Quantitative Trading,
& Markets
Engineering and research talent at the frontier of speed and signal.
Low-latency C++, FPGA, quant research, core infrastructure, execution and SRE talent for prop trading and market-making firms operating at the frontier of performance.
What we do here
Mostly specialist recruitment, with occasional executive-search work for engineering and research leadership. Mandates are typically run confidentially against active competition.
Recent engagements in this sector
A senior C++ engineer placed into a top-quartile prop firm against active competition from two global firms; multiple confidential mid-senior engineering placements across the Sydney market.
Capabilities we cover
- ▸ Low-latency C++ engineering
- ▸ Quantitative research
- ▸ FPGA and kernel-bypass networking
- ▸ Core infrastructure and SRE
Typical roles & bands
- Senior Low-Latency C++ Engineer$220k-$360k total
- Quantitative Researcher$240k-$400k total
- FPGA / Hardware Engineer$200k-$340k total
- Source. The founder's placement records across 15 years of recruitment practice, continuing into AEY, plus ongoing market benchmarking.
- Composition. Base salary unless otherwise specified. Total-comp roles include equity / bonus / day-rate where stated.
- Variance. Actual offers move with stage, location, technical specialism, clearance status and the candidate's alternative options. The bands above are 25th–75th percentile, not floor and ceiling.
- Currency. All amounts in AUD.
Market notes
The Australian prop-trading market is small and competitive: a handful of well-known firms, plus the local presences of global firms. Compensation in this sector runs materially above market for engineering at every level. Process speed and offer clarity matter - see our piece on why low-latency hiring is broken.
Concentrated in Sydney; very small, very tightly networked market. Most engineers known to each other.
Anonymised, never shared. Maintained as a live working map, not a database.
Why low-latency hiring is broken - and what the best firms are doing instead
Quant trading firms still hire engineers using a process designed for an era when the bottleneck was finding people. The bottleneck has changed. The process has not.
The Australian quant grad package, decoded
The published numbers get quoted a lot. The actual mechanics of a first-year package at Optiver or IMC Sydney are more nuanced - and understanding the mechanics matters if you are a candidate choosing between them.
- Sydney · May 2026Senior Low-Latency C++ EngineerSpecialist Recruitment9d shortlist · 35d close
Let's talk about quantitative trading & markets.
A 30-minute call is enough for us to know whether we can add value - and whether you should be talking to us, or to someone else.