Meet a C++ Software Developer

How did you find out about SIG?

A long-time friend and co-worker joined the company, and he kept telling me lots of great things about SIG. He loved the technical work and liked the lack of bureaucracy and politics.

What made you decide to join our team?

I had assumed that, for the kind of work I wanted to do, I’d need to leave Philly. I thought I would have to move to the west coast or Texas. I was excited to find an opportunity to stay in the city I love while getting to work on interesting and challenging technology.

What do you like best about working here?

I work with smart people who are genuinely interested in the work they do. We spend time solving interesting problems together and don’t need to worry about fumbling through red tape. I also like that I get to drive the structure of my day. I prioritize based on the short-term support or bug fixes that come up, balanced with the long-term projects I have going on.

What is unique about your current role?

My team accepts orders from almost every trading desk across the firm. We connect the desks to the exchanges, so we have a great understanding of the business and their impact to the firm.

What projects and experiences have been most rewarding for you so far?

I own both the projects I work on and the relationships I build. I work directly with traders to better understand their issues and technical needs. Once I understand our users’ needs, I’m involved in all stages of a project’s lifecycle: from designing and coding the system, to testing and production, and then delivering it to the end users.

We talk a lot about teamwork and collaboration at SIG. Where do you see this demonstrated in your current role?

The trading desks aren’t just the customers of our technology, they’re our partners in business. I interact with traders on a regular basis. It is nice to see that they’re as excited about what we’re making for them as we are about the projects and technology they’re sharing back with us.

In your opinion, what is the best perk we offer?

The on-site amenities are great – it’s nice to have a gym and showers in the building, and now I never have to go out for dry cleaning!

What inspired you to choose this career path?

Ever since I “accidentally” almost destroyed the family’s Tandy computer sometime in the 1980s by typing in commands I definitely didn’t understand, I’ve been fascinated by computers. Going into computer engineering in college was my best shot at learning how they worked, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.