About the role
About AQR Capital Management
AQR is a global investment management firm built at the intersection of financial theory and practical application. We strive to deliver superior, long-term results for our clients by looking past market noise to identify and isolate what matters most, and by developing ideas that stand up to rigorous testing. Our focus on practical insights and analysis has made us leaders in alternative and traditional strategies since 1998.
At AQR, our employees share a common spirit of academic excellence, intellectual honesty and an unwavering commitment to seeking the truth. We’re determined to know what makes financial markets tick – and we’ll ask every question and challenge every assumption. We recognize and respect the power of collaboration, and we believe transparency and openness to new ideas leads to innovation.
The Team
Technology is central to AQR’s success. As a Senior Software Engineer in Portfolio Implementation, you will lead the design and delivery of complex, mission-critical systems that turn investment ideas into reality. Working closely with researchers, portfolio managers, and engineering peers, you will drive large-scale technical initiatives while mentoring engineers and raising the bar for engineering excellence across the team.
Your Role
As a Senior Software Engineer in Portfolio Implementation, you will operate with broad ownership and technical authority across core investment systems, including:
- Leading the design and implementation of portfolio implementation platforms that consume research outputs, perform constrained optimizations, and generate orders
- Owning and evolving distributed, microservice-based systems that operate reliably at scale
- Lead architectural design for high-performance, high-volume, highly available systems, making informed trade-offs across performance, flexibility, and maintainability
- Delivering complex, cross-cutting initiatives that span multiple services, teams
- Providing technical leadership to small teams (typically 2–5 engineers), including task planning, design reviews, and execution oversight
- Mentoring and coaching engineers through code reviews, design discussions, and hands-on guidance
- Partnering with a global team of researchers, portfolio managers and engineers to deliver robust, production-quality solutions on time
What You’ll Bring
- Degree in Computer Science or a related technical field
- 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, with deep expertise in Java
- Strong experience using Python in production or research-adjacent environments
- Proven ability to design, build, and operate large-scale, distributed systems
- Experience operating microservice-based architectures, using technologies such as Java, Elasticsearch, Redis, RabbitMQ / AMQ, and relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server)
- Strong command of engineering best practices, including code quality, design documentation, peer code reviews, automated testing, and test coverage
- Experience operating, tuning, and profiling high-performance systems in production environments
- Experience with observability and monitoring platforms (e.g., New Relic) and using metrics to drive reliability and performance improvements
- Ability to lead technical change, manage risk, and drive initiatives to completion in complex environments
- Experience contributing to requirements capture, technical specification, and work breakdown
- Ability to estimate work, plan delivery, and manage technical trade-offs
- Interest in financial markets and the investment process
Who You Are
- A strong technical leader who takes ownership of outcomes, not just implementations
- Comfortable driving large, ambiguous initiatives from concept through delivery
- Effective at mentoring and developing engineers, setting clear expectations and providing constructive feedback
- Able to balance hands-on contribution with leadership and oversight
- Collaborative, thoughtful, and effective working across disciplines and geographies
- Committed to intellectual integrity, transparency, and openness
The salary range for this role is expected to be [$165,000-$185,000]. This is the range that we in good faith believe is accurate for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, depending upon factors such as skills, experience, location, or other business and organizational needs. This wage range may also be modified in the future.
This job is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus.
We offer comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance, 401(k), and any other benefits to eligible employees.
Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole discretion, consistent with the law.
AQR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. EEO/VET/DISABILITY