Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Consumer - Risk)

Coinbase; City of Albany (NY); Remote; USD 167,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Bonus eligibility

Medical, dental, vision

401(k)

Job summary

Coinbase is seeking a Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Consumer - Risk) to build and optimize real-time fraud, risk, and compliance systems at crypto-market scale. You will lead end-to-end features from architecture to production, working with Data Science, ML, Risk, and Compliance teams.

Responsibilities include driving architectural decisions, mentoring engineers, and ensuring platform reliability while leveraging AI responsibly to improve workflows and efficiency.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience in production systems.
• Strong backend language proficiency (Go, Ruby, Python, or Java).
• Experience designing distributed systems including microservices and event-driven architectures.
• Ability to translate ambiguous requirements into clear technical plans.
• Experience leading incident response and post-mortems.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and delivery of risk platform features end-to-end with performance and reliability.
• Shape risk detection systems through architectural decisions balancing security and UX.
• Collaborate with Data Science, ML, Risk, Product, and Compliance teams.
• Build AI-native risk systems with agents to automate workflows.
• Mentor engineers, conduct code reviews, and promote engineering best practices.
• Own system quality, drive bug triage and incident response.

Skills

Backend development

Distributed systems

Go

Ruby

Python

Java

Architectures

Incident response

AI tooling

Tools

GraphQL

REST APIs

Microservices

Job description

Ready to do the most impactful work of your career? At Coinbase, we are uncompromising on our mission to increase economic freedom. The bar is high, the environment is intense, and we like it that way. This isn't a place for complacency, it’s a place to be pushed past your perceived limits. If you're ready to build the future of finance alongside people who refuse to settle for "good enough," you belong here. Coinbase is a remote-first, but not remote-only company. Expect to get together quarterly for intense in-person working sessions called “surges.” learn more about working at Coinbase.

Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Consumer - Risk)

As a Senior Software Engineer on the Risk Engineering team within the Consumer & Business group, you'll build and optimize the systems that detect and prevent fraud, manage credit and market risk, and protect millions of users from financial threats in real time at crypto-market scale. You'll provide technical leadership for end-to-end projects, drive architectural decisions that shape our risk detection and mitigation systems, and deliver complex features from inception through production. Your work directly reduces financial loss and keeps Coinbase users safe.

What you'll do:

• Lead the design and delivery of complex risk platform features end-to-end, from architecture through implementation, deployment, and monitoring, with stringent requirements for correctness, performance, and reliability

• Drive architectural decisions that shape Coinbase's risk detection and mitigation systems, translating ambiguous business requirements into scalable working architectures that balance fraud prevention with user experience

• Partner cross-functionally with Data Science, ML, Risk Analysts, Product, and Compliance teams to build proactive systems (real-time decisioning engines, model-driven fraud detection) and reactive solutions (incident response tooling, compliance-driven risk controls)

• Build AI-native risk systems that leverage fleets of agents to automate complex detection and response workflows, significantly reducing the need for manual intervention

• Strengthen the team by mentoring engineers, conducting rigorous code reviews, writing technical design documents for complex systems, and championing engineering best practices across the codebase

• Own system quality and operational excellence by proactively addressing technical debt, driving bug triaging, and leading incident response and post-mortems to ensure platform reliability

Required Skills and Experience:

• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience with a track record of delivering complex, high-impact systems in production environments

• Deep proficiency in backend languages (Go, Ruby, Python, or Java) with demonstrated experience designing distributed systems including microservices, event-driven architectures, and REST/GraphQL APIs

• Proven ability to translate ambiguous requirements into clear technical plans and working architectures, driving technical clarity across engineering, product, and data science teams

• Track record leading end-to‑end projects with long‑term impact, including scoping, design, implementation, monitoring, and mentoring other engineers through the process

• Experience leading incident response, conducting post‑mortems, and driving measurable operational improvements in high‑availability systems

• 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—$186,065 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.

• *US Applicants: *View Employee Rights, Know Your Rights, and E-Verify Notice of Participation.

• *Accommodations: *If you are an individual with a disability who needs a reasonable accommodation, email us your request and contact info at accommodations[at]coinbase.com. Need screen reading technology? Click here to download a free compatible screen reader and view the tutorial.

• *Data Privacy & Arbitration: *By submitting your application, you agree to our Candidate Privacy Notice. US applicants: By submitting your application, you agree to Arbitration of Disputes.