Software Engineer Intern - C++, Summer 2027

Summary

Akuna Capital is an innovative trading firm specializing in providing liquidity on various exchanges. They are seeking a C++ Software Engineer Intern to work on high-performance systems, collaborating with Quant and Trading teams to enhance their core business operations.

Responsibilities

• Work on a variety of high-performance systems that power the firm’s core business operations
• Embedded on small-to-medium-sized teams that frequently interface with Quant and Trading
• Focus on a specific domain area while still experiencing the day-to-day life of an Akuna software engineer
• Ensure these systems are reliable, efficient, scalable, and flexible enough for even the most niche use cases
• Work on one or more valuable projects, progressing from ideation and design all the way to delivery and maintenance
• Adding functionality onto existing systems
• Implementing brand new componentry
• Experimenting with new technologies and patterns to better understand the solution space
• Solve complex problems
• Reach for creative solutions when faced with novel problems

Skills

• Pursuing a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. in a technical field (computer science/engineering, math, physics, or equivalent)
• Graduating by August 2028
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. as of the first day of employment, including F-1 students using OPT or STEM
• Experience programming in modern C++ (C++20 or later)
• The ability to effectively communicate with non-technical stakeholders in Quant and Trading to obtain requirements, workshop solutions, and implement agreed-upon roadmaps
• The ability to react quickly and effectively to rapidly changing market conditions, including the ability to quickly and accurately respond and/or solve math and coding problems
• A passion for building complex systems from the ground up
• The ability to collaborate with other developers of different backgrounds, specialties, and knowledge levels to collectively deliver cohesive solutions to non-trivial problems
• An intrinsically motivated attitude and the ability to work independently
• A strong sense of ownership, including a drive to fix bugs when they inevitably arise
• C++23 preferred
• Experience with several of the following: Distributed systems, Parallel processing, Asynchronous architectures, Networking or protocol encoding/decoding, Lock-free data structures and algorithms, Performance profiling (e.g. perf, gprof, vtune), Scripting, such as in Python or shell
• Familiarity with standard debugging tools (e.g. GDB, Valgrind, address sanitizer)

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Pursuing a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. in a technical field (computer science/engineering, math, physics, or equivalent)
• Graduating by August 2028
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. as of the first day of employment, including F-1 students using OPT or STEM
• Experience programming in modern C++ (C++20 or later)
• The ability to effectively communicate with non-technical stakeholders in Quant and Trading to obtain requirements, workshop solutions, and implement agreed-upon roadmaps
• The ability to react quickly and effectively to rapidly changing market conditions, including the ability to quickly and accurately respond and/or solve math and coding problems
• A passion for building complex systems from the ground up
• The ability to collaborate with other developers of different backgrounds, specialties, and knowledge levels to collectively deliver cohesive solutions to non-trivial problems
• An intrinsically motivated attitude and the ability to work independently
• A strong sense of ownership, including a drive to fix bugs when they inevitably arise

Nice to Haves

• C++23 preferred
• Experience with several of the following: Distributed systems, Parallel processing, Asynchronous architectures, Networking or protocol encoding/decoding, Lock-free data structures and algorithms, Performance profiling (e.g. perf, gprof, vtune), Scripting, such as in Python or shell
• Familiarity with standard debugging tools (e.g. GDB, Valgrind, address sanitizer)

Benefits

• Discretionary performance bonus as part of the total compensation package
• Comprehensive benefits package that may encompass employer-paid medical, dental, vision, retirement contributions, paid time off, and other benefits