Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Institutional - Exchange)

United States Digital Space LLC; United States; Hybrid; USD 186,000 - 219,000; Full time

Job summary

the company Exchange team within the Institutional group designs, builds, and operates high-performance trading systems powering the spot exchange. You’ll work on customer-facing FIX, REST, and WebSocket APIs used by institutional traders, solving complex problems at the intersection of distributed systems and real-time financial infrastructure.

You’ll own services end-to-end—from design through deployment and support—participating in on-call rotations, improving reliability, and collaborating

Qualifications

• 5+ years building production backends or distributed systems in Java, Go, or a comparable language.
• Experience designing and scaling high-volume, low-latency services with concurrency, reliability, and performance optimization.
• Experience with real-time or financial systems and market connectivity protocols (FIX) or related high-throughput messaging tech.
• Track record building customer-facing APIs (FIX, REST, WebSocket) in cloud/Kubernetes environments.
• Experience with relational databases such as PostgreSQL and event-driven/streaming data systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain high-throughput, low-latency APIs and backend services powering real-time trading workflows.
• Own services end-to-end including design, implementation, deployment, observability, scaling, and on-call rotations.
• Improve performance, reliability, and operational readiness of distributed systems.
• Partner with Product, SRE, Security, and other engineering teams to translate needs into technical solutions.
• Drive engineering quality through design/code reviews and mentorship.

Skills

Backend development

Java

Go

Distributed systems

APIs

Kubernetes

Cloud

PostgreSQL

Tools

Kafka

Aeron

FIX

Job description

Ready to do the most impactful work of your career? At the company, 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. the company 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 the company.

As a Senior Software Engineer on the the company Exchange team within the Institutional group, you'll design, build, and operate the high-performance trading systems that power the company's spot exchange. This team owns the customer-facing FIX, REST, and WebSocket APIs used by institutional and professional trading customers. You'll solve complex problems at the intersection of distributed systems, real-time financial infrastructure, and customer-facing products, directly shaping the reliability and performance of one of the world's largest crypto exchanges.

What you’ll do:

• Design, build, and maintain high-throughput, low-latency APIs and backend services that power order entry, market data, trade execution, and other real-time trading workflows on the company Exchange.
• Own services end-to-end throughout their lifecycle, including technical design, implementation, deployment, observability, scaling, and production support, including participation in on-call rotations.
• Improve the performance, reliability, and operational readiness of distributed systems where availability, correctness, and latency are critical.
• Partner with Product, SRE, Security, and other engineering teams to translate customer and business needs into effective technical solutions.
• Drive engineering quality through design reviews, code reviews, well-tested code, and mentorship that fosters a culture of technical excellence and continuous improvement.

Required skills and experience:

• 5+ years building and operating production backend or distributed systems in Java, Go, or a comparable backend language.
• Proven experience designing and scaling high-volume, performance-sensitive services with expertise in concurrency, event-driven architecture, reliability, and performance optimization.
• Experience with real-time or financial systems, market connectivity protocols such as FIX, or high-throughput messaging technologies such as Aeron or Kafka, or demonstrated experience that transfers to these areas.
• Track record of building customer-facing APIs using FIX, REST, WebSocket, or comparable protocols and operating services in cloud and Kubernetes-based environments.
• Experience with relational databases such as PostgreSQL and event-driven or streaming data systems.
• Utilizes generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.

*Position ID: **P78289*

*#LI-Remote*

**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-$218,900 USD

• *Application Limit: Candidates may submit a maximum of 3 applications within a 6-month period.
• *Equal Opportunity Employer: the company 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]the company.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.