Founding Principal Hardware Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 19, 2026. First seen by Alion on Sep 25, 2026.
What you’ll do:
As founding principal hardware engineer, you will lead the design and in-production implementation of an exchange and co-located trading facility on a single silicon device. You will lead development of PAX core technology and set future design directions.
PAX ultra low-latency in-silicon matching engine:
PAX is building the world's first exchange and co-located trading facility on a chip. We will go-to-market using AWS F2 FPGA instances and follow-on with an ASIC design that combines network aggregation with exchange functionality.
PAX provides the fastest tick-to-trade and market data publication in the world, across all exchanges (e.g. faster than NYSE, Deutsche Börse, etc.).
Exchange integrated high frequency trading logic:
The PAX λ API provides traders with on-chip exchange integrated HFT decision logic. Using the λ API, traders can make markets or take arbitrage opportunities. The λ API enables traders to respond to market events the very instant the information is registered in the exchange matching engine.
PAX business model:
PAX sells access to its ultra-low latency λ API and offers trading otherwise for free. Existing exchanges typically offer rebates for liquidity providers ("makers") and charge fees to liquidity takers (the "maker/taker" fee structure). At PAX when λ and non-λ orders pair together, the free-tier order is given a cash rebate regardless of whether their order was characterized as making or taking. PAX is the first exchange to offer zero-fee trading and rebates for both making and taking.
Deep dives on PAX market structure & technology:
Relevant background:
Candidates with experience in high frequency trading (HFT) or at an exchange are encouraged to apply.
Skills:
- SystemVerilog
- FPGA or ASIC design experience
- Rust and/or C++
- HFT
- Protobuf
- Curiosity and ability to learn
- Passion for trading and markets