Lead Engineer for AI Stock Trading Analytics Platform

We're looking for an experienced backend Python / data science / AI-oriented software engineer to lead backend development of our AI-powered stock trading analytics platform. We're backed by a major YouTuber with 500k+ subscribers and we need a beast who will go hard with our team. Think Claude, but for stock trading. We have 100+ users live on the platform right now and a waitlist of 100,000. What you're building Data pipeline — seed and maintain historical + streaming data from Polygon.io and Databento. Equities and options, ticks through daily bars, corporate actions, point-in-time universes. REST APIs — FastAPI on Postgres/TimescaleDB, serving backtests, strategies, and results to web and mobile. Has to stay fast at 100x the read volume. Backtesting engine — realistic fills, slippage, commissions, position sizing, risk metrics. If the numbers are wrong we have no product. The AI layer — natural language → executable strategy, LLM explanations of backtest results, news/earnings/filings turned into structured features, and agents that hypothesize and test strategies at scale. Technology you need Python at a senior level, in production FastAPI (or Django) REST APIs on Postgres; TimescaleDB a strong plus Real market data pipelines — you know why adjusted close ruins a backtest Pandas / Polars / DuckDB on large datasets LLMs beyond chatbot demos: structured output, tool use, evals, cost control Enough frontend to wire your own endpoints into the app What this is Contract-to-hire — starts as a contract, converts to full-time for the right person Full-time, exclusive — not stacked on top of other clients Individual contributors only — no agencies, no teams bidding Expectations 50+ hours a week. Real ones. Overlap with US Eastern hours, daily communication Ship daily, direct access to me, decisions in minutes You have to be obsessed with markets. Engineers who've personally lost money to a strategy that looked great in-sample build better trading software than engineers who haven't. Shipping the feature isn't the win — the user making money is the win. How to apply Answer these four. No templates — proposals without answers aren't read. Describe a tool you've built for stock trading or the markets. Tell me about a profitable edge you found, or a strategy you've built. How would you analyze large market datasets using data science tools and AI? Are you willing to work hard — 50+ hours a week — for a life-changing opportunity?