ExodusPoint – very demanding IT recruitment for a new hedge fund from New York

Elen Muradian

Last updated on September 30, 2025 | 12 min read

Recruiting for hedge funds is particularly demanding because trading systems handle enormous volumes of data in real time, where even the smallest error can cause financial losses. When ExodusPoint, a New York-based fund managing billions in assets, needed backend engineers and Big data specialists to support its data-intensive systems, it turned to DevsData LLC. An initial request for backend engineers quickly expanded into an urgent effort to hire additional backend and Big data specialists who would support the fund’s global trading systems.

Client Profile

ExodusPoint is a New York-based hedge fund managing over USD 11 billion in assets (as of Q2 2024). Founded in 2017, the firm began managing investor capital in 2018. With over 600 employees, ExodusPoint combines complementary, liquid trading strategies under one umbrella, aiming to generate asymmetric returns while maintaining a strong emphasis on risk management. The leadership team brings extensive experience from established multi-manager firms, shaping ExodusPoint into an institution with a disciplined and scalable operational structure.

Technology plays a central role in the firm’s investment operations. From data ingestion to execution infrastructure, ExodusPoint relies on advanced, high-performance systems to support its trading strategies across asset classes and geographies. The environment is fast-paced and data-intensive, requiring engineering talent capable of building and maintaining scalable backends that can handle terabytes of market data per day and process millions of transactions per second.

To meet these demands, the firm enforced a rigorous hiring process. Technical hires had to demonstrate not only strong coding ability and systems knowledge, but also the capacity to operate effectively in high-stakes environments. These roles typically require prior experience in finance, along with above-average skills in problem-solving, architecture, and performance optimization.

Highlights:

• Global hedge fund with USD 11 billion in assets under management.
• Founded by seasoned investment professionals from top multi-manager firms.
• Performs technology-driven operations requiring deep backend and Big data expertise.

Challenge: Niche Roles and Uncompromising Standards

ExodusPoint was expanding its engineering team to strengthen the core infrastructure behind its global trading operations. The firm needed senior backend developers and Big data specialists seasoned in building robust, high-throughput systems under demanding conditions. Candidates were expected to bring deep experience with scalable architectures, data-heavy environments, and performance-critical applications, ideally with prior exposure to finance or similarly fast-paced industries.

The firm required backend developers and Big data specialists with strong architectural instincts, fluency in distributed systems, the ability to optimize code for low-latency performance (e.g., in microseconds).

What made this hiring push especially challenging was the timeline. While most hedge funds pursue multi-month recruitment cycles, ExodusPoint expected shortlists within days and hires within weeks. Any delay would directly impact initiatives tied to quantitative data processing and internal platform enhancements. With each unfilled FinTech engineering role estimated to $7000-$10000 in unrealized value per role, and far more when project deadlines slipped. DevsData LLC had to balance selectivity with velocity, operating within a narrow margin where every week mattered.

Additional constraints further narrowed the candidate pool:

• Candidates needed to be based in, or willing to relocate to, the United States, which was addressed by targeting candidates in key tech hubs like the NYC tri-state area and Silicon Valley.
• Proven experience in low-latency systems and distributed environments was essential.
• Cultural fit required adaptability, an ownership mindset, and communication skills to thrive in a high-pressure, asynchronous environment blending finance and engineering.

To clarify expectations, roles were defined with preferred tools and languages:

DevsData LLC’s objective was to deliver this rare talent pool within a month, building a wide yet rigorously filtered pipeline, minimizing candidate drop-off, and continuously adapting the strategy in real time through close coordination with the client’s internal stakeholders.

Our Approach

A team of four experienced recruiters was deployed within hours of engagement. Given the specificity of the roles and the client’s time sensitivity, DevsData LLC prioritized a dual-track sourcing model. On one track, we activated our internal network of over 65000 pre-vetted technical candidates, filtering for profiles with experience in Java, Scala, Python, Apache Spark, and distributed systems. On the second track, we launched targeted outreach across LinkedIn, GitHub, and several low-visibility engineering communities, such as Stack Overflow Collectives and specialized Slack groups for quantitative finance engineers. These channels are often where top passive talent, not actively looking for work, can be found.

Our extensive background in supporting funds and investment institutions proved particularly useful. For instance, our collaboration with Signal Capital involved building a specialized team for investment opportunities discovery, where precision and domain knowledge were critical. Another example is our partnership with Caladan.xyz, a proprietary investment fund from Singapore, where we helped launch their European presence by assembling a 25-member senior-level team from scratch. We also supported a London-based fund in designing and executing a recruitment process for demanding backend and data-heavy roles.

