Infrastructure and Cloud Engineering

Qube Research & Technologies (QRT) is a global quantitative and systematic investment manager, operating in all liquid asset classes across the world. We are a technology and data driven group implementing a scientific approach to investing. Combining data, research, technology, and trading expertise has shaped our collaborative mindset which enables us to solve the most complex challenges. QRT’s culture of innovation continuously drives our ambition to deliver high quality returns for our investors.  

Over the years, QRT has invested in a global research and execution platform which has been deployed to cover all geographies and asset classes. This platform includes everything from high-frequency trading proficiency to extensive multi-year simulation research infrastructures. Our culture is centred around technology, automation, and industrialized processes. We operate in multiple languages from C++ to Python and embrace open-source software.  

You will be joining a community of graduates and interns, who are all looking to build a future career within QRT. We believe in nurturing talent to be successful and are looking for a new cohort of individuals to join the firm in the upcoming year. We offer a stimulating, intellectual and high performing environment, where we foster collaboration.  

You will have the opportunity to join a growing and dynamic environment, where you will be mentored by industry experts to support your professional growth, this includes the prospect of securing a full-time graduate position after successfully completing your internship.  

Your future role at QRT 

The Infrastructure Engineering and Cloud Engineering teams are fundamental to QRT, underpinning our research, trading, and support systems globally. Our Infrastructure Engineering team is responsible for developing, designing, and implementing server and network infrastructure. Our Cloud Engineering team scale and operate the majority of QRTs research technology trading stack using AWS and related cloud technologies.  

The specific team you join will be decided considering both your capabilities and the needs of the company throughout the recruitment process. Here are the potential roles you might fill:   

Infrastructure DevOps Platform Engineer: 

In this role, you will contribute to the development and maintenance of our Infrastructure DevOps platforms across both public and private cloud environments. You will play a key role in supporting the delivery of a software-defined datacentre, gaining hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code (IAC) practices and tools such as Python, Terraform, Ansible, and CI/CD platforms like GitLab. This role is well-suited for recent graduates with a strong passion for technology, programming, and infrastructure automation. 

Network Operations Engineer: 

 You will be focused on maintaining the service availability, reliability, and security of the Network to enable the research and trading platforms to operate successfully. Duties include performing proactive/reactive troubleshooting of incidents, developing observability tooling, and assisting with building automation. Providing on-going support and operational improvements for existing network infrastructure, whilst building our capability to operate a high-performance compute datacentre. 

Research Infrastructure Engineer:  

In this role you work with our research facing Infrastructure team who are possible for designing and operating our high-performance Infrastructure supporting our researchers. This encompasses high performance computation along with the associated high-performance network and storage subsystems, and you will get exposure to our cutting edge use of machine learning and artificial learning platforms and technologies. This role is well-suited for recent graduates with a strong passion for technology and in particular AI/ML technologies and software ecosystem such as Pytorch. 

Infrastructure Engineer:  

In our on-premises Infrastructure team, you will work with the hardware and operating systems we use for our production trading operations. You’ll take a critical look at hardware, Linux internals, performance statistics, and all the tools needed to measure and support these efforts. We take tinkering to the next level- so anyone who has ever overclocked their CPU, built a gaming PC, installed Linux on a laptop, or replaced their operating system should be prepared to take it to the next level. Persistence (and careful measurement) pay off! 

Here are some examples of projects you could be working on within an Infrastructure Engineering team: 

• Intel CPU tuning deep dives including overclocking L3 cache configuration, or performance testing production code.  

• Linux Kernel tuning and internals; Intel, AMD, and ARM64 CPU tuning and deep-dive technical work; development of benchmarking code, visualizations, and reporting; collaboration with other groups inside QRT to support of trading technology 

• General performance tuning strategies, applied in real-world trading workloads 

• Testing and benchmarking new bleeding edge tech in our performance lab, with the view of releasing new technology into production that has a genuinely positive and measurable impact to the business 
• Exposure to the following technologies: Linux, RedHat, Python/C++ development, FPGA’s, Solarflare, git, Bash, SQL, Networks, Network protocols, techniques and technologies, Ansible, as well as all of our internal software engineering tools. 

Cloud Engineer: 

As a Cloud Engineering Intern at QRT, you will play a key role in supporting our research team’s data processing and compute needs. You will work with experienced engineers to design, implement, and manage scalable cloud infrastructure. Your responsibilities will include optimizing data pipelines for large-scale financial datasets, enhancing flexible storage solutions, and automating infrastructure provisioning to streamline research workflows. 

You will gain hands-on experience in cloud architecture, infrastructure as code (IaC), and DevOps practices while collaborating closely with researchers to ensure they can operate in the most efficient manner. This is a fantastic opportunity to develop technical skills in cloud computing within a fast-paced, data-driven environment. 

Your present skillset 

• Strong penultimate year students studying for a degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD) in any STEM subject (computer science, physics, mathematics or any related engineering discipline) on track towards obtaining a 2:1 or above. 

• Demonstrable passion for technology.  Regardless of whether you have formal CompSci training or not – we are more interested in your achievements related to software/hardware engineering. For example – hobbies, past-time, academic projects, etc. covering the following: 

• Scripting languages e.g. Python or Bash or another programming language. 

• Tools like GIT, SQL, gcc. 

• Linux command-line (Redhat/CentOS).  

• Automation technologies (e.g. Ansible, Terraform) &AWS services (e.g. EC2, VPC, S3 etc) for roles within our cloud team 

• Linux builds (laptops, raspberry pi, custom Android installs etc) for roles within our on-prem infrastructure team 

• Contributions to or building open-source projects. 

• Pro-active and unafraid to ask questions. You can really have a huge impact here, improving our performance with suggestions and optimisations.  

• Entrepreneurial approach and self-motivated. 

 Interviewing:   

• Apply online: Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis as they are received, so we encourage you to apply early  

• Technical assessment After your application is reviewed, you will be invited to complete a coding challenge to assess your technical skills  

• Shortlisting: Our engineering teams will evaluate your background and performance in the coding challenge to create a shortlist of candidates  

• Assessment Centre: If shortlisted, you will be invited to an onsite assessment centre at our offices. This will include a group activity to test your technical skills, followed by interviews with the engineering teams you may potentially work with  
• Offer: Successful candidates will receive an offer to join our team  

QRT is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome diversity as essential to our success. QRT empowers employees to work openly and respectfully to achieve collective success. In addition to professional achievement, we are offering initiatives and programs to enable employees achieve a healthy work-life balance.