Rory on Production Engineering and Incident Support at Jane Street

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Rory, a production engineer on Jane Street’s hot seat engineering team, explains how he monitors order engines and responds to internal and external problems. He discusses training and support during incidents, finding confidence as a newcomer, and what the firm looks for in production engineers.

1Monitoring the trading systemsRory monitors the order engines that send orders to market, responding to internal outages and assessing external exchange problems.
2Preparing for incidentsHis team trains people for situations they are ready to handle and makes help available, reducing the stress of outages.
3Finding confidenceRory initially hesitated to ask questions but came to see colleagues as approachable and to believe he belonged.
4How candidates thinkInterviews emphasize reasoning rather than current knowledge; Rory values communication, creative problem solving and enthusiasm for fixing issues.

Das Wichtigste

Production engineers monitor order engines and respond to both internal failures and external market disruptions.
When off support rotation, Rory works on projects that improve the rotation.
Preparation and readily available help can make stressful incidents more manageable.
New employees can build confidence by asking questions and trusting their colleagues.
Interviews focus on how candidates think, communicate and approach unfamiliar problems.

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The hot seat and order engines

Rory explains his production engineering role and how support handles internal and external outages. Outside the rotation, he works to improve it.

I’m Rory. I’ve worked at Jane Street since August 2020 as a production engineer on the hot seat engineering team, working with order engines.

When I’m on support, I help monitor the order engines that send orders to market. We respond to internal outages, where a system we designed has a problem, and external outages, such as a problem at Nasdaq or another exchange. In the latter case we have to decide whether to keep trading, turn it off, or take another action.

Jane Street is an algorithmic trading company, so we rely on our systems behaving properly and on people monitoring them. On the hot seat, my job is to make sure it’s okay to trade. When I’m not staffing the rotation, I work on projects to improve it.

Variety, stress and support

Each support day brings different problems. Training and help from teammates make incidents less stressful.

Every day on support brings new problems, which makes the work exciting and varied. If you leave the rotation for six months and return, what you encounter may be completely different. Outages can be stressful because systems are down and the effects are real, but those moments can also be some of the most interesting.

Our team found that people are most stressed when they feel unprepared and unsupported. We invest in training so people aren’t put into situations they aren’t ready for, and they can always ask a teammate for help. Incidents that used to be stressful have become opportunities many teammates are excited to tackle, providing value and keeping systems running.

Confidence and hiring

Rory reflects on learning to ask questions and feel at home. He describes the skills and mindset sought in production engineers.

When I first heard colleagues in meetings and saw their code, I was blown away. I became shy and hesitated to ask questions. But people here are friendly and engaging, and over time I realised I deserved to be here. For someone new, I’d say: believe in yourself and the people around you, and be friendly.

Jane Street interviews try to understand how you think rather than just what you already know. That can be harder to study for, but it is closer to the job. We look for production engineers who are capable, communicate well, think creatively, consider a range of solutions, and are excited to fix things when they break.