Staff Site Reliability Engineer

Staff Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) - Platform Engineering


Note:
This position follows a hybrid work model, requiring 2 days per week on-site at our corporate office 20 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606

The first preference for this role is given to local candidates in the Chicago area.

CME Group is seeking a Staff Site Reliability Engineer to serve as the foundational Technical Lead for our Platform Engineering SRE organization. In this role, you will be the primary architect and visionary for the core technology foundations that underpin the world's leading derivatives marketplace.

As the technical lead for all SRE sub-teams, you will bridge the gap between high-level business goals and deep technical implementation, ensuring our Google Cloud Platform-native stack provides the mission-critical intersection of ultra-low latency and absolute reliability required for high-volume financial ecosystems.

As the Staff SRE, your goal is to evolve our platform from "infrastructure as a service" to "reliability as a product." You will be responsible for the technical roadmap of our entire SRE domain, mentoring senior engineers and setting the global standard for operational excellence across our Python, Kafka, and Kubernetes shop.


What You Will Do

• Technical Vision &
  
  Roadmap:
  
  Define the 12-18 month technical strategy for the Platform SRE teams, focusing on the evolution of our global footprint and self-service capabilities.
• Architectural Authority:
  Act as the final technical authority for major infrastructure changes involving Google Cloud Platform, GKE, and our mission-critical Kafka event bus.
• Incident Command & Systemic Resilience:
  Lead the response for complex, cross-functional outages and drive a "blameless" culture that prioritizes systemic, code-based fixes over manual intervention.
• Internal Development Platform (IDP):
  Architect and oversee the building of high-level abstractions in Python to mask underlying complexity, providing a seamless "Golden Path" for CME's global technology stack.
• Reliability Governance:
  Standardize SLIs, SLOs, and Error Budgets across all platform teams, ensuring they are technically rigorous and directly tied to market integrity.
• Engineering Mentorship:
  Level up the entire SRE organization through design reviews, architectural "office hours," and fostering an environment of continuous technical evolution.

What We're Looking For

• Strategic AI Integration: A mastery of leveraging Generative AI and Agentic workflows (e.g., Gemini) to build self-healing infrastructure and sophisticated automated troubleshooting frameworks.
• Software Engineering Mastery:
  Expert-level proficiency in Python (and ideally Go) to build production-grade distributed systems and custom Kubernetes operators.
• Cloud-Native Leadership:
  Deep-seated expertise in Google Cloud Platform (Networking, IAM, GKE) and the ability to scale Kafka clusters for high-throughput, low-latency financial environments.
• Advanced IaC & Git Ops:
  Mastery of Terraform module design and ArgoCD for managing immutable infrastructure at an enterprise scale.
• Distributed Systems Theory: A rigorous understanding of non-linear system behaviors, distributed consensus, and the nuances of high-concurrency architectures.
• Executive Communication:
  The ability to translate sophisticated technical debt and architectural risks into clear business outcomes for senior leadership.

• Experience:
• 10+ years in SRE, Systems Engineering, or Software Engineering roles within high-pressure environments.
• 3+ years in a Staff, Principal, or Tech Lead capacity overseeing multiple teams or complex platform domains.
• Proven Track Record:
  Experience leading large-scale cloud migrations or re-architecting core messaging/compute platforms in a regulated environment.
• Certifications:
  
  Google Cloud Platform Professional Cloud Architect or Kubernetes (CKA/CKAD).
• Full-Stack Exposure:
  Proficiency in Node.js or modern front-end frameworks.
• Domain Expertise:
  Experience in Financial Markets or highly regulated, high-concurrency environments.
• Agile Integration:
  Comfort working within Agile frameworks and highly collaborative software development life cycles.

Why CME Group?

• Global Significance:
  Drive the technology that maintains the integrity of the global financial system.
• Engineering Culture:
  Work in a "code-first" environment that prioritizes systematic improvement over manual intervention.
• Professional Evolution:
  Scale your career within a transformational SRE organization dedicated to technical excellence and continuous learning.

#LI-DS2

CME Group is committed to offering a competitive total rewards package for our employees that recognizes their contributions to the business and reflects our long-term investment in their future. The pay range for this role is $132,100-$220,100. Actual salary offered will be dependent on a wide array of factors including but not limited to: relevant experience, skills, education and comparison to internal employees (where relevant).

Our compensation program also includes an annual target…