Software Engineer (C++/Rust)

Location: Remote / Chicago / New York The financial industry is growing at a record pace, but our data providers are still stuck in the past — with cumbersome onboarding processes, complicated APIs, slow infrastructure, and expensive licensing costs. Databento is the market data platform for modern finance. The company provides real-time and historical data across futures, options, and equities through a unified API. By owning the entire market data stack end-to-end, Databento is the first platform of its kind to combine the performance and reliability demanded by the world's leading trading firms with a dramatically simpler developer experience. Our team includes alumni of Two Sigma, Citadel Securities, Flow Traders, IMC, Tower Research, Jump Trading, HRT, Jane Street, and SIG. We're looking for a midlevel or senior IC to join our core engineering team. Our team is responsible for all things C/C++ and Rust, and the most performance-sensitive parts of our codebase. You'll be working with nearly 20 PB of data, with thousands of bare metal CPU cores at your disposal. Responsibilities Design, develop, and maintain high-performance server applications in C/C++ and Rust. Write message parsers and feed handlers for direct market data feeds from trading venues. Optimize existing codebase for high throughput (millions of messages per second, up to 40+ gigabits) and low latency (measured in nanoseconds). Implement tools and libraries for petabyte-scale data processing and analysis. Collaborate with the systems team to implement best practices for build, deployment, CI/CD. Implement monitoring and improve application uptime. Ensure smooth feature rollouts and updates. Preferred background 5+ years of full-time software engineering experience, preferably at a trading firm, tech company, or high-growth startup. Strong proficiency in C/C++ or Rust. Knowledge of systems programming, algorithms, data structures, multithreading, networked I/O, serialization, CPU architecture, kernel, and compilers. Experience working with multiprocess environments. Comfortable with lldb/gdb. Good communication skills and work ethic for a remote workplace. An interest in low-level optimization and performance engineering. An interest in financial data or algorithmic trading. We offer health, dental, disability, and life insurance benefits, as well as 401(k) matching for full-time employees. We accommodate 100% remote work, with teammates living around the globe and paid in their local currency. The base salary range for this role is $150,000–$250,000, benchmarked to Tier 1 locations in each country. Total compensation may also include bonuses, commissions, and equity, depending on the role. Notice about phishing scams Be cautious of phishing scams impersonating Databento that offer fake job interviews and request purchases. Official emails come only from @databento.com or us.greenhouse-mail.io (our ATS). Any other domains (e.g., databento-careers.com, databento.online) are fraudulent. -- Databento, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or genetics. We comply with federal, state, and local nondiscrimination laws in every location where we operate. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave, compensation, and training. Pursuant to applicable laws, we consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records. If you need an accommodation, please let us know. Our recruiting data suggests that underrepresented applicants often downplay their skills. Even if your experience doesn’t exactly match the qualifications listed, we still want to hear from you. Please apply!