Staff Software Engineer, Backend - FinHub (Transfers)

Coinbase
United States
Remote

Who this role is best for

Geared toward experienced engineers comfortable with high-scale distributed financial systems, this role favors candidates with leadership experience in backend infrastructure and a remote-first work arrangement in the USA.

Best fit for

  • Experienced engineers with a track record in financial systems and distributed architecture leadership
    — “Owning the architectural direction of the systems that power crypto and fiat fund movements”
  • Candidates who have led cross-functional technical initiatives and mentored engineers
    — “Experience leading cross-functional technical initiatives, mentoring engineers”
  • Individuals with a strong background in cloud-native backend development and high-throughput system design
    — “Deep expertise in backend programming ... design highly available, high-throughput systems”

Things to consider

  • Quarterly in-person 'surges' may require travel despite the remote-first arrangement
    — “remote-first, but not remote-only company. Expect to get together quarterly for intense in-person working sessions”
  • This role demands a strong focus on financial integrity and reliability in high-correctness systems
    — “building production services where financial integrity and reliability are non-negotiable”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your experience in leading high-reliability financial system design and scaling
    — “Track record delivering and scaling financial systems, fund movement platforms”
  • Demonstrate your ability to make technical decisions that shape long-term architectural direction
    — “demonstrated experience owning architectural direction and making technical decisions”
  • Showcase your leadership in mentoring engineers and setting team-wide engineering standards
    — “Mentor engineers across levels on system design ... reduce operational risk in high-correctness financial systems”
  • Emphasize your hands-on experience with cloud-native patterns and distributed systems
    — “Drive the evolution of Transfers' backend infrastructure using modern cloud-native patterns”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • System reliability
  • Scalability improvements
  • Platform enhancements
Typical background
Backend developmentDistributed systemsFinancial systems

Skills & requirements

Required

Distributed SystemsCloud-native ArchitectureHigh AvailabilityTechnical LeadershipCross-functional Collaboration

Preferred

CryptocurrencyFinancial Systems

Stack & domain

GoRubyPythonJavaCloud-native ArchitectureDistributed SystemsHigh AvailabilityHigh ThroughputCorrectnessFinancial SystemsFund Movement PlatformsTransaction IntegrityIdempotencyAuditabilityMentor EngineersTranslate Complex Distributed Systems ProblemsDesign Highly Available, High-throughput SystemsDrive Platform Reliability And Scalability ImprovementsLead Cross-functional Technical InitiativesEstablish Engineering StandardsCode Review PracticesArchitectural PatternsCryptoFiatFund MovementsFinancial PlatformsBackend Programming

About the role

Original posting from Coinbase

Ready to do the most impactful work of your career? At Coinbase, we are uncompromising on our mission to increase economic freedom. The bar is high, the environment is intense, and we like it that way. This isn't a place for complacency, it’s a place to be pushed past your perceived limits. If you're ready to build the future of finance alongside people who refuse to settle for "good enough," you belong here. Coinbase is a remote-first, but not remote-only company. Expect to get together quarterly for intense in-person working sessions called “surges.” learn more about working at Coinbase.

As a Staff Software Engineer on the FinHub - Transfers team within the Platform group, you'll own the architectural direction of the systems that power crypto and fiat fund movements across Coinbase. The Transfers team builds one of the most critical and high-scale distributed financial platforms in the industry, enabling fund movement for Retail, Prime, Exchange, International, and Payments products. You'll make key technical decisions, drive platform reliability and scalability improvements, and lead cross-functional initiatives that directly impact how millions of customers move money on Coinbase.

What You'll Do:

Own the technical architecture of Transfers' fund movement systems, driving design decisions on distributed system structure, correctness guarantees, and scalability across crypto and fiat rails

Lead complex, cross-team engineering initiatives end-to-end, partnering with Payments, Trading, and product engineering teams to deliver new fund movement capabilities and platform improvements

Drive the evolution of Transfers' backend infrastructure using modern cloud-native patterns, proactively identifying scaling bottlenecks and architecting solutions before they impact customers

Establish engineering standards, code review practices, and architectural patterns that raise the quality bar across the team and reduce operational risk in high-correctness financial systemsMentor engineers across levels on system design, distributed systems best practices, and building production services where financial integrity and reliability are non-negotiable

Required Skills and Experience:

8+ years building and operating large-scale distributed systems in production, with demonstrated experience owning architectural direction and making technical decisions that shape a team's or domain's long-term trajectory

Deep expertise in backend programming (e.g., Go, Ruby, Python, or Java) and cloud-native architecture, with proven ability to design highly available, high-throughput systems where correctness is critical

Track record delivering and scaling financial systems, fund movement platforms, or similarly high-reliability domains where transaction integrity, idempotency, and auditability are core requirements

Experience leading cross-functional technical initiatives, mentoring engineers, and translating complex distributed systems problems into clear architectural decisions and actionable roadmaps

Utilizes generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.

Pay Transparency Notice: Base salary varies by location (see range below). Total compensation may also include equity and bonus eligibility, and benefits (medical, dental, vision, 401(k)). 

Annual base salary range (excluding equity and bonus):$218,025—$256,500 USD

Application Limit: Candidates may submit a maximum of 3 applications within a 6-month period.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Coinbase is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information. Applicants with criminal histories will be considered consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

US Applicants: View Employee Rights, Know Your Rights, and E-Verify Notice of Participation.

Accommodations: If you are an individual with a disability who needs a reasonable accommodation, email us your request and contact info at accommodations[at]coinbase.com. Need screen reading technology? Click here to download a free compatible screen reader and view the tutorial.

Data Privacy & Arbitration: By submitting your application, you agree to our Candidate Privacy Notice. US applicants: By submitting your application, you agree to Arbitration of Disputes.

Source: Coinbase careers

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