Role in brief
Alpaca seeks a Senior Team Lead Engineer to head crypto engineering, focusing on building and scaling a high-performance trading platform. This role involves architecting and implementing critical exchange components, from matching engines to regulatory reporting. It suits experienced backend developers with a background in low-latency financial systems and crypto, eager to contribute to a global fintech mission.
About the role
This role involves leading all crypto-related engineering efforts, specifically focusing on the development of spot and derivatives exchanges licensed in the US and Bahamas. The work includes designing and building a perpetual futures exchange, encompassing a high-performance matching engine, collateral and risk systems, public APIs, and integrations for KYC/AML, regulatory reporting, settlement, and custody. The expectation is to create a highly scalable, mission-critical trading platform capable of handling substantial transaction volumes from its inception.
The position requires implementing backend services and web applications, maintaining software quality through testing, and participating in code reviews. Success in this role means delivering robust, fault-tolerant financial systems that meet regulatory standards and perform efficiently under high demand. Candidates should be prepared to troubleshoot incidents and bugs, and may be asked to provide on-call support for time-sensitive engineering projects.
Alpaca is a global leader in brokerage infrastructure, serving financial institutions across 40 countries with institutional-grade APIs. The team is diverse, comprising engineers, traders, and brokerage professionals committed to opening financial services globally. This role contributes to an award-winning, developer-friendly API and its underlying infrastructure, with a commitment to open-source contributions and community fostering.
The salary for this role ranges from $75,000 to $125,000 USD annually, complemented by stock options.
Skills that matter here
- GoLang: This is a primary programming language for the platform, indicating a need for strong proficiency.
- Python: Experience with Python is valued for backend development within the team.
- SQL: Skills in SQL or relational databases are essential for managing and querying financial data.
- Docker: Hands-on knowledge of Docker is required for containerization and deployment practices.
- Kubernetes: Experience with Kubernetes is a beneficial skill for managing containerized applications at scale.
- Microservice architectures: Understanding and experience with microservice architectures are important for building scalable and resilient systems.
Who this role suits
- A person with at least four years of backend software development experience, particularly in high-throughput, low-latency financial systems.
- Someone who has built CLOB exchanges, HFT systems, market-making platforms, or high-performance matching/margin engines.
- An individual with a background in crypto development and a strong interest in the mission of opening financial services globally.
- A team lead capable of architecting complex systems and ensuring high software quality and test coverage.
From the employer
Your Role:
This role is to lead all Crypto related engineering including our spot and derivatives exchanges licensed in the US and Bahamas.
- Architect, spec and build the perpetual futures exchange including high-performance matching engine, collateral/liquidation/risk engine, public API, kyc/aml, regulatory reporting, settlement clearing and custody, banking, order management, accounting, analytics and compliance integrations.
- Design highly scalable, mission-critical crypto spot and derivatives exchange trading millions of dollars from day one.
- Implement backend services and web applications.
- Maintain good software quality and test coverage.
- Participate in code reviews.
- Troubleshoot incidents and reported bugs.
- You may be asked to be on-call to assist with engineering projects that are timely in nature.
Who You Are (Must-Haves):
- Experience building a CLOB exchange, HFT, market-making, high performance matching engines, margin/liquidation engines or other high-throughput & low-latency, regulated, fault-tolerant financial system.
- Experience in building crypto.
- BSc/MSc or equivalent experience in Computer Science or related field.
- Minimum 4 years of experience of backend software development.
- Experience with at least one modern programming language like GoLang, Python, C/C++, NodeJS, Java, etc. Our platform is based in Golang.
- SQL or relational database skills.
- Hands-on knowledge with Bash, Linux & Docker. Kubernetes experience is a plus.
- Excited about what we are building at Alpaca.
How We Take Care of You:
- Competitive Salary & Stock Options.
- Health Benefits.
- New Hire Home-Office Setup: One-time USD $500.
- Monthly Stipend: USD $150 per month via a Brex Card.
- Alpaca is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace dedicated to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce.
Questions about this role
What is the remote work policy for this role?
This is a fully remote position.
What is the seniority level for this position?
This is a senior-level role.
What are the key technical skills required?
Key technical skills include experience with GoLang, Python, SQL, Bash, Linux, and Docker, with Kubernetes being a plus. Experience with low-latency financial systems and crypto is also required.