Lead Software Engineer

Job Description

Building trusted markets — powered by our people 

At Cboe Global Markets, we inspire our people to solve complex challenges together because what we do matters. We provide the financial infrastructure that powers the global economy. As a leading provider of market infrastructure and tradable products, Cboe delivers cutting-edge trading, clearing and investment solutions to market participants around the world. 

We’re building meaningful ways to support professional and personal development while strengthening the trust we’ve earned as a global market leader. Our teams are empowered to share ideas, actively pursue them and bring on a challenge. As champions of internal mobility and access to opportunity, we encourage our people to “go for it” and equip our managers with the training to coach their teams to the next level. We strive to provide employees a safe space to network, share ideas and create opportunities.  

To support strong partnership and team connection, this role follows a four day in office work model.

Location Overview

Our offices are located in the prestigious Symphony Offices in the heart of Amsterdam’s financial district. Offering nearly 360-degree views of the city, the workspace is filled with natural light, thanks to spacious floor-to-ceiling windows. The modern layout provides a comfortable and inspiring environment for work, with a well-designed breakout area for informal meetings and relaxation.

The building also features a restaurant on the ground floor, making it convenient for meals and client lunches. With excellent transportation links, the office is easily accessible—just under a 20-minute journey from Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam Centraal.

Role Context

Cboe Clear Europe (CCEU) is a systemically important financial institution, providing post-trade services to stock exchanges, multilateral trading facilities, other equities trading platforms and for OTC equities trades. Headquartered in Amsterdam, we service trading platforms and we have clearing participants with headquarters in 14 jurisdictions in Europe, North America and Asia.

Recently we acquired ownership of our real-time portfolio risk engine, which was previously supplied to us by a vendor. Now we need to embed this system in our architecture and extend it to incorporate additional risk-related calculations like liquidity stress tests, but also prepare it for potential usage within the broader Cboe Global Markets group.

The Tech Lead Clearisq will provide technical ownership and direction for this platform within CCEU Software Engineering. The role is about technical leadership, with no direct people management, and focuses on architecture, code quality, technical decision‑making, change delivery and long‑term sustainability of the Clearisq codebase, in close collaboration with Risk, Quant, and Operations stakeholders.

The Clearisq team will consist of:

• 1 Tech Lead (this role)
• 1 Backend Engineer (Java/Python, platform & integration focus)
• 1 Quant Engineer / Product Owner (Python, quantitative and model‑heavy logic)

Adjacent to this team, there is a variety of other engineering teams for different business domains and areas like Data Engineering and Platform Engineering.

Key Responsibilities

The Tech Lead is expected to work hands‑on across the stack, while clearly delineating responsibilities between platform engineering concerns and quantitative model implementation.

Technical Ownership & Architecture

• Act as technical owner of the Clearisq codebase within CCEU.
• Define and maintain the target architecture, including boundaries between:
  • Quantitative models
  • Data pipelines and analytics
  • Platform services and integrations
• Drive architectural decision records (ADRs) and align with CCEU architecture governance.
• Balance pragmatic delivery with long‑term maintainability in a safety‑critical CCP context.

Code Quality, Reliability & Risk Awareness

• Set and enforce engineering standards for correctness, performance, testing, and observability.
• Ensure the platform meets high availability, determinism, and auditability expectations typical for CCP risk systems.
• Own the technical approach to numerical correctness, reproducibility, and explainability of calculations.
• Proactively manage technical debt, lifecycle concerns, and vendor‑originated legacy code.

AI‑Assisted Software Engineering

• Act as a role model and multiplier for AI‑assisted engineering practices within the team – and the wider software engineering department.
• Leverage AI tools for:
  • Code comprehension of a complex acquired codebase
  • Code development for changes
  • Refactoring and modernization
  • Test generation and validation scenarios
  • Log analysis, performance investigation, and incident learning
    in line with CCEU and Cboe‑wide AI adoption initiatives.
• Establish guardrails to ensure AI usage enhances quality, security, and correctness rather than eroding them.

Data & Quantitative Awareness

• Possess deep understanding of data‑intensive systems, including:
  • Large in‑memory datasets
  • Time‑series and historical simulations
  • Performance‑sensitive numerical computation
• Collaborate closely with the Quant Engineer to:
  • Translate risk methodology into robust software constructs
  • Challenge assumptions where model design meets system constraints
• Ensure clean separation between model logic and platform mechanics.

Stakeholder Collaboration & Soft Skills

• Serve as the technical interface between Software Engineering, Risk, Quant, Operations, and external stakeholders.
• Communicate complex technical trade‑offs clearly to non‑engineers.
• Actively surface risks, constraints, and dependencies early.
• Contribute to cross‑team alignment in a multi‑domain clearing platform.

Required Skills & Experience

Core Technical Skills

• Strong experience designing and owning complex backend systems in Java, with Python exposure in the past being a strong plus.
• Proven track record with data‑heavy, computation‑intensive platforms.
• Solid understanding of software architecture, testing strategies, and system observability.
• Experience operating in regulated or high‑risk environments is a strong advantage.

AI‑Assisted Engineering

• Demonstrated, hands‑on experience using AI tools as part of the daily engineering workflow.
• Ability to critically evaluate AI‑generated output and integrate it safely into production‑grade systems.
• Strong interest in continuously improving engineering effectiveness through tooling and automation.

Data & Quant Background

• Strong foundation in data structures, numerical computing, and analytical problem‑solving.
• Ability to reason about quantitative models without necessarily being the primary model author.
• Experience collaborating with quants or risk model developers is highly desirable.

Soft Skills

• Clear, structured communicator with strong written and verbal skills.
• Comfortable leading technical discussions and challenging ideas constructively.
• Pragmatic, calm, and accountable in high‑pressure environments.
• Strong sense of ownership and intrinsic motivation.

What This Role Is Not

• This role does not include people management responsibilities.
• This role is not a pure quant role; it is a software engineering leadership role with strong quantitative awareness.
• This role is not vendor‑facing support; ownership and evolution of the platform sit within CCEU.

Benefits and Perks of working for Cboe Global Markets

We value the total wellbeing of our people – including health, financial, personal and social wellness. We believe standard benefits like health insurance and fair pay are a given at any organization. Still, you should know we offer:

Flexible, Hybrid Work Environment Fitness Corporate Membership Employee assistance Program (EAP) Eye Care Pension Income Protection Accident Insurance Business Travel Insurance Associate Referral Program Perks at Work Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) Commuting Allowance LinkedIn Learning courses Service Awards Subsided Lunch Corporate Events Education Assistance Holiday (Annual Leave) Other Forms Enhanced Leave (Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Compassionate Leave, Community Service / Volunteering Day & School Visit) Working Abroad Days Allowance

More About Cboe Europe

We’re reimagining the future of the workplace by focusing on what matters most, our people.  Our journey is an inclusive one. We’re investing deeply in leadership programs and career development initiatives that ensure everyone has an equal chance to succeed.  

We work with purpose, solving problems with ingenuity, collaboration, and a lot of passion. We’re an engaged and excited team connecting markets across borders and embracing growth in all its forms to achieve incredible outcomes. 

Learn more about life at Cboe on our website and LinkedIn.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We're proud to be an equal opportunity employer do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on any legally protected characteristic, including race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or Veteran status. We are committed to fostering a workplace where all individuals are valued and respected.  

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Any communication from Cboe regarding this position will only come from a Cboe recruiter who has a @cboe.com email or via LinkedIn Recruiter. Cboe does not use any other third party communication tools for recruiting purposes.