Simon Shanks

Simon Shanks has a diverse work experience spanning over two decades. Simon started their career at Unibol Inc as a Student Placement - Software Developer, where they worked on web integration projects and website maintenance. Simon then joined Kainos as a Developer, contributing to the development of the eircom.net platform.

After that, Simon worked at AMT Sybex as an Analyst Programmer before moving on to Wombat Financial Software. At Wombat Financial Software, they played a crucial role in feed handler development and the introduction of successful branches and teams. The company was later acquired by NYSE Euronext. Simon continued their work at NYSE Euronext, serving as a Development Manager and later as a Director, specializing in matching engine development and architecture for financial institutions.

In 2012, Simon joined First Derivatives as the Head of Connectivity, where they focused on C/C++ development for algo/strategy engines, reverse engineering, and the integration of various exchange protocols. Simon also implemented quality standards and improvements in automation and testing. Simon then joined State Street as a Principal and Vice President, further enhancing their expertise in the financial industry.

Most recently, Simon has been working at Kx - a division of First Derivatives plc as a Senior Vice President, leading R&D efforts and open-source development initiatives. Their work has involved a wide range of responsibilities, including developing historical market data simulators, matching simulations, and FIX engine/server development.

Simon Shanks obtained their BSc Hons degree in Computer Science from Queen's University Belfast. Simon completed their studies at the university from 1995 to 2000. Additionally, they obtained the certification of CLF-C01: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner from Amazon Web Services (AWS) in October 2019.