Scott Donovan

I Build Things

Scott Donovan is a prominent figure in the technology infrastructure of Citadel LLC, one of the world's leading financial institutions. His career at Citadel has spanned several key roles, showcasing his expertise in cloud computing and high-performance computing (HPC) systems.

Career Progression at Citadel

Scott Donovan's tenure at Citadel includes the following positions:

Head of Trailblazer: His current role, which he has held since 2020.3
Senior Cloud Engineer: A position he occupied from 2015 to 2020.3
System Architect and HPC: A role he filled from 2005 to 2015.3

Responsibilities and Achievements

As the Head of Compute Infrastructure for Citadel and Citadel Securities, Donovan's primary focus is on:

Leading the development of safe, secure, and reliable automated infrastructure.2
Overseeing the company's compute grid, known as the Message Dispatch Layer (MDL).1
Implementing innovative solutions to enhance computational capacity and efficiency.

Notable Contributions

Donovan played a crucial role in revolutionizing Citadel's computational capabilities:

He investigated the integration of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) into Citadel's compute grid to accelerate complex financial calculations.1
Under his guidance, Citadel implemented a virtualization solution using Parallels Workstation Extreme, which allowed for significant cost savings and increased computational power.1
This implementation enabled Citadel to create what Donovan described as "effectively building supercomputers" using existing workstation hardware.1

Impact on Citadel's Operations

The innovations spearheaded by Donovan have had a substantial impact on Citadel's operations:

The GPU integration and virtualization solution resulted in an estimated 80% savings on hardware investments compared to traditional server deployments.1
Even with a limited initial deployment of 15 machines, Donovan calculated potential savings of approximately $2 million per year for Citadel.1

Scott Donovan's work at Citadel demonstrates his expertise in leveraging cutting-edge technology to solve complex financial computing challenges, significantly contributing to the firm's technological edge in the competitive financial services industry.