Principal Java Engineer
At a Glance
• Principal-level engineering role at Asia’s leading digital asset firm
• Build and own mission-critical trading, operations, and risk infrastructure
• Java / Spring Boot stack in a high-stakes, high-autonomy production environment
• Hybrid working from Belfast... three roles available
• Flat structure, senior peer group, and direct access to leadership from day one
About the Company
Our client is Asia’s leading digital asset firm, operating at the intersection of institutional finance and crypto markets. Since 2017 they have navigated three full market cycles and built a reputation as the most trusted partner in the space, offering everything from spot execution and fixed income strategies to vanilla options and bespoke structured products. Technology is central to everything they do... and the engineering team reflects that.
The Role
This is a Principal-level hands-on engineering role within a tight-knit, senior team working on the systems that power trading, operations, and risk infrastructure. You will take genuine ownership of complex, mission-critical software at a firm where engineering decisions carry real weight. The structure is flat, the culture is high-trust, and the expectation is clear: you bring the experience to operate autonomously, drive quality end-to-end, and work directly with heads of business and front-office teams to build things that matter. If you are a senior Java engineer who wants meaningful work at real scale, without the process overhead of a large corporate, this is worth a serious look.
Key Responsibilities
• Own and deliver complex software across trading, operations, and risk systems, taking full end-to-end responsibility for quality and reliability
• Design and build tools, data feeds, and reporting infrastructure to meet the demands of front-office and operations teams
• Collaborate directly with Heads of Business and trading teams to implement and maintain critical production systems
• Drive software quality standards across the team, championing robust engineering practices in a high-stakes environment
• Contribute to company-wide technology initiatives, shaping the direction of the platform as business needs evolve
• Mentor and support less senior engineers, raising the collective capability of the team
What You’ll Need
Essential:
• 7+ years’ professional software engineering experience at senior or principal level
• Extensive Java experience, ideally including Spring Boot in production environments
• Strong Computer Science fundamentals... you understand what is happening under the hood
• Experience working at scale in cloud environments, AWS preferred
• Proven ability to operate autonomously and take full ownership of critical systems
• Background in fintech, capital markets, trading systems, or high-stakes production environments
• Right to work in the UK
Desirable / Nice to Have:
• AWS certification
• Experience working in digital assets, crypto, or institutional finance
Why Apply?
• One of the most technically compelling engineering environments of its type in Belfast
• Hybrid working with genuine flexibility built in
• High autonomy... substance over process, with a culture that trusts engineers to get on with it
• Flat structure with direct access to leadership and meaningful visibility across the business
• Senior peer group in a small, focused team where your voice genuinely carries weight
• Real investment in long-term development and career progression, not just output
• Three roles available... strong candidates will not be waiting long
Next Steps
Get in touch with Ryan Quinn at Ocho People for a confidential conversation. Submit your CV via the link below or connect with Ryan directly on LinkedIn at ryan@ochopeople.com.
