Technology | Lead Exchange Connectivity Engineer | London (Remote)

About Flowdesk At Flowdesk, we are building the infrastructure powering the next era of global finance. As a full-service digital asset trading and technology firm, we provide liquidity solutions, OTC trading, and market infrastructure that connect digital assets to global markets with institutional-grade precision, transparency, and scale. Flowdesk combines expertise from traditional finance, algorithmic trading, and blockchain technology to deliver always-on trading capabilities across the digital asset ecosystem. Founded in 2020, we are a global team supporting institutions, exchanges, and token issuers to enable a tokenized financial markets ecosystem. Why join Flowdesk? You’ll be joining a company operating at the intersection of finance, technology, and crypto; solving complex market problems, building critical infrastructure, and helping shape how digital assets connect to global liquidity. We move fast, think long term, and work with a strong ownership mindset across engineering, trading, product, operations, and business teams. Role Description This is a search for a senior engineer who can lead our exchange connectivity capability end-to-end. The role requires a rigorous operational approach to quality delivery, combined with deep technical and trading expertise. The role requires the ability to lead, make architectural decisions, manage go-live cycles, and debug complex production issues across a broad set of venues. We are looking for an AI-forward developer in this role, who understands the value of building repeatable AI coding workflows to maximise engineering productivity. Key Responsibilities Owning the design, build, and operation of feed handlers across all connected venues. Leading connectivity go-lives: planning, staging, testing, cutover, and post-launch support. Debugging complex production connectivity issues across exchange protocols and internal systems. Setting technical standards for how the team approaches exchange integration. Mentoring engineers working on connectivity components. Contributing to HFT infrastructure where connectivity and execution overlap. Must have Extensive crypto feed handler experience across multiple venues in production at an institutional firm - not experimental or internal-only. Deep understanding of market data feed handling, order lifecycle management, and multi-feed aggregation. Minimum of 2+ years of solid technical Rust experience, across sync and async code. Demonstrable experience of low-latency Rust development, at the very least 5+ years of C++ experience in a low latency environment. Strong understanding of networking protocols down the stack: HTTP, WS, TCP/IP Understanding of the full go-live cycle: from integration and UAT through to production cutover and ongoing support. Proven experience leading multiple venue migrations end-to-end, from cutover planning and parallel-run testing through to full decommission of legacy connectivity, including managing rollback procedures and minimising trading disruption during transition. Experience managing exchange-driven changes (EDC), upgrade lifecycles, and rapid go-live pressures. Experience with AI-first development workflows and AI harness engineering and quality assurance. Some leadership experience: technical lead, team lead, or similar. This person needs to be able to set direction, not just execute. Preferred AI-native experience and AI harness engineering - delivered AI code generation workflows in production. Experience managing a team or squad of connectivity engineers. Experience across both TradFi and crypto connectivity (FIX, ITCH, OUCH, WebSocket, proprietary). Experience with ultra-low-latency development (kernel-bypass, zero-copy). Person profile Curious and autonomous Highly motivated and results-driven Strong maths and analytical skills Ability to successfully manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced collaborative environment Professional proficiency in English Company Culture & Values Take Action & Own the Mission Be of Service & Contribute Innovate, Create Value, & Be Courageous Act with Integrity & Respect Recruitment Process Our process is consistent across all engineering roles and is designed to assess genuine technical depth. Candidates should expect the following stages: Stage 1: First round interview with a member of our Talent Acquisition team (45 mins) Stage 2: Binance take-home assignment, AI-assisted + online technical screen AI-free. Stage 3: 30-45 mins with Head of Core Engineering or CTO - assessment of system design, technical experience, discussion of AI output. Stage 4: Online CoderPad interview with HFT team - Rust focused. Stage 5: In-person technical interview covering live-coding, data-structure & algorithms round, and background and goals alignment. Stage 6: Round-Up meeting with Head of Talent Strategy. Benefits International environment (English is the main language) 100% health coverage Team events and offsites Company Pension scheme Learning and Development budget