Associate Principal in Performance Testing
About the job
- At least 7 years of hands-on experience in performance testing and engineering, including designing and executing complex performance test scenarios.
- At least 5 years of experience designing and executing failover and disaster-recovery testing across multi-region cloud and hybrid architectures.
- Strong expertise in LoadRunner, JMeter, and Gatling, including evaluating tool trade-offs.
- Proficiency in Python, Java, and JavaScript scripting and programming, including developing performance-testing frameworks.
- Hands-on experience with AWS, including EC2, RDS, Kafka, and performance monitoring.
- Working knowledge of Kubernetes and containerized application performance testing, Docker, Kafka, and event-driven systems.
- Experience with UC4 (Automic) job scheduling for test execution and orchestration.
- Hands-on experience testing Kafka producer and consumer performance, lag, and message throughput.
- Strong understanding of relational databases including SQL Server, Oracle, and DB2, and ability to write queries for performance analysis.
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, GitHub, and GitLab CI, including integrating performance tests into automation.
- Proficiency with Splunk, Dynatrace, and AppDynamics and correlating test results with production telemetry.
- Working knowledge of Linux operating systems and command-line tools for performance analysis.
- Experience with Jira, Zephyr, and SpiraTest test management tools and defect-tracking integration.
- Background in finance or highly regulated, low-latency, high-availability systems such as clearing, settlement, and risk.
- Experience with performance testing across primary, secondary, and tertiary regions.
- Required B.S. degree in Computer Science, an analytical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- At least 7 years of IT industry experience, including at least 5 years in Quality Engineering, tool architecture, and orchestration using open-source and commercial toolsets.
- At least 5 years of Agile methodology experience.
- At least 5 years of experience integrating Jira and test management tools.
- Experience creating automation scripts, developing automation frameworks, and developing Jenkins pipelines.
- Strong written and oral communication, analytical, problem-solving, judgment, and time-management skills.
- Define test plans, load profiles, and ramp scenarios for high-volume transaction systems.
- Execute tests using LoadRunner, JMeter, and Gatling; analyze results and recommend optimizations.
- Lead disaster-recovery testing across primary, secondary, and tertiary regions.
- Build and maintain performance-test automation using Python, Java, and open-source tools.
- Develop CI/CD-integrated pipelines using Jenkins and GitHub Actions for continuous performance validation.
- Implement regression testing to detect performance degradation caused by code changes.
- Validate application behavior across multi-region deployments.
- Define and validate RTO/RPO targets for critical applications.
- Design failover scenarios involving region switching, data replication, automation, and post-failover validation.
- Partner with infrastructure and application teams to verify state consistency and data integrity during failover.
- Test replication lag, failover triggers, and cross-region data consistency.
- Validate Kafka producer and consumer behavior under failover conditions.
- Confirm performance SLAs hold during region-switching scenarios.
- Integrate test results with observability platforms.
- Maintain and evolve LoadRunner scripts and environments.
- Document testing methodologies, baselines, and trend analyses.
- Mentor Quality Engineering engineers on performance and failover testing techniques.
- Collaborate with development, DevOps, and infrastructure teams on requirements and capacity planning.
- Ensure testing aligns with PGP compliance and financial market infrastructure regulations.
- Document test evidence to support regulatory audits.
- Validate performance SLAs against regulatory RTO/RPO requirements.
- Familiarity with AI/ML-augmented testing tools for automated test-case generation, self-healing automation, and predictive defect analysis.
- Experience with API and contract testing using Postman, RestAssured, and Pact, and service virtualization for complex distributed and microservices architectures.
- Understanding of Site Reliability Engineering principles, SLIs, SLOs, SLAs, and how performance engineering supports operational resilience metrics.
- Experience with observability/APM platforms including Splunk, Dynatrace, AppDynamics, AWS Vantage, and Logic Monitor, and correlating test results with production telemetry.
- Experience testing multi-region primary, secondary, and tertiary hybrid architectures across cloud and on-premises environments.
- Familiarity with FinOps or cost-aware performance engineering practices in cloud environments.
- Experience testing critical financial market infrastructure, including clearing, settlement, risk management, or exchange systems, or other highly regulated, low-latency, high-availability environments.
- Experience in the Options and Futures industry.
- AWS certification and/or performance engineering certification.
About the company
OCC clears and settles trades in the derivatives market, acting as a central counterparty that guarantees completion of transactions and manages risk. It serves clients including clearing members and exchanges, handling standard options, stock loans, and futures by processing trades, margining, and settlement through its systems. The OCC earns fees based on trade volume and risk management activities, and it emphasizes secure technology like its MyOCC portal to protect authorized users. What sets OCC apart is its focus on being a dedicated, regulated clearinghouse with robust risk controls and technology infrastructure to support the safety and efficiency of derivatives markets. Its goal is to maintain the stability and integrity of financial markets by reducing counterparty risk and ensuring smooth clearing and settlement of trades.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
Debt Financing
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois
Founded
1973
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- OCC launched MIAX Futures clearing on May 20, 2026, expanding volume and capital efficiencies.
- September 29, 2026 SOC Agent automates alerts, reducing analyst burden and manual variance.
- Jake Middleton’s September 8, 2026 security hire strengthens defenses before the cloud platform launch.
What critics are saying
- A failed Ovation cloud launch in 2027 would hit every listed-options market simultaneously.
- September 2026 SOC automation exposes OCC to AI errors in security investigations.
- MIAX, Cboe, and Nasdaq keep pressing fee and connectivity competition against OCC.
What makes OCC unique
- OCC remains the sole central counterparty for U.S. listed options, anchoring market plumbing.
- Its cross-margining network with MIAX Futures expanded on May 20, 2026.
