Java Developer - Low Latency


Company:	Hays Specialist Recruitment
Salary:	£700 - £750
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	London, EC2V 6DN
Job type:	Contract
Posting date:	2 Jul 2026
Closing date:	1 Aug 2026

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Summary

Your New CompanyA leading global financial markets infrastructure and data organisation is seeking a Senior / Lead Java Engineer to join a high-performing technology team delivering business-critical trading and market infrastructure solutions. Operating at the heart of global financial markets, the organisation invests heavily in modern engineering practices, cloud adoption, platform transformation, and low-latency technology, offering engineers the opportunity to work on complex systems at scale.

Your New Role

As a Senior / Lead Java Engineer, you will join a high-performing engineering team responsible for building and enhancing low-latency, high-throughput trading systems used within a front-office environment. You'll work on strategic initiatives including electronic trading platforms, real-time processing systems, and large-scale platform modernisation projects.

This is an opportunity to work closely with traders, quants, and business stakeholders while designing and delivering robust, scalable solutions using modern Java technologies. You'll play a key role in driving performance optimisation, microservices adoption, and the migration of legacy applications to modern architectures.

What You'll Need to Succeed

Strong Core Java development experience (Java 8+) with exposure to Java 11, 17, or 21.

Proven experience developing low-latency, high-performance, or real-time systems.

Excellent Spring Boot and backend engineering expertise.

Strong understanding of distributed systems and microservices architecture.

Experience with concurrency, multithreading, and performance tuning.

Background in electronic trading, capital markets, or other real-time financial systems.

Experience working on trading platforms, pricing, RFQ, execution, order routing, market data, or similar systems.

Knowledge of event-driven architectures and technologies such as Kafka, Aeron, or LMAX Disruptor is highly desirable.

Experience modernising legacy platforms and contributing to cloud-native transformations.

Ability to engage with front-office stakeholders and translate business requirements into technical solutions.

React or broader full-stack experience would be advantageous.

C++ knowledge is beneficial but not essential.

What you'll get in return

Access to market leading technologies

Hybrid working arrangements

What you need to do now

If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.

If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.

Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at hays.co.uk

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