Sr. Staff Engineer - Digital Assets

Early Warning Services LLC; Scottsdale (AZ); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Early Warning Services LLC in Scottsdale and other major U.S. cities seeks a senior engineering leader to own technical strategy and architectural design for large-scale payment platforms.

You will mentor teams, drive scalable cross-border money movement systems, and collaborate with product managers and architects to deliver secure, compliant solutions. The role requires deep distributed-systems expertise, Java/Spring, cloud infrastructure, and experience leading complex, regulated payment

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related technical field (or equivalent).
• Twelve or more years of relevant experience.
• Nine or more years of experience in development of distributed systems, SaaS, cloud solutions, microservices.
• Hands-on Docker experience.
• Proven experience leading the design and evolution of complex, large-scale payment or cross-border transaction platforms in regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Partner with software engineering, product, and architecture to shape engineering approaches, share knowledge and experience.
• Own the technical strategy for broad or complex requirements with insightful and forward-looking approaches that go beyond the direct team and solve large open-ended problems.
• Own architectural design and technical patterns for cross-border money movement and digital asset settlement systems.
• Resolve complex technical and scalability challenges across distributed, regulated payment platforms.
• Mentor engineers and guide teams in building secure, resilient, and compliant global payment solutions.
• Review and validate the effectiveness of code output from multiple teams.
• Drive all aspects of technical architecture, design, prototyping and implementation in support of product needs and overall technology strategy.
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and other engineering groups to conceptualize, build new features and create product descriptions.
• Actively own features or systems and define their long-term health, while improving the health of surrounding systems.

Skills

Docker

Distributed systems

SaaS

Cloud solutions

Microservices

Java/Spring

CI/CD

DevOps

Kubernetes

Event-driven architecture

Kafka/RabbitMQ

Maven/Gradle

Angular/React

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related technical field

MS or PhD

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Maven/Gradle

Angular/React

Pub/Sub/Kafka/RabbitMQ

Job description

Overview

At Early Warning, we\'ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle, Paze, and more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Positions located in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York follow a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

Responsibilities

• Partner with software engineering, product, and architecture to shape engineering approaches, share knowledge and experience.
• Own the technical strategy for broad or complex requirements with insightful and forward-looking approaches that go beyond the direct team and solve large open-ended problems.
• Own architectural design and technical patterns for cross-border money movement and digital asset settlement systems.
• Resolve complex technical and scalability challenges across distributed, regulated payment platforms.
• Mentor engineers and guide teams in building secure, resilient, and compliant global payment solutions.
• Responsible for department-wide design, patterns and code approaches.
• Review and validate the effectiveness of code output from multiple teams.
• Accountable for resolving technical conflict within and between multiple teams.
• Drive all aspects of technical architecture, design, prototyping and implementation in support of product needs and overall technology strategy.
• Represent engineering in cross-functional team sessions and communicate sound and thoughtful arguments to persuade others; adapt strategies to influence outcomes.
• Lead a broad functional area and direct efforts through the functional team members along with the team\'s overall planning.
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and other engineering groups to conceptualize, build new features and create product descriptions.
• Actively own features or systems and define their long-term health, while improving the health of surrounding systems.
• Assist support and operations teams in identifying and quickly resolving production issues.
• Develop and implement tests to ensure the quality, performance, and scalability of the application.
• Develop and mentor other engineers; may serve as a technical leader for cross-functional projects.
• Actively seek ways to improve engineering standards, tooling, and processes.
• Support the company\'s commitment to risk management and protecting the integrity and confidentiality of systems and data.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor\'s degree in computer science or related technical field (or equivalent).
• Twelve or more years of relevant experience.
• Nine or more years of experience in development of distributed systems, SaaS, cloud solutions, microservices.
• Hands-on Docker experience.
• Proven experience leading the design and evolution of complex, large-scale payment or cross-border transaction platforms in regulated environments.

• Deep technical understanding of digital asset or stablecoin-based systems, including security, scalability, and operational reliability considerations.
• Two or more years of experience in front-end development with modern frameworks (Angular/React).
• Eight or more years of experience with Java/Spring; proficiency in Maven/Gradle.
• Demonstrated experience delivering business-critical systems to the market.
• Ability to influence and work in a collaborative, cross-departmental team environment.
• Experience designing/developing scalable systems.
• Experience with event-driven architecture and messaging frameworks (Pub/Sub, Kafka, RabbitMQ, etc.).
• Experience with cloud infrastructure (GCP, AWS, Azure).
• Knowledge of mature engineering practices (CI/CD, testing, secure coding, etc.).
• Knowledge of Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Lean) and DevOps practices.
• Background check and drug screen as part of employment process.

Preferred Qualifications

• MS or PhD
• JavaScript and scripting frameworks experience (JQuery, AngularJS)
• Monitoring and alerting systems experience (AppDynamics)
• Proficiency in multiple languages (C#, Ruby, Python, PHP)
• Knowledge of ACH/EFT
• Knowledge of real-time payment networks (RTP, FedNow)
• FinTech experience
• Kubernetes experience

Physical Requirements

Working conditions consist of a normal office environment. Work is primarily sedentary and requires extensive use of a computer and involves sitting for periods of approximately four hours. May require occasional standing, walking, kneeling and reaching. Must be able to lift 10 pounds occasionally. Requires visual acuity and dexterity to view, prepare, and manipulate documents and office equipment including computers. Requires the ability to communicate with internal and/or external customers.

Employee must be able to perform essential functions and physical requirements of position with or without reasonable accommodation.

Additional Information

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. The base pay scale for this position in Phoenix, AZ/ Chicago, IL in USD per year is: $175,000 - $220,000; in San Francisco, CA: $180,000 - $240,000. Eligible for discretionary incentive plan and benefits. This pay scale is subject to change and does not guarantee specific compensation; actual offers depend on various factors. Early Warning Services emphasizes wage equity and equal employment opportunity.

Equal Opportunity Notice

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Early Warning Services, LLC is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, or any other status protected by law.