Sr Software Engineer - Blockchain

Charles Schwab; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Charles Schwab invites senior software engineers to join Schwab Technology Services' R&D team. You will design, develop, and maintain full-stack solutions using private and permissioned blockchain networks, writing smart contracts, and integrating with ledgers and back-office systems.

The role centers on tokenized cash and funds, on-chain compliance, and reconciliation. Candidates should have 10+ years of software engineering and 3+ years blockchain experience, with on-site work in designated

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering with prod ownership.
• 3+ years of blockchain development experience.
• Strong understanding of blockchain architectures (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Layer 2).
• Experience operating blockchain infrastructure, including permissioned networks.
• Experience with secure wallet solutions and key management.
• Familiarity with asset tokenization (ERC-20/721/1155).
• Working knowledge of Ethereum and the EVM, including gas concepts.

Responsibilities

• Explain complex technical ideas to business partners, bridging tech and strategy.
• Evaluate blockchain architectures and tokenization methodologies for business applicability.
• Stay at the forefront of blockchain innovation and identify new opportunities.
• Contribute to blockchain and digital assets strategy through whitepapers and presentations.
• Build and operate permissioned EVM networks and manage node infrastructure.
• Design, implement, test, and deploy smart contracts for tokenized instruments.
• Implement on-chain compliance controls and evaluate token standards.
• Integrate chain activity with off-chain systems and reconciliation pipelines.
• Publish architecture comparisons to inform decisions.
• Write engineering records for experiments and outcomes.
• Collaborate with product, operations, risk, and compliance to test hypotheses.
• Support other R&D initiatives in AI/ML and cloud-native design.

Skills

Software engineering

Blockchain development

Blockchain architectures

Secure wallet solutions

Tokenization of assets

Ethereum / EVM

Tools

Besu

Quorum

Ethereum

Job description

Your opportunity

At Schwab, you re empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us \"challenge the status quo\" and transform the finance industry together.

We believe in the importance of in-office collaboration and fully intend for the selected candidate for this role to work on site in the specified location(s).

Schwab Technology Services (STS) Research & Development team is responsible for exploring innovative technologies and identifying ways that organizations throughout Schwab might benefit from their application. The Incubation Lab is the group that builds pilots to production ready standards. We stand up working systems, run them against real financial workflows, and produce evidence that a capability is viable before it becomes a production commitment.

This role is hands-on - you will spend most of your time building full stack solutions. You will design, develop, and maintain modern front-end applications and back-end services. You build with private and/or permissioned blockchain networks, write and deploy the smart contracts that run on them, and integrate those networks with the ledgers, order flow, and recordkeeping systems that the firm already depends on. Current work centers on tokenized cash and tokenized funds, on-chain compliance controls, and reconciliation between chain state and books of record. Engineers in the lab also contribute to adjacent research in AI/ML, cloud-native design, and digital trust.

Key Responsibilities

• Clearly explain complex technical ideas to business partners in a way that helps them understand the impact and possibilities, bridging the gap between tech and strategy.


• Evaluate different blockchain architectures, smart contract frameworks, and tokenization methodologies to assess their applicability to our business.


• Stay at the forefront of blockchain innovation, identifying new opportunities in digital identity, decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenized securities, and interoperability.


• Contribute to the company s blockchain and digital assets strategy through whitepapers, presentations, and internal education initiatives.


• Engage with industry consortia, regulators, and technology partners to understand emerging trends and best practices.


• Build and operate permissioned EVM networks used for experimentation: validator configuration, node infrastructure, observability, transaction signing, and upgrade paths.


• Design, implement, test, and deploy smart contracts for tokenized instruments, including issuance, redemption, transfer restrictions, and lifecycle events.


• Implement on-chain compliance controls (allowlists, role-based permissioning, transfer-agent style constraints) and evaluate token standards against the regulatory requirements a given instrument carries.


• Integrate chain activity with off-chain systems: event listeners that translate ledger and order events into mint and burn operations, and reconciliation pipelines that true token supply against the authoritative system of record.


• Evaluate platforms, execution environments, and vendor infrastructure against defined criteria, then publish the comparison so architecture decisions rest on measured behavior rather than vendor claims.


• Write the engineering record for each experiment: what was built, what it demonstrated, where it failed, and what would need to change for production use.


• Work directly with partners across product, operations, risk, and compliance to turn a business question into a testable technical hypothesis, and explain results in terms those partners can act on.


• Support other R&D initiatives in areas like AI/ML, cloud-native application design, spatial computing, and digital identity/trust, contributing architectural insight and cross-domain thinking.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with production ownership of systems you designed.


• 3+ years of experience in blockchain development, crypto asset management, or related fields.


• Strong understanding of blockchain architectures (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Layer 2 solutions) and crypto wallet infrastructure.


• Experience running blockchain infrastructure, not only deploying to it. Permissioned or consortium networks (Besu, Quorum, or comparable) are directly relevant.


• Experience in working with secure wallet solutions, including key management (MPC, HSMs, cold storage, custodial vs. non-custodial models), and the operational controls each requires.


• Familiarity with tokenization of assets, including securities, stablecoins, and smart contracts (ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155, etc.).


• Working knowledge of Ethereum and the EVM at the level required to debug it: gas