Senior Backend Developer

About the role

This role focuses on designing and implementing backend systems for blockchain infrastructure and staking products. Key responsibilities include building APIs, services, and data pipelines for Ethereum, as well as integrating staking and validator infrastructure. The position requires taking ownership of the entire system design lifecycle, from architecture to deployment and observability, ensuring high standards for reliability and security.

The Senior Backend Developer will define and uphold engineering standards, particularly for API design, testing strategies in distributed systems, and fault tolerance. A significant aspect of the work involves operating in a spec-first development environment, translating product and protocol requirements into clear technical specifications before implementation. The role also encourages leveraging AI-assisted development workflows and emerging paradigms to enhance productivity.

Collaboration is central to this position, involving cross-functional work with protocol, product, and infrastructure teams. The developer is expected to mentor other engineers through code reviews and design feedback, contributing to the overall quality of team outputs. This role is not just about executing within existing systems but also about actively improving team practices and championing the thoughtful adoption of AI to boost performance and business outcomes.

The annual salary for this role ranges from $82,000 to $138,000.

Skills that matter here

• Golang: This role requires strong experience in building backend systems using Golang.
• AWS: Experience with cloud-native infrastructure, specifically AWS, is necessary for this position.
• Kubernetes: Familiarity with Kubernetes is required for managing and orchestrating containerized applications.
• Ethereum: A deep understanding of blockchain systems, especially Ethereum, including its execution and consensus layers, is essential.
• API design: The role involves designing and building APIs and services, and setting standards for API design.
• Distributed systems: A strong understanding of distributed systems is crucial for designing and testing reliable backend infrastructure.

Who this role suits

• You have at least 7 years of professional software engineering experience.
• You are comfortable working in remote, asynchronous team environments.
• You take full ownership of your work, from design to deployment, and hold yourself accountable for quality.
• You are proactive in improving engineering practices and mentoring peers.

From the employer

What You’ll Do:

• Build and own backend systems
• Design and build APIs, services, Ethereum data pipelines and indexers, staking and validator infrastructure integrations, and monitoring and operational tooling.
• Own system design end-to-end: architecture, implementation, testing, deployment, and observability.
• Work across the Ethereum stack, integrating with both execution layer and consensus layer clients.
• Contribute to Liquid Collective alongside other staking and blockchain infrastructure projects across Galaxy.
• Define and uphold engineering standards
• Set and maintain the bar on API design, testing strategies for distributed systems, reliability and fault tolerance, and security and key management practices.
• Operate in a spec-first development environment — translate product and protocol requirements into clear technical specs before building.
• Leverage AI-assisted development workflows (e.g. Claude Code) and work with emerging paradigms like MCP (Model Context Protocol) and agent-based tooling.
• Collaborate and contribute to engineering culture
• Work cross-functionally with protocol, product, and infrastructure teams.
• Mentor engineers through code review, design feedback, and raising the overall quality of what the team ships.
• Contribute to how the team evolves its practices — not just executing within the current system, but improving it.
• Embrace and champion the thoughtful adoption of AI to improve team performance and business outcomes.
• Leverage AI tools (e.g., generative AI, automation platforms, data copilots) to improve productivity, decision-making, and output quality in your day-to-day work.

What We’re Looking For:

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong experience building backend systems in Golang.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems.
• Experience working with blockchain systems, preferably Ethereum — including familiarity with execution vs consensus layers, node operation, and data flow.
• Experience with cloud-native infrastructure: AWS, Kubernetes, Helm, GitOps (e.g. Flux).
• Strong testing practices for complex and stateful systems.
• Experience working in remote, asynchronous teams.
• High agency, low ego — you own your work end-to-end and hold yourself accountable for quality.

Bonus Points:

• Hands-on experience with Ethereum nodes (execution and/or consensus clients) or validator and staking infrastructure.
• Understanding of proof-of-stake mechanisms.
• Experience building blockchain indexers, data pipelines, dApps, or smart contracts (Solidity).
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development workflows: spec-driven development, code generation tools, MCP, or agent-based paradigms.
• Contributions to open-source projects.
• Experience with Rust.

What We Offer:

• Competitive base salary and discretionary bonus
• Hybrid/Flexible Working Arrangements
• Flexible Time Off (paid)
• 3% 401(k) company contribution
• Company-paid health and protective benefits for employees, partners, and other dependents
• Generous paid Parental Leave
• Competitive family planning benefits for US employees
• Opportunities to learn about the Crypto industry
• Smart, entrepreneurial, and fun colleagues
• Free daily snacks and weekly breakfasts/lunches
• Employee Resource Groups
• Free coaching and counseling sessions through Headspace.