Sr. Staff Technical Architect, Unified Trading

Coinbase, Inc.; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 254,000 - 299,000; Full time

Job summary

Coinbase, Inc. is seeking an Architect on the Trading team to design, build, and own core trading systems including OMS/EMS, low-latency messaging, and multi-venue connectivity.

You’ll shape the architecture end-to-end for a platform used by Retail, Prime, and wholesale brokerage customers. You’ll drive reliability, performance, and a technical bar through reviews, standards, and mentorship, while partnering with Product, Risk, Security, and Compliance to convert vision into a practical roadmap.

Qualifications

• Hands-on architect to design, build, deploy, and support 24/7 trading systems processing billions daily.
• Extensive backend engineering experience with production-grade distributed systems ownership.
• End-to-end trading platform architecture experience (OMS/EMS, multi-exchange).
• Deep proficiency in low-latency Java and high-throughput messaging for real-time systems.
• Experience delivering projects end-to-end: scoping, architecture, implementation, monitoring.
• Experience in regulated/financial environments with emphasis on correctness and auditability.
• Ability to balance engineering trade-offs with end-user quality and product decisions.
• Responsible use of generative AI with human oversight for business-ready outputs.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture of the end-to-end trading platform: sequencer, messaging, OMS/EMS, multi-venue connectivity, and execution.
• Design low-latency, high-throughput systems for real-time financial products used in markets.
• Drive reliability and performance, owning SLOs, observability, and incident response.
• Set the technical bar through code reviews, design standards, and debt reduction.
• Reduce single points of failure and build team resilience via mentorship.
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Risk, Security, and Compliance to roadmap.

Skills

Low-latency Java

Distributed systems

Backend engineering

Trading architecture

System reliability

Tools

Aeron

SBE

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.

Team/ Role Paragraph:

Coinbase is building the future of institutional trading as part of the Everything Exchange, powering the systems that let the world's largest financial institutions trade across markets with speed, depth, and trust. As an Architect on the Trading team, you'll design, build, and own the core trading systems that power Coinbase: order and execution management, algo execution, settlement, multi-venue connectivity, and low-latency messaging that serve our Retail, Prime, and wholesale brokerage customers. It's a rare chance to architect trading infrastructure from the ground up, with the ownership of a startup and the reach of Coinbase.

What you’ll do:

• Own the architecture of the end-to-end trading platform: the sequencer, the low-latency connectivity and messaging fabric, OMS/EMS, multi-venue connectivity, and execution.

• Design low-latency, high-throughput systems for real-time financial products used across institutional and retail markets.

• Drive reliability and performance, owning SLOs, observability, and incident response for systems where correctness and latency are non-negotiable.

• Set the technical bar through code, design reviews, and standards, and pay down the technical debt that matters most.

• Reduce single-point-of-failure risk across the trading stack and build team resilience through mentorship.

• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Risk, Security, and Compliance to turn technical vision into a roadmap.

Required skills and experience:

• Hands-on architect, able to design, build, deploy, and support 24/7 trading systems that process billions of dollars of transactions daily.

• Extensive backend engineering experience, with demonstrated ownership of complex, production-grade distributed systems.

• Track record of architecting an end-to-end trading platform (OMS, front/middle office, multi-exchange connectivity), not just a single gateway.

• Deep proficiency in low-latency Java and high-throughput messaging (Aeron, SBE, or similar), designing event-driven, high-availability systems.

• Experience delivering projects end-to-end: scoping, architecture, implementation, monitoring, and iteration.

• Experience building systems in a regulated or financial environment where correctness, auditability, and low-latency performance are critical.

• Experience making user-facing product decisions that balance engineering trade-offs with end-user quality, demonstrated through shipped products.

• Responsible use of generative AI, with human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.

Position ID: P77879

*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):

$253,895—$298,700 USD

• *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.