KDB+/Q Database Engineer

Job Overview: PENNEP is seeking a talented and dedicated KDB+/Q Database Engineer to support a high-performance trading environment and join our client’s dynamic team. This individual will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining ultra-low-latency time series databases, ensuring scalability, performance, and reliability in a mission-critical setting. The ideal candidate has deep hands-on expertise in KDB+/Q development, with additional skills in system operations, configuration management, and automation. This is a fully onsite role in Midtown Manhattan, requiring close collaboration with the client’s quant and trading teams. Roles & Responsibilities: Collaborate with client development teams to design and implement low-latency, high-throughput data solutions for trading and analytics. Develop and enhance KDB+/Q solutions by gathering requirements, coding, testing, and deploying to production. Maintain and optimize existing KDB+/Q infrastructure for performance and scalability. Write and maintain Ansible configurations and shell scripts for deployment and operational automation. Support production environments, troubleshoot issues, and ensure stability in real-time systems. Provide operational support (~25%) and architectural input (~10%) while focusing primarily (~65%) on hands-on KDB+/Q development. Work closely with quant developers and traders, providing technical expertise to support data-driven decision-making. Required Skills and Experience: Proven experience with KDB+ and Q programming language in a production environment. Strong hands-on coding and debugging skills in KDB+/Q. Solid understanding of time-series databases and low-latency trading use cases. Proficiency in shell scripting and automation tools (e.g., Ansible). Experience with software development best practices, including version control, testing, and release management. Excellent problem-solving and communication skills, with the ability to work directly with client stakeholders. Must be local to NYC and able to work onsite 4–5 days per week. Must be willing to commit to the contract through December 31, 2025. Nice to Have: Prior experience with leading trading, quant, or financial technology firms. Previous work with First Derivative, AquaQ / Data Intellect, or similar KDB+/Q consulting boutiques is highly desirable. Education: Requires a bachelor's degree in related field. About PENNEP PENNEP works with national, multinational clients and thrives to become one of the world's leading professional services companies with a vision to transform clients' business, operating, and technology models for the digital era. Our leaders have 50 PLUS Years of combined and unique industry knowledge with a consultative approach that helps clients envision, build and run more innovative and efficient businesses. Applicants may be required to attend interviews in person or by video conference. In addition, candidates may be required to present their current state or government issued ID during each interview. PENNEP is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. We provide engineering excellence practices training for all our employees. Job Type: Contract Pay: $90.00 - $100.00 per hour Experience: KDB+, Q programming: 8 years (Required) Time-series databases: 4 years (Required) Low latency systems: 4 years (Required) Ansible: 3 years (Required) Shell Scripting: 4 years (Required) SQL: 4 years (Required) Python: 4 years (Required) Financial services technology: 8 years (Required) Work Location: In person