VP, Engineering

Disclaimer: Please be advised that the most accurate and up-to-date information about our open roles—including job descriptions, compensation, and benefits—can only be guaranteed on our official job board. For the latest listings and details, please visit: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ninjatrader. JOIN 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, we're 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 world's 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 we're not stopping there. We're 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, you're not just part of a team; you're 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 true? Take it from our employees. Join us as we redefine what's possible in trading, advocate for our customers, and continue our journey toward becoming the world's top retail-focused trading platform in the world. What you'll do: As VP of Product Engineering, you will own end-to-end engineering accountability for the platforms and systems that over 2.5 million traders depend on every day — including Desktop, Web, and Mobile trading applications, as well as the real-time backend infrastructure that powers them. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will lead a multi-director organization with a mandate to build a durable, high-performing engineering organization capable of predictable execution at scale while operating a 24x7 mission-critical trading platform. This role requires driving transformation while maintaining stability. In this role you will: Lead a multi-director engineering organization spanning client platforms (Desktop, Web, Mobile) and real-time trading systems; set the tone for engineering culture, accountability, and craft Own performance management rigorously by establishing clear expectations, running structured calibrations, developing top performers, and addressing underperformance decisively Build leadership bench strength through strategic hiring and developing existing managers into senior leaders Partner with the CTO to translate business strategy into organizational design, headcount plans, and capability roadmaps Establish and enforce elevated engineering standards across code quality, testing rigor, deployment safety, incident response, and on-call excellence Drive measurable improvements in change failure rate, deployment frequency, and P1 incident trends to enable predictable execution Champion DORA metrics and SDLC best practices to ensure consistent quality across all teams Define and own the multi-year technical roadmap for client platforms and core trading systems including OMS, execution engine, market data, and exchange connectivity Lead platform modernization efforts, including retiring legacy infrastructure, evolving the Scala/Akka trading core, and expanding cloud-native capabilities on GCP while maintaining 99.95%+ uptime Enforce architectural guardrails and decision frameworks to ensure system coherence Achieve 80–90%+ roadmap execution through strong planning, prioritization, and delivery cadences Communicate engineering tradeoffs clearly to executive stakeholders and translate technical complexity into business terms Partner with Product, Design, Risk, and Compliance to align engineering investments with company priorities Champion AI-driven engineering initiatives including agentic development, AI-assisted code review, and debugging automation Measure and report on AI tooling impact across cycle time, defect rates, and developer experience What you'll need: 15+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years leading organizations with multiple Directors or Sr. Engineering Managers Proven experience owning both client-facing platforms (web, mobile, or desktop) and backend distributed systems within the same role Demonstrated success improving engineering quality through reduced defect rates, improved deployment safety, and strong SDLC practices E