestration frameworks, and with feature flagging platforms such as Statsig
Passion for futures, derivatives, and trading technologies is a strong plus
This is one of two backend openings on the Activation & Onboarding squad. If both look like a fit, apply to whichever is closer to your strengths. We review candidates for both together.
Compensation:
The salary range for this role will be $140,000.00 - $190,000.00 USD. In addition, this position will also receive an annual target bonus of 12%. 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 status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.