Head of Engineering - Options

Head of Engineering / Engineering Lead

We are looking for a Head of Engineering / Engineering Lead with strong experience in systematic options trading to lead our Options Engineering team and drive continuous improvement across our trading infrastructure. The role supports the evolution of our systematic options trading platform covering automated quoting, execution, risk controls, pricing workflows, and production reliability.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow an Options Engineering team of around 7 engineers
• Bring hands‑on experience in systematic options trading, ideally including options market‑making, automated quoting, execution, and risk management
• Own and evolve an existing Rust‑native systematic options trading platform
• Provide strong technical direction across trading infrastructure, system design, performance, reliability, and risk controls
• Work pragmatically through complex engineering and trading‑system challenges
• Partner closely with trading, quant, product, risk, and infrastructure stakeholders
• Balance technical leadership with people leadership, delivery ownership, and operational discipline

Required Experience

• 7+ years of experience in systematic trading, options market‑making or low‑latency trading systems
• Strong hands‑on experience with Rust, C++, or C
• Willingness to become deeply proficient in Rust, if not already
• Strong understanding of algorithmic options trading, including automated quoting, execution, pricing, risk controls, and market data workflows
• Experience building or maintaining low‑latency trading systems, ideally within options or derivatives markets
• Experience working with SQL databases in production environments, with PostgreSQL preferred
• Familiarity with functional testing, component testing, and production‑grade validation practices
• Strong understanding of distributed systems, service boundaries, and production reliability
• Strong knowledge of gRPC and experience working with Node.js‑based services is preferred
• Previous experience with crypto exchange connectivity and/or FPGA technologies is strongly preferred

Leadership & Working Style

• Strong team player with the ability to lead, mentor, and guide engineers
• Pragmatic approach to problem‑solving, system design, and implementation
• Able to balance latency, reliability, safety, complexity, and delivery speed
• Comfortable making technical decisions under uncertainty
• Demonstrates outside‑the‑box thinking while staying grounded in practical delivery
• Communicates clearly and effectively, especially in unfamiliar or ambiguous contexts where clarity is critical
• Able to work closely with traders, quants, risk, product, and infrastructure stakeholders
• Strong ownership mindset, especially for production trading systems

Benefits

• A competitive salary package
• Autonomy in time management thanks to flexible working hours and the opportunity to work remotely
• Freedom to create your own entrepreneurial experience by being part of a team of people in search of excellence

EEO Statement

As an employer we are committed to building a positive and collaborative work environment. We welcome employees of all backgrounds, and hire, reward and promote entirely based on merit and performance. Due to the nature of our business and external requirements, we perform background checks on all potential employees, passing which is a prerequisite to join Keyrock.