Who We Are:

TradeStation is the home of those born to trade. As an online brokerage firm and trading ecosystem, we are focused on delivering the ultimate trading experience for active traders and institutions. We continuously push the boundaries of what's possible, encourage out-of-the-box thinking, and relentlessly search for like-minded innovators.

At TradeStation, we are building an AI-First culture. We expect team members to embrace AI as a core part of their daily workflow, whether that’s using AI to accelerate development, enhance decision-making, improve client outcomes, or streamline internal processes. We hire, grow, and promote people who can harness AI responsibly and creatively. We treat AI as a partner in problem-solving, not just a tool; following our governance standards to ensure AI is used ethically, securely, and transparently. If you join us, you’re joining a culture where AI is how we work.

Are you ready to make yourself at home?

What We Are Looking For:

We are looking for a Senior Director, Solutions Architecture who will be directing TradeStation’s Brokerage Services division in building a next-generation Order Management System (OMS) and risk platform in partnership with a strategic vendor. This critical multi-phase initiative replaces legacy C++/C# systems with a modern, scalable Java-based platform). We seek a Sr. Java Solution Architect to provide technical leadership over design and delivery, working in close partnership with vendor to ensure code quality, architectural soundness, performance, maintainability, and security. This Architect will be working with the following technology stack:

Backend Core: Java (with microservice and monolith)
Messaging / Streaming: Apache Kafka
Database: PostgreSQL (primary transactional/data warehouse), Redis (cache, message queuing)
APIs & Integrations: gRPC APIs (B2B), REST APIs/ industry standard protocols (including FIX for order routing), proprietary WebSocket layers
Cloud & Deployment: Kubernetes, Docker, AWS cloud infrastructure (container orchestration, telemetry, S3 for historical data/cache)
Build & CI/CD: TeamCity, GitLab, Jenkins; Docker for packaging
Monitoring & Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, OpenSearch, Zabbix
Security: Role-based access controls, OAuth2/JWT for APIs, audit trail persistence, vulnerability scanning (SonarQube, Black Duck), penetration testing
Other: JVM profiling, server-side risk engines (custom, spans Black-Scholes, SPAN/strategy-based margining)

What You’ll Be Doing:

Architecture & Solution Design
- Drive and validate overall architectural vision for the new OMS and supporting risk and account systems
- Ensure solutions are cloud-native, horizontally scalable, extensible, and designed for high availability
- Lead technical due diligence and code reviews on vendor partners’ Java deliverables
- Define best practices for API design, integration logic, and secure coding
- Architect reusable interfaces for integrating AI tools into SDLC workflows (e.g., code review automation, performance modeling)

Code Quality & SDLC Excellence
- Set standards for Java and backend code quality, including performance, maintainability, and test coverage, and apply AI/ML techniques
- Champion automation in build (CI/CD pipelines), code review, and regression testing
- Guide adoption of observability, traceability, and “shift-left” testing practices in the SDLC lifecycle
- Oversee vulnerability management, secure coding, and compliance with financial industry regulations
- Apply AI/ML techniques to reduce manual effort in design validation, test coverage analysis, and defect prediction
- Evaluate and integrate AI tools into CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows

Collaboration & Cross-Team Alignment
- Act as technical SME/advisor for integration with TradeStation’s frontend platforms, market data feeds, and regulatory systems
- Translate complex business requirements, NFRs (non-functional requirements), and operational constraints into actionable architecture and design patterns
- Mentor embedded engineering team members and foster knowledge transfer between TradeStation and vendor teams to build long-term internal talent

Operationalization & Support Readiness
- Define standards and templates for deployment, monitoring, and incident response
- Proactively identify architectural risks (i.e., data consistency, performance bottlenecks, scalability limits, “black box” vendor exposures)
- Ensure system meets regulatory and client SLAs (99.99% uptime, incident-free trading, high-throughput, and low-latency for market hours)
- Build playbooks for production cutover, fallback, vendor support handoff, and disaster recovery

AI Integration & Strategy
- Collaborate with product and engineering teams to identify opportunities for AI-driven enhancements across the new OMS platform, including predictive risk analytics, intelligent order routing, anomaly detection, and operational automation
- Architect scalable interfaces for integrating ML models and AI services into real-time trading workflows, ensuring performance, security, and regulatory compliance
- Champion responsible AI practices and help define the roadmap for leveraging AI in future asset class expansion and client-facing capabilities

The Skills You Bring:

Hands-on track record as a solution architect overseeing large-scale cloud deployments (AWS preferred), microservices, stateful event-driven architectures, and real-time data pipelines
Deep knowledge of Java performance optimization (GC tuning, thread/async management, JVM diagnostics)
Extensive experience with relational and distributed (Postgres, Redis, Kafka) database design and tuning
Strong background in API (REST/gRPC/FIX) design, security best practices, and observability (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/OpenSearch)
Proven leadership in code reviews, setting coding/architecture standards, and driving test automation
Familiarity with margin/risk models, order workflow, and post-trade processing for brokers is a strong asset
Experience working with third-party vendors (ideally co-dev or embedded models) in a regulated context
Exposure to Kubernetes multi-region architecture, hybrid deployment (cloud/on-prem) preferred
Involvement in open-source contributions, especially in cloud, market data, or risk analytics preferred
Experience applying AI/ML techniques to backend systems for risk modeling, anomaly detection, or operational efficiency preferred
Knowledge regulatory and compliance frameworks for financial transaction systems preferred

Minimum Qualifications:

B.S. or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
10+ years in software engineering with a majority on complex, mission-critical Java backend systems (preferably financial trading/OMS)

What We Offer:

Collaborative work environment
Competitive Salaries
Yearly bonus
Comprehensive benefits for you and your family starting Day 1
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Flexible working environment
TradeStation Account employee benefits, as well as full access to trading education materials
Pay Range (US) $216-243K (Countries outside of the US have differing ranges in accordance with local labor markets)

TradeStation provides equal employment opportunities to current and prospective employees, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, disability, handicap, citizenship, veteran or marital status, or any other legally recognized status entitled to protection under federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws.

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TradeStation jobs

Sr. Director, Java Solutions Architecture