Citadel Securities created a special job for a C++ "nerd"

Herb Sutter is a self-described, "programming languages nerd." Sutter declared in October that he likes "different and new languages" as well as "old languages." But there is one programming language that Sutter likes above all the others: C++. And Citadel Securities just hired him from Microsoft for this reason.

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Sutter spent 20 years at Microsoft, where he led C++ initiatives for the tech giant. He's also led the ISO C++ Standards Committee for more than two decades, and has spent a decade as chair of the Standard C++ Foundation. In recognition of his extensive C++ expertise, Sutter is joining Citadel Securities as the firm's first ever "technical fellow."

Banks have technical fellows and distinguished engineers who are typically subject-matter experts rather than managers of large teams of developers. At Citadel Securities, Sutter will be the C++ subject-matter specialist, with responsibility for leading C++ training initiatives and helping the firm engage with the language. He'll also be continuing with his roles on the C++ Standards Committee and Foundation. 

Writing on his own blog, Sutter said he's "thrilled" about his new job and that he'll also be advising on technical strategy and mentoring at Citadel Securities. Sutter started out in finance in the '80s and '90s and now has gone full circle. 

Citadel Securities is an electronic market making firm that uses C++ for its high speed trading platforms. Among other things, the firm is currently looking for a high performance computing engineer with experience of C++ to work on, "large scale distributed, cloud powered, computing," platforms in Miami and Zurich and for a senior C++ engineer to work on its trading platforms in New York. 

Sutter's C++ passions include simplifying the language and reducing its complexity so that it's more accessible to the next generation of engineers. "I would love to see more C++ or Rust being done in our universities. - Being taught in our universities," he said last month. "Because systems programming needs to be taught more, I think."

Rust can be easier to use than C++ but that doesn't mean that it will take over any time soon, said Sutter. C++ has far too much history, three decades of tooling and far too much existing code to be replaced by something else. 

C++ is here to stay. And Citadel Securities just hired the best person to teach its employees how to use it to maximum effect.  

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