- OCC’s SIFMU status and multi-regulator oversight create unmatched trust and reach.
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Benefits
Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance
Life, AD&D, and Disability Insurance
Health Savings Account
Flexible Spending Accounts
401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
401(k) Employer Match
Monthly Student Debt Contribution
Tuition Reimbursement
10 Paid Holidays (including 1 Floating Holiday)
Paid Time Off (PTO)
12-week Paid Parental Leave
Sabbatical
Technology Stipend up to $2000
Work from Home Program
Back-up Dependent/Elder Care Support
Company News
OCC strengthens Security Operations with an agentic AI investigation solution built on AWS. CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2026 - The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)(R), the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, today announced the launch of an AI-powered security investigation agent (the "SOC Agent") built with Amazon Web Services' Amazon Bedrock. The solution automates the investigation of security alerts in OCC's Security Operations Center, delivers interpretable and auditable results, and creates a human-in-the-loop feedback system to continuously improve. "At OCC, protecting the markets we serve starts with the strength of our security operations. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility, OCC operates a Security Operations Center that must investigate a steady stream of security alerts quickly, consistently, and to a defensible standard," said Ben Le, Deputy Chief Security Officer. "The SOC Agent was designed to automate an investigative workflow while keeping OCC's security experts firmly in control of the process and its outcomes." The SOC Agent conducts investigations by running agentic loops against OCC's security data in its Security Information and Event Management Platform, working through an alert the way an analyst would: forming a line of inquiry, retrieving the relevant evidence, evaluating what it finds, and deciding what to examine next. The agent reduces manual effort and variability, and frees skilled analysts to concentrate on analysis, escalations, and the most complex cases. "The SOC agent OCC developed on Amazon Bedrock is a great example of agentic AI delivering immediate business value. This approach uses AI to augment an existing approach to investigation workflows while preserving the critical human judgment that security requires," said Jeff Axelrad, Director, Financial Services Governance, Risk, and Compliance, AWS. The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Founded in 1973, OCC is dedicated to promoting stability and market integrity by delivering clearing and settlement services for options, futures and securities lending transactions. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU), OCC operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. OCC has more than 100 clearing members and Business Sensitive
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) has appointed Jake Middleton as Chief Security Officer, effective 8 September 2026. Middleton will lead enterprise-wide information security and cybersecurity teams. Middleton brings over 20 years of cyber and information security leadership experience. He joins OCC from Federal Reserve Financial Services, where he served as Vice President and Head of Product and Platform Security. He previously spent nearly a decade as Vice President and Information Security Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. At OCC, Middleton will oversee Cyber Operations, Security Governance, Security Business Operations, Security Engineering & Technology Integration, and the Security Red Team. The appointment comes as OCC prepares to launch the first cloud-powered clearinghouse platform.
OCC names Jake Middleton as Chief Security Officer. Business Wire CHICAGO, September 08, 2026-(BUSINESS WIRE)-The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)(R), the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, has appointed Jake Middleton as Chief Security Officer, effective Sept. 8, 2026. Middleton will lead and manage enterprise-wide information security and cybersecurity teams. Middleton has more than 20 years of cyber and information security leadership. He joins OCC from Federal Reserve Financial Services, where he served as Vice President and Head of Product and Platform Security. There he led security architecture for the Federal Reserve's national payment, clearing, and settlement services. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade as Vice President and Information Security Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In that role, he had accountability for security operations, security engineering, incident response, and cyber risk management. Previously, he held progressively senior engineering and management roles at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. "As the threat landscape evolves and we prepare to launch the first cloud-powered clearinghouse platform, strong security leadership is critical," said Andrej Bolkovic, chief executive officer, OCC. "Jake's experience building and managing high-stakes information and cyber security teams at the Federal Reserve makes him uniquely suited to protect the security of the critical financial infrastructure OCC manages every day." Middleton will oversee Cyber Operations, Security Governance, Security Business Operations, Security Engineering & Technology Integration, and the Security Red Team. "OCC operates at the core of global financial markets, and the confidence the industry places here rests on systems that have to operate safely and securely every day," said Middleton. "My job is to make sure the security risk is understood and managed with the rigor this institution's role demands." The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Founded in 1973, OCC is dedicated to promoting stability and market integrity by delivering clearing and settlement services for options, futures and securities lending transactions. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU), OCC operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. OCC has more than 100 clearing members and provides central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 21 exchanges and trading platforms. More information about OCC is available at www.theocc.com.
Brian P. Donnelly joins OCC Board of Directors. New York, July 28, 2026 - RQD*Clearing LLC is excited to celebrate Brian Donnelly's appointment to the Board of Directors of The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). As Founder and Chairman of RQD* Clearing and Founder, Chairman and CEO of Optimal Market Technologies, Brian brings deep expertise across options trading, clearing and financial market infrastructure. OCC's Board plays a critical governance role, helping ensure the nation's clearing infrastructure remains resilient, well-governed and capable of supporting stable and efficient markets. Brian's appointment is significant recognition of his industry leadership, experience and longstanding commitment to strengthening the infrastructure that supports the U.S. financial markets. Read the full announcement here.
Stephen Luparello will retire as chairman of OCC's board of directors in January 2027 after nine years of service. Michael Bodson, former president and CEO of Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC), has been elected as a public director and will succeed Luparello as chairman. Bodson brings over 35 years of experience leading major financial institutions. He served as DTCC's president and CEO from 2012 to 2022, guiding the company through significant market events including the COVID-19 pandemic and meme-stock volatility. OCC also announced the election of two new member directors, Matthew Hulsizer and Brian P. Donnelly. Luparello will remain engaged with OCC as an adviser to the board following his retirement.