Role in brief
Coinbase seeks a Senior Staff Software Engineer to design a real-time risk engine for institutional trading. This remote role requires expertise in Java and distributed systems. Ideal candidates are experienced architects with a strong background in financial systems.
✓ Direct apply: you message the hiring person by email. No ATS.
About the role
The Senior Staff Software Engineer will be responsible for architecting a real-time risk and margin engine, focusing on user and portfolio modeling, multifactor risk, and cross-portfolio evaluation. This role demands a hands-on approach to design, build, and maintain high-performance risk systems that handle large transaction volumes.
Working at Coinbase means being part of a fast-paced environment committed to increasing economic freedom. The team values high standards and continuous improvement, with opportunities for mentoring and cross-functional collaboration. Success in this role involves balancing technical excellence with business needs while driving system reliability and performance.
The salary range for this position is between $253,895 and $298,700, based on location.
Skills that matter here
- Java: The role requires deep proficiency in low-latency Java for designing high-throughput messaging systems.
- distributed systems: Experience with complex, production-grade distributed systems is essential for architecting the risk engine.
- event-driven systems: Knowledge of event-driven architectures is crucial for building responsive risk systems.
- high-availability systems: The role involves creating high-availability risk systems that operate 24/7.
Who this role suits
- Candidates should have a strong architectural background in financial or regulated environments.
- Ideal applicants thrive in high-pressure situations and are comfortable making critical decisions.
- A collaborative mindset is important, as the role involves partnering with various teams.
- The person should be proactive about mentoring others and improving team practices.
From the employer
- Own the architecture of the real-time, cross-asset risk and margin engine: user and portfolio modeling, multifactor and borrow risk, and cross-portfolio evaluation at scale.
- Design low-latency, high-throughput risk systems, keeping correctness and performance in step with a growing trading platform.
- Drive reliability and performance, owning SLOs, observability, and incident response for risk-critical systems.
- Set the technical bar through code, design reviews, and standards, and pay down the technical debt that matters most.
- Serve as the risk-architecture anchor for the team, mentoring engineers and reducing single-point-of-failure risk.
- Partner cross-functionally with Product, Trading, Financing/Credit Risk, Security, and Compliance to turn technical vision into a roadmap.
- Hands-on architect, able to design, build, deploy, and support 24/7 risk systems that process billions of dollars of transactions daily.
- Extensive backend engineering experience, with demonstrated ownership of complex, production-grade distributed systems.
- Track record of architecting a cross-asset risk system (crypto, equities, FCM, or derivatives) with user/portfolio modeling and real-time, cross-portfolio evaluation at scale.
- Deep proficiency in low-latency Java and high-throughput messaging (Aeron, SBE, or similar), designing event-driven, high-availability systems.
- Experience with multifactor and borrow risk, margin, or clearing in a regulated or financial environment where correctness, auditability, and low-latency performance are critical.
- Experience delivering projects end-to-end: scoping, architecture, implementation, monitoring, and iteration.
- Experience making decisions that balance engineering trade-offs with end-user quality, demonstrated through shipped products.
- Responsible use of generative AI, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.
- 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): $253,895—$298,700 USD.
- 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.
- Candidates may submit a maximum of 3 applications within a 6-month period.
Questions about this role
Is this position remote?
Yes, this role is remote but requires quarterly in-person meetings.
What is the seniority level of this position?
This is a senior-level position.
How can I apply?
Candidates may submit a maximum of three applications within a six-month period.
✓ Direct apply: you message the hiring person by email. No ATS.