Staff Software Engineer – Special Projects @ Chairman Office

Overview Building the Future of Crypto. 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. Kraken is a mission-focused company rooted in crypto values. As a Krakenite, you'll join us on our mission to accelerate the global adoption of crypto so that everyone can achieve financial freedom and inclusion.Before you apply, please read the Kraken Culture page to learn more about our internal culture, values, and mission. We also expect candidates to familiarize themselves with the Kraken app. Learn how to create a Kraken account here. As a fully remote company, we have Krakenites in 70+ countries who speak over 50 languages. Krakenites are industry pioneers who develop premium crypto products for experienced traders, institutions, and newcomers to the space. Kraken is committed to industry-leading security, crypto education, and world-class client support through our products like Kraken Pro, Desktop, Wallet, and Kraken Futures.Become a Krakenite and build the future of crypto.The team In this team, you'll help expand the Kraken platform by building new backend capabilities and shared primitives that unlock new product experiences. You'll work in a high-trust, fast-moving environment where projects are often early-stage and ambiguous, including work that's AI-adjacent and deeply technical, with an emphasis on systems-level thinking and engineering excellence.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 team values engineers who care deeply about how things work under the hood while remaining pragmatic and outcome-oriented.The opportunity Architect and ship new backend capabilities that integrate AI-adjacent functionality into Kraken's core systemsDesign distributed services that meet high standards for reliability, performance, and correctnessWork on latency-sensitive and real-time system componentsOwn end-to-end technical design, from protocol and service boundaries through production deploymentLeverage modern AI tooling to significantly accelerate development velocity while maintaining engineering rigorCollaborate with senior leadership and cross-functional partners on high-impact, technically ambitious initiativesDeliver complex systems on ambitious timelines without sacrificing qualityQualifications & Skills Strong expertise in Rust (preferred) or another systems-level language such as Go, C++, or similar, with the ability to quickly become productive in RustInvest in becoming an expert in the Kraken platform, adopt our practices, and help keep our systems consistent as you evolve and improve them over timeDeep experience designing and operating distributed systems in production environmentsStrong understanding of low-level networking, concurrency models, and performance tradeoffsExperience building real-time or latency-sensitive systemsProven track record of repeatedly shipping complex, high-impact technical systemsDemonstrated ability to independently own architecture and delivery in ambiguous environmentsPractical experience applying or integrating AI capabilities into backend systems or deep fluency using AI tooling to enhance engineering productivityStrong systems thinking; ability to reason from first principles and understand how things work under the hoodNice to have Contributions to high-performance or open-source infrastructure projectsKubernetes or Hashicorp stack experience (Nomad/Consul/Vault)Experience in high-growth, startup-style engineering teamsPast experience with crypto or trading-related projectsFull-stack capabilities: invest in local developer experience and tooling to make projects quick to contribute to, and ability to switch from product ideation to architecture, from code to operations, and from benchmarking to load testingNote: Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis unless a specific deadline is stated. Applicants may redact or remove information identifying age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution. Kraken considers qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. We hire based on merit and encourage you to apply even if you don't fully meet every listed requirement.We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. Assessments are considered alongside experience and interviews and are not the sole basis for employment decisions. As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind.#J-18808-Ljbffr