Staff Software Engineer – Special Projects @ Chairman Office

About [Employer hidden]

[Employer hidden] is a mission-focused company rooted in crypto values. Our Krakenites are a world-class team with crypto conviction, united by our desire to discover and unlock the potential of crypto and blockchain technology. Before you apply, please read the [Employer hidden] Culture page. Learn how to create a [Employer hidden] account here.

The Team

In this team, you’ll help expand the [Employer hidden] platform by building new backend capabilities and shared primitives that unlock new product experiences. You’ll collaborate with senior leadership and cross-functional partners to design and deliver new backend capabilities that interface directly with core platform infrastructure.

The Ideal Candidate

• You have high engineering horsepower and strong fundamentals (systems thinking, debugging, architecture, performance), while staying practical and outcome-oriented.
• You do what must be done to move the work forward—and you leave things better than you found them.
• You hold a clear effort/reward lens: you invest where it compounds, avoid perfectionism for its own sake.
• You’re low-ego, high-standards: you raise the quality bar through example, thoughtful reviews, and good taste—without creating friction.
• You communicate clearly, bring calm energy, and help teams stay optimistic and focused.
• You’ve likely been a tech lead or engineering manager, and you’re excited to be more hands-on again.
• You’re not jaded—you still enjoy the craft, you’re curious, and you’re genuinely excited to learn (Rust, [Employer hidden]’s internals, and whatever else the problem demands).
• You treat AI/agents as a force multiplier.

The Opportunity

• Architect and ship new backend capabilities that integrate AI-adjacent functionality into [Employer hidden]’s core systems
• Design distributed services that meet high standards for reliability, performance, and correctness
• Work on latency-sensitive and real-time system components
• Own end-to-end technical design, from protocol and service boundaries through production deployment
• Leverage modern AI tooling to significantly accelerate development velocity while maintaining engineering rigor
• Collaborate with senior leadership and cross-functional partners on high-impact, technically ambitious initiatives
• Deliver complex systems on ambitious timelines without sacrificing quality

Skills You Should HODL

• Strong expertise in Rust (preferred) or another systems-level language such as Go, C++, or similar
• Deep experience designing and operating distributed systems in production environments
• Strong understanding of low-level networking, concurrency models, and performance tradeoffs
• Experience building real-time or latency-sensitive systems
• Proven track record of repeatedly shipping complex, high-impact technical systems
• Demonstrated ability to independently own architecture and delivery in ambiguous environments
• Practical experience applying or integrating AI capabilities into backend systems or deep fluency using AI tooling to enhance engineering productivity
• Strong systems thinking. You reason from first principles and care how things work under the hood

Nice to Haves

• Contributions to high-performance or open-source infrastructure projects
• Kubernetes or Hashicorp stack (Nomad/Consul/Vault) experience
• Experience in high-growth, startup-style engineering teams
• Past experience with crypto or trading related projects
• Full-stack/Swiss Army knife capabilities

Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

[Employer hidden] is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate all Krakenites for their diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions and unique perspectives. We hire strictly based on merit. As an equal opportunity employer, we don’t tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind.