Lead Software Engineer (Crypto, SV) - US - IC6 - 2026

Nubank; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical Insurance

Dental and Vision Insurance

Life Insurance and AD&D

Extended parental leaves

Learning platform

Language learning program

Mental health and wellness program

401K

Savings plans - HSA/FSA

Work-from-home allowance

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Nubank is building a crypto engineering hub in Palo Alto and seeks a Lead Software Engineer, Crypto to own cryptographic systems, key management, signing flows, and on-chain integrations. You will design defensively, think adversarially, and ensure regulatory compliance across distributed systems.

Join a security-first culture, collaborate with security, compliance, and product teams, and mentor peers while advancing crypto infrastructure for millions of users.

Qualifications

• Track record of building cryptographic or secure financial systems in production.
• Deep understanding of cryptographic primitives, key management, signing, and consensus mechanisms.
• Experience with adversarial threat modeling and secure design reviews.
• Familiarity with financial regulation as it applies to crypto and digital assets.
• Ability to make high-stakes engineering decisions prioritizing correctness and security.

Responsibilities

• Own cryptographic systems, protocols, or blockchain infrastructure for your domain, including key management, signing flows, and on-chain integrations.
• Design and implement secure, compliant crypto infrastructure that meets the highest standards for correctness and reliability.
• Think adversarially: design systems assuming they will be attacked, conduct threat modeling, and build defensive architectures.
• Navigate the intersection of cryptography, distributed systems, and financial regulation, ensuring all systems meet compliance requirements.
• Lead security reviews and code quality processes for crypto-related systems, enforcing a high bar for production readiness.
• Collaborate with security, compliance, and product teams to ensure crypto features are both safe and user-friendly.
• Mentor peers on crypto engineering best practices and contribute to the team's security-first engineering culture.

Skills

Go

Rust

Java

Python

Cryptographic systems

Security engineering

Threat modeling

Tools

HSMs

Secure enclaves

Job description

About Nu

Nu is the leading digital bank in Latin America, serving 135 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. The company has been leading an industry transformation by leveraging data and proprietary technology to develop innovative products and services.

Guided by its mission to fight complexity and empower people, Nu caters to customers' complete financial journey, promoting financial access and advancement with responsible lending and transparency. The company is powered by an efficient and scalable business model that combines low cost to serve with growing returns.

Nu's impact has been recognized in multiple awards, including Time 100 Most Influential Companies, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, and Forbes World’s Best Banks.

Visit our Institutional Page

About the Role

Nu is building secure, compliant crypto infrastructure that will expand financial access for millions of people across Latin America. In crypto, there is no margin for error - a mistake in production can be irreversible, with direct financial exposure. As we open our Silicon Valley engineering hub, we're looking for a Lead Software Engineer, Crypto who thinks adversarially, builds defensively, and operates at the intersection of cryptography, distributed systems, and financial regulation.

You'll be part of a focused crypto team in Palo Alto, collaborating with security, compliance, and product teams across our global offices. Our crypto engineering culture values correctness above all - we design systems assuming they will be attacked, and build accordingly. We move deliberately, with a high bar for security reviews and code quality.

In this role, you'll own cryptographic systems, protocols, or blockchain infrastructure for your domain - key management, signing flows, consensus mechanisms, and on-chain integrations. You'll ensure correctness, security, and regulatory compliance, and you'll be the person who says "no, that's not safe" and makes it stick.

You'll be responsible for

• Own cryptographic systems, protocols, or blockchain infrastructure for your domain, including key management, signing flows, and on-chain integrations.

• Design and implement secure, compliant crypto infrastructure that meets the highest standards for correctness and reliability.

• Think adversarially: design systems assuming they will be attacked, conduct threat modeling, and build defensive architectures.

• Navigate the intersection of cryptography, distributed systems, and financial regulation, ensuring all systems meet compliance requirements.

• Lead security reviews and code quality processes for crypto-related systems, enforcing a high bar for production readiness.

• Collaborate with security, compliance, and product teams to ensure crypto features are both safe and user-friendly.

• Mentor peers on crypto engineering best practices and contribute to the team's security-first engineering culture.

We are looking for a person who has

Required

• Track record of building and operating cryptographic systems, blockchain infrastructure, or secure financial systems in production.

• Deep understanding of cryptographic primitives, key management, signing protocols, and consensus mechanisms.

• Strong software engineering fundamentals with experience in languages used in crypto infrastructure (e.g., Go, Rust, Java, Python).

• Experience designing systems with an adversarial mindset: threat modeling, security reviews, and defensive architecture.

• Understanding of financial regulation as it applies to crypto and digital assets, with experience building compliant systems.

• Demonstrated ability to make high-stakes engineering decisions where correctness and security are non-negotiable.

• Experience collaborating with security, compliance, and legal teams on system design and review processes.

Nice to have

• Experience with specific blockchain protocols (e.g., Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana) and their integration patterns.

• Background in DeFi protocols, custody solutions, or institutional crypto infrastructure.

• Experience in fintech, payments, or other financial services environments with strict regulatory requirements.

• Familiarity with HSMs, secure enclaves, and hardware-backed key management systems.

• Proficiency with AI-assisted development tools and a thoughtful approach to leveraging AI in security-critical engineering.

Location

Palo Alto, United States

Our Benefits

• Opportunity of earning equity at Nu

• Medical Insurance

• Dental and Vision Insurance

• Life Insurance and AD&D

• Extended maternity and paternity leaves

• Nucleo - Our learning platform of courses

• NuLanguage - Our language learning program

• NuCare - Our mental health and wellness assistance program

• 401K

• Saving Plans - Health Saving Account and Flexible Spending Account

• Work-from-home Allowance

• Relocation Assistance Package, if applicable

Work Model

Hybrid 2-3 times/week: Our hybrid work model brings us to the office at least twice a week, on strategic days designed to maximize team connection and collaboration. For more details, visit https://building.nubank.com/nu-hybrid-work-model/

Explore how we build technology at Nubank:

building.nubank.com.br

youtube.com/@building.nubank

Our recruitment process may involve the use of artificial intelligence-enabled tools, such as automated interview transcription and analysis, to support the evaluation process. Artificial intelligence is not used to make final hiring decisions; all decisions are made by human reviewers.