Senior Network Engineer

Coinbase; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 186,000 - 219,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity eligibility

Bonus eligibility

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Job summary

Coinbase in Chicago seeks a Senior Network/SRE Engineer to own and optimize ultra-low-latency networks and data-center infrastructure supporting institutional trading across cloud and on-prem environments.

You will design routing architectures with BGP/OSPF/VRFs, deploy firewalls from Fortinet and Palo Alto, and drive observability using SNMP and gRPC telemetry. You will participate in on-call rotations and mentor cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of network, infrastructure, or SRE engineering experience in latency-sensitive environments, including on-prem/colocated deployments.
• Deep hands-on expertise with multicast networking, BGP, OSPF, VRFs, high-availability architectures, and low-latency data-center switching.
• Proven ability to lead live incident response for production trading systems, manage risk during changes, and coordinate cross-functional resolution during market events.
• Experience with Fortinet or Palo Alto firewalls, VPNs, SNMP or gRPC telemetry, network automation using Python or Ansible, and strong Linux networking fundamentals in latency-critical environments.
• Familiarity with exchange or electronic trading system concepts; deep crypto experience is a plus, not a requirement.
• Utilizes generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.

Responsibilities

• Own, operate, and optimize resilient, ultra-low-latency networks and data-center infrastructure for institutional trading across cloud and on-prem environments.
• Design and maintain routing architectures using BGP, OSPF, VRFs, PIM, IGMP with high-availability platforms like Arista MLAG, Cisco vPC, and VRRP.
• Deploy and operate firewalls and secure connectivity across Fortinet and Palo Alto platforms (IPsec/SSL VPNs).
• Drive observability and operational excellence via SNMP, gRPC telemetry, latency and packet-loss analysis, and network automation using Python/Ansible.
• Lead safe production changes, incident response, failover testing, and on-call rotations for 24/7 trading systems.
• Mentor engineers and partner cross-functionally to improve reliability and developer velocity.

Skills

Multicast networking

BGP

OSPF

VRFs

High-availability architectures

Low-latency data-center switching

Physical network infrastructure

Incident response leadership

Python

Ansible

Linux networking fundamentals

Fortinet firewalls

Palo Alto firewalls

VPNs

SNMP

gRPC telemetry

Network automation

Tools

Arista MLAG

Cisco vPC

Fortinet FortiGate

Palo Alto firewalls

Ansible

Python

Job description

What you'll do:

• Own, operate, and optimize resilient, ultra-low-latency networks and physical data-center infrastructure supporting institutional trading, market data, and exchange connectivity across cloud and on-prem environments, including racking, cabling, cross-connects, and vendor coordination.
• Design and maintain routing, traffic-segmentation, and multicast market-data architectures using BGP, OSPF, VRFs, PIM, IGMP, and high-availability platforms such as Arista MLAG, Cisco vPC, and VRRP.
• Deploy and operate firewalls and secure connectivity across Fortinet and Palo Alto platforms, including IPsec VPNs, SSL VPNs, and third-party connections.
• Drive observability and operational excellence through SNMP, gRPC telemetry, latency and packet-loss analysis, microburst detection, and network automation using Python, Ansible, or similar tools.
• Lead safe production changes, incident response, failover testing, and out-of-hours maintenance for 24/7 trading systems, and participate in an on-call rotation.
• Mentor engineers and partner cross-functionally with SRE/Infra, Product, and trading-system teams to improve reliability, reduce single-point-of-failure risk, and increase developer velocity.

Required Skills and Experience:

• 8+ years of network, infrastructure, or SRE engineering experience with demonstrated ownership of production systems in financial services, electronic trading, or another latency-sensitive environment, including on-prem/colocated deployments.
• Deep hands-on expertise with multicast networking, BGP, OSPF, VRFs, high-availability architectures, low-latency data-center switching, and physical network infrastructure.
• Proven ability to lead live incident response for production trading systems, manage risk during changes, and coordinate cross-functional resolution during market events.
• Experience with Fortinet or Palo Alto firewalls, VPNs, SNMP or gRPC telemetry, network automation using Python or Ansible, and strong Linux networking fundamentals in latency-critical environments.
• Familiarity with exchange or electronic trading system concepts; deep crypto experience is a plus, not a requirement.
• Utilizes generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.

Pay Transparency Notice: 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):: $186,065 USD - $218,900 USD

• Application Limit: Candidates may submit a maximum of 3 applications within a 6-month period.
• 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. Applicants with criminal histories will be considered consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws.
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