Software Engineer (Java) - Research Data Platform

Researchers and traders rely on high-quality research data to evaluate and improve our trading strategies. The mission of our research data team is to maintain a platform and pipelines to provide globally aligned and curated options data. It brings together market data, data from external vendors, and IMC internal data. The team will own the generation of datasets, the quality of the data, and the daily operations for research or trading critical data. You will be at the cutting edge of development in IMC, and globally align with other teams on new initiatives to enable systematic research. Working closely with researchers and traders, you will prioritize local demands and shape platform improvements.

Your Core Responsibilities: 

• Work closely with researchers and traders to understand their strategies and data needs, and translate them into reliable research data solutions.
• Develop, test, deploy and maintain applications and pipelines that ingest, curate and expose options research data.
• Improve data quality and operational reliability through validation, monitoring, troubleshooting and efficient access to large datasets.
• Collaborate with research data and platform teams across regions to onboard datasets, improve shared systems and support systematic research.

Your Skills and Experience: 

• At least 3 years of experience as a Software Engineer, with strong programming skills in Java and practical experience with Python.
• Solid understanding of computer science fundamentals, including algorithms, data structures, complexity analysis, memory management and concurrency.
• Experience developing and operating production software, with strong troubleshooting skills across application code, infrastructure and data.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with an interest in understanding how data is generated, validating its correctness and assessing its suitability for research.
• Ability to work independently, understand research requirements, communicate with stakeholders and take ownership of the solutions you build.
• Experience building data pipelines, distributed systems or large-scale data processing applications.
• Familiarity with Linux, containers and Kubernetes; experience with data lake technologies such as Apache Iceberg and Parquet is a plus.
• Adaptability and solid engineering judgement in an environment where requirements evolve.
• A degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Prior experience in trading, quantitative research or financial data is a plus. Curiosity about options pricing and a willingness to learn are essential.

About Us

IMC is a research-driven trading firm where quantitative modeling, machine learning, and engineering shape how modern markets are traded. A stabilizing force in markets since 1989, we provide liquidity across trading venues, delivering the best outcome in value and risk management to investors. Using our own technology and capital, we build proprietary systems and algorithms that operate across global markets. Our researchers, traders, and engineers work as a collective, combining rapid experimentation, advanced infrastructure, and real-time feedback to turn insight into execution and execution into advantage.