Engineering Manager, Backend

Disclaimer: Please be advised that the most accurate and up-to-date information about our open rolesincluding job descriptions compensation and benefitscan only be guaranteed on our official job board. For the latest listings and details please visit: 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 were 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 worlds 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 were not stopping there. Were 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 youre not just part of a team; youre 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 trueTake it from our employees.

Join us as we redefine whats possible in trading advocate for our customers and continue our journey toward becoming the worlds top retail-focused trading platform in the world.

What youll do:

Were looking for a seasoned engineering leader to build and scale our FCM Operations engineering squad at NinjaTrader. This is a hands-on leadership role with broad scopeowning the strategy execution and team growth behind the systems that power our brokerage operations backbone. Your squad owns the critical workflows that keep our FCM running: customer onboarding and identity verification (CIP/KYC/AML) treasury and money movement services account lifecycle management tax certification (W8/W9) regulatory data retention and the cross-system process improvements that make internal teams across Accounts Treasury FinOps and Compliance more efficient every day.

As a leader in our technology organization your teams work will directly impact how NinjaTrader serves customers from their first account application through every funding withdrawal and compliance touchpoint across the account lifecycle. You will partner closely with compliance new accounts brokerage operations treasury and finance stakeholders to deliver solutions that balance operational efficiency regulatory rigor and customer experience while championing the use of AI and automation to modernize workflows that have traditionally been manual and labor-intensive.

In this role you will:

• Lead mentor and manage a growing team of engineers in a regulated financial environment
• Assume an active role in the career development of direct reports with regular 1:1s coaching and performance feedbackbuilding a team that understands both the engineering craft and the operational realities of running an FCM
• Own the execution of the FCM Operations roadmap in partnership with Product Compliance and Brokerage Operations ensuring alignment with technical strategy regulatory requirements and team capacity
• Drive the modernization of customer onboarding systems including CIP service integrations new account application review workflows and KYC/AML verification processesmoving from manual review toward intelligent automated decision pipelines
• Lead the development of self-service account maintenance tools for end users and internal process enhancements for post-account-creation support reducing operational burden on brokerage teams
• Champion the use of AI to optimize operational workflowsidentifying opportunities where intelligent automation can reduce manual review accelerate processing times and improve accuracy across onboarding compliance screening and account operations
• Ensure W8/W9 tax certification and IRS reporting processes are reliable accurate and automated where possible
• Own data retention and hygiene strategies ensuring data alignment and consistency across multiple systemscritical for regulatory compliance audit readiness and operational integrity
• Guide and actively shape architectural decisions with Senior engineers review code as needed and ensure cloud-native best practices for all new development on GCP/Kubernetes
• Oversee release processes and CI/CD workflows ensuring smooth deployments with appropriate change management controls for regulated systems
• Participate in our engineering on-call rotation as a manager and uphold engineering quality and execution standards including code reviews test coverage release pipelines observability and incident response
• Hire top-tier engineering talent and contribute to the evolution of our engineering organization as we scale

What youll need:

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science a related field or equivalent practical experience
• 8 years of software engineering experience including 3 years in engineering leadership roles managing engineers directly
• Demonstrated experience in financial services brokerage or fintech with practical understanding of KYC/AML processes money movement systems and the regulatory obligations of operating a brokerage or FCM
• Proven experience delivering production-grade systems in cloud environments (GCP or AWS) with modern deployment practices
• Track record of partnering cross-functionally with compliance operations finance and product stakeholders to deliver technology solutions in regulated environments
• Genuine enthusiasm for applying AI and automation to modernize operational workflowsyou see manual compliance and operations processes as engineering problems waiting to be solved
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams through growth ambiguity and changecomfortable making decisions with incomplete information and iterating quickly
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to align technical execution with business priorities and translate between engineering compliance and operations teams
• Strong collaborative skillsyou build trust naturally with both engineers and business stakeholders
• Operates with a strong sense of ownership and accountability

Bonus points for:

• Direct experience at a futures commission merchant (FCM) clearing firm or broker-dealer operating under CFTC/NFA or SEC/FINRA regulatory frameworks
• Familiarity with CIP/KYC/AML vendor integrations and identity verification service providers
• Background in building internal tooling and self-service platforms that improve operational efficiency at scale
• Familiarity with TypeScript React Python C Java or Scala in production environments

Compensation:

The salary range for this role will be $160000.00 - $210000.00 addition this position will also receive an annual target bonus of 15%. 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 23 days per year (some positions may qualify for more) plus seven paid holidays.

Location:

This role is based in Chicago IL. We are not open to remote candidates for this role

Hybrid:

For Chicago-based employees we follow a hybrid work schedule: In-office Tuesday through Thursday with remote work on Mondays and 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.