Rafal Okninski
@rafalokninski
Senior technology leader and architect specialising in ultra-low-latency trading platforms.
What I'm looking for
I am a senior technology leader and systems architect with deep hands-on experience building ultra-low-latency, high-availability trading platforms and data-intensive systems. I have led multi-year greenfield builds and delivered exchange-grade platforms with sub-10µs round-trip latency, built custom binary and FIX protocols, and instituted automated change management for 24/7 operations.
My background spans CTO and chief architect roles where I modernised regulated platforms, delivered banking-grade deployments, and launched production exchanges with zero downtime. I combine Rust/C++/TypeScript engineering proficiency with strong leadership in hiring, mentoring, product alignment, security, and operational excellence to drive reliable, deterministic systems at scale.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
Head of Development / Chief Architect
Warsaw Stock Exchange
Nov 2019 - Present (5 years 11 months)
Led a 5-year greenfield build of a multi-asset, multi-venue trading platform in Rust, delivering sub-10µs round-trip latency with deterministic sequencing and 24/7 operations; owned matching engine, surveillance, FIX 5.2 and automated change management.
Chief Technology Officer
BrickVest
Jan 2018 - Dec 2019 (1 year 11 months)
Owned the technology roadmap and modernised the regulated investment platform from PHP to NodeJS/TypeScript, integrated KYC/AML and payment rails, and delivered a banking-grade deployment in Germany while launching a secondary market MTF.
Chief Architect
Aquis Exchange
Aug 2013 - Dec 2017 (4 years 4 months)
Designed and delivered a pan-European MTF (C++/NodeJS) that went live in 2015 and has operated with zero downtime; built a custom UDP internal message bus and optimised infra to minimise latency.
System Architect
Marble Bar Asset Management
Nov 2011 - Aug 2013 (1 year 9 months)
Re-architected the 'Raid' trading platform to a JS single-page app with .NET/C# middleware, delivered data aggregation tools and implemented comprehensive unit and integration testing across the stack.
Head of Development
Mr Site
Sep 2009 - Oct 2011 (2 years 1 month)
Built PCI-aligned e-commerce and billing platform with REST APIs and HMAC, integrated Sage 50 and MS Dynamics, and implemented domain registrar integrations via EPP over sockets.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
European University in Warsaw
Bachelor of Engineering, Information Technology
BEng in Information Technology from the European University in Warsaw.
Tech stack
Software and tools used professionally
Availability
Location
Authorized to work in
Job categories
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