These projects, often carried out under time pressure and with stringent requirements, provided us with direct insights into the technical and organizational needs of financial institutions. We brought those lessons to ExodusPoint to ensure alignment with both technical and cultural expectations.

We built role-specific engagement templates that emphasized the project’s complexity, the impact of the work, and ExodusPoint’s reputation for engineering excellence – a positioning that resonated strongly with high-performing, passive candidates. Every message was customized based on the recipient’s prior projects, with our team also available for technical Q&A early in the pipeline to minimize dropouts.

Internally, we developed a custom scorecard to align with ExodusPoint’s evaluation criteria. This tool guided pre-screening interviews and ensured that candidates were consistently evaluated on problem-solving depth, systems thinking, and communication clarity.

Execution and Delivery

Our execution was centered on fast iteration, technical precision, and seamless collaboration with the client. The client expected the initial shortlist within a week; we delivered it in just 48 hours. Over the course of the first month, we sourced and screened more than 150 candidates, from which only 12 passed our internal technical and behavioral review. These candidates had a strong command of languages such as Java, Scala, and Python, with many experienced in Big data tools like Kafka, Hadoop, and Spark. They also had experience working in low-latency or distributed system environments – an essential requirement at ExodusPoint.

Each qualified candidate underwent an initial behavioral and systems-design screen followed by a live technical assessment simulating high-performance backend scenarios or data-heavy architectural challenges. Our internal engineers conducted this stage to ensure quality before candidates moved on to the client’s multi-stage evaluation process, which included problem-solving tasks, culture-fit interviews, and detailed reference checks.

Thanks to tight synchronization with the client’s team, feedback loops were near real-time, allowing us to refine the candidate profile continuously. In just under four months, DevsData LLC successfully filled six permanent roles with an offer acceptance rate of 95%, which is exceptionally high for the finance industry. The hires included four senior backend developers and two Big data engineers, all of whom were onboarded on schedule.

Outcome

As a result of this collaboration, DevsData LLC successfully placed six high-caliber professionals into mission-critical roles at ExodusPoint: four senior backend developers and two Big data engineers. These hires were allocated to teams working on the firm’s core data infrastructure, real-time processing pipelines, and performance-critical trading systems. Each new team member brought deep technical fluency and prior experience in complex, distributed environments, aligning with the hedge fund’s uncompromising expectations.

ExodusPoint noted faster delivery cycles, reduced interview overhead, and a marked improvement in candidate-to-hire ratio compared to previous recruitment efforts. Importantly, all placements passed their initial performance benchmarks, which included completing code quality reviews, delivering a production-ready feature within the first sprint, and achieving latency reduction targets for critical data pipelines.

What began as a high-pressure recruitment push matured into a lasting partnership. Over the span of 12 months, DevsData LLC has remained actively engaged with ExodusPoint, advising on pipeline strategy, market dynamics, and compensation benchmarking to support sustained technical team growth.

Highlights:

• Six engineers hired in under four months, including backend and Big data specialists.
• All candidates passed technical onboarding and began contributing within 3-4 weeks.
• Ongoing advisory support provided on hiring strategy, market insights, and compensation ranges.

What’s Next?

As ExodusPoint scales its technology operations across new regions and further diversifies its investment strategies, demand for elite engineering talent continues to grow. DevsData LLC is positioned as a long-term recruitment and advisory partner, ready to respond to the client’s evolving needs from hard-to-fill backend and data engineering roles to strategic hires in infrastructure and architecture.

Next steps include supporting hiring across new geographies, introducing DevOps and site reliability engineering profiles – roles critical for maintaining the stability and performance of high-volume trading infrastructure – and helping streamline internal processes for candidate evaluation. The focus has shifted from transactional recruitment to embedded support, such as providing ongoing market intelligence – insights into competitor salary benchmarks and talent availability – and proactively building talent pipelines for future roles, ensuring that talent acquisition keeps pace with ExodusPoint’s innovation and global growth agenda.

Ready to hire top-tier tech talent? Reach out to us at general@devsdata.com or explore our services at or visit www.devsdata.com.

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Elen Muradian Copywriter and Marketer

As a versatile and accomplished writer with 3+ years of experience in digital media publishing, Elen is skilled in crafting engaging content across various subjects, styles, and media. In her previous experience, Elen worked closely with editorial teams and visual artists to bring content to life. She always seeks opportunities for personal and professional growth and is eager to contribute to the writing field.

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