Distinguished Software Engineer

Circle; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 285,000 - 352,500; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial technology firm is seeking a Distinguished Engineer to shape the technical direction of its platform and systems. In this role, you will lead complex engineering initiatives, mentor senior engineers, and influence architectural decisions. The ideal candidate has over 15 years of experience in software engineering, especially in designing large-scale distributed systems. Compensation ranges from $285,000 to $352,500, based on various factors including experience and qualifications.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of software engineering experience with expertise in distributed systems.
• Proven track record of architecting platform systems for multiple products.
• Strong skills in setting technical direction and decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Drive the technical direction of Circle's platform and core systems.
• Lead engineering initiatives across various teams.
• Mentor senior engineers and contribute to engineering standards.

Skills

Software engineering

Large-scale distributed systems

System design

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Circle (NYSE: CRCL) is one of the world’s leading internet financial platform companies, building the foundation of a more open, global economy through digital assets, payment applications, and programmable blockchain infrastructure. Circle’s platform includes the world’s largest regulated stablecoin network anchored by USDC, Circle Payments Network for global money movement, and Arc, an enterprise-grade blockchain designed to become the Economic OS for the internet. Enterprises, financial institutions, and developers use Circle to power trusted, internet-scale financial innovation. Learn more at circle.com.

What You’ll Be Part Of

Circle is committed to visibility and stability in everything we do. As we grow as an organization, we’re expanding into some of the world’s strongest jurisdictions. Speed and efficiency are motivators for our success and our employees live by our company values: High Integrity, Future Forward, Multistakeholder, Mindful, and Driven by Excellence. We have built a flexible work environment where new ideas are encouraged and everyone is a stakeholder.

Engineering at Circle

Circle is a financial technology company at the epicenter of the emerging internet of money—where value can move globally, nearly instantly, and more efficiently than legacy settlement systems. This new internet layer unlocks powerful opportunities across payments, commerce, and markets, helping raise global economic prosperity and advance financial inclusion. Our infrastructure—including USDC, a blockchain-based digital dollar—enables businesses, institutions, and developers to build on a pivotal evolution in money and technology.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

As a Distinguished Engineer at Circle, you will drive the long-term technical direction of Circle’s platform and core systems, shaping architectures that scale across products, teams, and regulatory environments. You will lead complex, cross-cutting engineering initiatives that span multiple organizations, influencing architectural decisions well beyond a single team. Acting as a trusted technical authority, you will set a high bar for system reliability, performance, security, and developer experience while mentoring senior engineers and contributing to Circle’s engineering standards, culture, and technical strategy.

What You’ll Work On

• Design, evolve, and steward core platform architectures to ensure scalability, reliability, and long-term resilience.
• Drive architectural direction and technical strategy for critical distributed systems used across Circle’s product ecosystem.
• Lead cross-team, cross-functional technical initiatives in partnership with Engineering, Product, Infrastructure, Security, and Compliance.
• Provide deep technical leadership and mentorship, elevating system design quality and engineering rigor across teams.
• Identify and address platform-wide technical debt, architectural risks, and systemic bottlenecks.
• Influence engineering-wide best practices in observability, reliability, performance, and developer experience.
• Serve as a trusted technical advisor across the company, contributing to major technical decisions and long-term platform evolution.
• Champion innovation, knowledge sharing, and engineering excellence as a senior technical thought leader at Circle.

What You’ll Bring to Circle

Core Requirements

• 15+ years of software engineering experience, including deep expertise designing and operating large-scale distributed systems.
• Proven track record of architecting and scaling platform systems that support multiple downstream products and teams.
• Ability to set long-term technical direction while making pragmatic, high-impact execution decisions.
• Extensive experience operating critical, highly available systems with strong observability, reliability, and performance practices.
• Exceptional system design skills, with the ability to debug and resolve complex issues across services and architectural boundaries.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, with demonstrated influence on technical direction beyond immediate teams.

Preferred Requirements

• Experience building internal developer platforms or shared services adopted broadly across an organization.
• Familiarity working in regulated, compliance-heavy, or security-sensitive environments.
• Track record of shaping engineering-wide practices, tools, or standards as a recognized technical leader.

Circle is on a mission to create an inclusive financial future, with transparency at our core. We consider a wide variety of elements when crafting our compensation ranges and total compensation packages. Starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to: relevant experience, skill set, qualifications, and other business and organizational needs. Please note that compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.

Base Pay Range: $285,000 - $352,500

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, or any other protected status required by the laws in the locations where we hire. Additionally, Circle participates in the E-Verify Program in certain locations, as required by law.

Should you require accommodations or assistance in our interview process because of a disability, please reach out to [e-mail] for support. We respect your privacy and will connect with you separately from our interview process to accommodate your needs.