Senior Backened Engineer (Generalist)

Surge Group; New York (NY); On-site; USD 248,000 - 303,000; Full time

Job summary

Surge Group in New York City seeks a Senior Backend Engineer to own core backend infrastructure and deliver high‑performance, scalable production systems.

The role emphasizes architecture ownership, leadership of complex projects, and a strong focus on performance, memory, and reliability within a fast-paced startup environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of production-grade backend experience.
• Strong CS fundamentals and system design skills.
• Ownership of complex projects from architecture to production.
• Experience building and operating production backend or infrastructure systems.
• Proficient in Rust, C++, Go, Python, or TypeScript.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain core backend infrastructure and systems across the platform.
• Design and implement high-performance, reliable, and scalable production systems.
• Own technical initiatives from system design through launch and reliability.
• Lead complex engineering projects independently and collaborate with leadership.
• Design systems focusing on performance, correctness, reliability, and scalability.
• Debug and optimize production systems and identify improvement opportunities.

Skills

Software engineering

System design

Backend development

Distributed systems

Rust

C++

Go

Education

Computer Science degree

Tools

Rust

C++

Go

Python

TypeScript

Job description

Up to $275K base + equity + annual trading profit-sharing bonus

We’re working with a profitable, venture-backed technology company in New York City that is looking to hire a Senior Backend Engineer (Generalist).

The company builds differentiated products and infrastructure in decentralized finance, including a leading order-book spot exchange on the Solana blockchain and highly active on-chain market‑making infrastructure.

This is a senior individual contributor opportunity for an engineer who enjoys solving complex systems problems, designing high‑performance infrastructure, and taking ownership of technically challenging projects from architecture through production.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Build and maintain core backend infrastructure and systems across the platform
• Design and implement high‑performance, reliable, and scalable production systems
• Own technical initiatives from system design and architecture through launch and ongoing reliability
• Lead complex engineering projects independently and collaborate closely with engineering leadership
• Design systems with a strong focus on performance, correctness, reliability, and scalability
• Work on technically challenging backend and infrastructure problems in a fast‑paced startup environment
• Contribute to system architecture and make thoughtful engineering trade‑offs around performance, memory, reliability, and maintainability
• Debug and improve production systems and identify opportunities for performance optimisation
• Adapt quickly to changing requirements and rapid product development cycles
• Collaborate with other engineers to establish strong engineering practices and maintain high‑quality production systems
• Contribute across different areas of the technology stack as required, operating as a strong systems generalist

What We’re Looking For

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience building and maintaining production‑grade systems
• Senior-to-Staff-level engineering experience with a demonstrated ability to lead complex projects independently
• Exceptional computer science fundamentals and system design skills
• Strong experience designing, building, and operating production backend or infrastructure systems
• Strong programming experience in one or more of Rust, C++, C, Go, Python, or TypeScript
• Strong understanding of software architecture, distributed systems, performance, and reliability
• Demonstrated ownership of systems from architecture through production and ongoing operation
• Proven career progression through increasing responsibility, technical scope, or engineering seniority
• Stable career history with consistent tenure and evidence of sustained impact
• Strong problem‑solving skills and ability to reason through complex technical trade‑offs
• Comfortable working independently in a fast‑moving startup environment

Nice to Have

• Experience with C, C++, or Rust and low‑level systems programming
• Experience building systems involving compilers, databases, networking, distributed systems, or high‑performance infrastructure
• Experience with low‑latency or performance‑critical systems
• Experience working with Rust and making explicit memory‑versus‑performance trade‑offs
• Experience in HFT, quantitative trading, crypto, blockchain infrastructure, or other performance‑critical environments
• Previous experience at a high‑bar technology company such as Google, Meta, Stripe, Cloudflare, Databricks, or similar
• Previous experience at a leading trading or quantitative firm such as Jane Street, Citadel, Two Sigma, HRT, IMC, DRW, Jump Trading, Tower Research, or similar
• Degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or Physics from a strong university
• Experience working at a high‑growth startup with a strong engineering culture
• Genuine interest in crypto, decentralized finance, blockchain infrastructure, or financial technology
• Experience building generalist backend systems rather than focusing exclusively on a single protocol or specialized domain

If you’re a Senior or Staff‑level Backend Engineer with strong systems fundamentals, a track record of owning complex production infrastructure, and an interest in working on technically challenging problems, we’d be interested in hearing from you.