Senior Software Engineer - Insitutional, Markets
Ready to be pushed beyond what you think you’re capable of?
At Coinbase, our mission is to increase economic freedom in the world. It’s a massive, ambitious opportunity that demands the best of us, every day, as we build the emerging onchain platform — and with it, the future global financial system.
To achieve our mission, we’re seeking a very specific candidate. We want someone who is passionate about our mission and who believes in the power of crypto and blockchain technology to update the financial system. We want someone who is eager to leave their mark on the world, who relishes the pressure and privilege of working with high caliber colleagues, and who actively seeks feedback to keep leveling up. We want someone who will run towards, not away from, solving the company’s hardest problems.
Our work culture is intense and isn’t for everyone. But if you want to build the future alongside others who excel in their disciplines and expect the same from you, there’s no better place to be.
While many roles at Coinbase are remote-first, we are not remote-only. In-person participation is required throughout the year. Team and company-wide offsites are held multiple times annually to foster collaboration, connection, and alignment. Attendance is expected and fully supported.
Coinbase is seeking experienced backend engineers to join our team to build out the next generation of crypto-forward products and features. You will solve unique, large scale, highly complex technical problems, bridging the constraints posed by web-scale applications and blockchain technology. You will help build the next generation of systems to make cryptocurrency accessible to everyone across the globe, operating real-time applications with high frequency, low latency updates, and managing the most secure, dockerized infrastructure running in the cloud.
Coinbase Institutional - Making the Future Real
Without us, crypto is just a whitepaper. We make it real. Coinbase Institutional builds cutting-edge platforms that allow thousands of the world’s largest financial institutions to trade, custody, and participate in the global cryptoeconomy. From launching industry "firsts" to scaling secure infrastructure for hundreds of digital assets, we provide the trusted gateways for staking, governance, and web3. Whether it’s prime brokerage or international markets, we are building the scalable tech and seamless UI that empowers the biggest players on the planet to move money forward.
Join us, and build the infrastructure for what’s next.
Within Coinbase’s Institutional Markets org, the Coinbase Exchange team builds the core trading platform that powers crypto markets; engineered for ultra-low latency, extreme throughput, and always-on reliability.
As an Engineering Manager, you’ll lead a high-caliber team building and operating the systems at the heart of the exchange: order entry gateways, matching engines, real-time market data, etc. You’ll partner closely with product and cross-functional stakeholders to deliver institutional-grade capabilities that enable our most sophisticated customers to trade with speed, confidence, and precision.
This is a rare chance to sit at the intersection of distributed systems at massive scale and performance-critical, low-latency engineering; owning some of the most complex and high-impact problems in crypto and Coinbase. If you’re excited by hard engineering challenges, high accountability, and building the future of markets, this role is for you.
What you’ll be doing (ie. job duties):
- Lead a team of ~8 engineers building the next generation of Coinbase Exchange trading systems
- Own core exchange surfaces (order entry/FIX, matching, market data, and exchange APIs) end-to-end
- Drive ultra-low-latency, high-throughput, highly reliable systems at scale (24/7/365)
- Partner with Product, Infra/SRE, and senior leadership to translate strategy into quarterly deliverables
- Establish team mechanisms for high-quality execution (planning, reviews, testing, safe deploys, on-call, postmortems)
- Define and maintain operating metrics (SLOs/SLIs, latency, availability, error budgets) and keep them on track
- Triage and resolve incidents and partner issues quickly, with clear ownership and communication
- Coach and mentor engineers, raising the technical bar and growing future leaders
What we look for in you (ie. job requirements):
- You have at least 5 years of experience in software engineering.
- You’ve designed, built, scaled and maintained production services, and know how to compose a service oriented architecture.
- You write high quality, well tested code to meet the needs of your customers.
- You’re passionate about building an open financial system that brings the world together.
- Demonstrates the ability to responsibly use generative AI tools and copilots (e.g., LibreChat, Gemini, Glean) in daily workflows, continuously learn as tools evolve, and apply human-in-the-loop practices to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in efficiency, cost, and quality.
Nice to haves:
- You’ve built and operated low-latency trading systems (matching engines, market data, order entry/FIX) in production
- You have a strong track record designing high-performance distributed systems at scale
- You’ve worked with Java in performance-critical environments and have experience with Aeron / SBE (or similar high-throughput messaging)
Job #: P72897
Pay Transparency Notice: Depending on your work location, the target annual base salary for this position can range as detailed below. Total compensation may also include equity and bonus eligibility and benefits (including medical, dental, vision and 401(k)).
Please be advised that each candidate may submit a maximum of four applications within any 30-day period. We encourage you to carefully evaluate how your skills and interests align with Coinbase's roles before applying.
Commitment to Equal Opportunity
Coinbase is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation or any other basis protected by applicable law. Coinbase will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. For US applicants, you may view the Employee Rights and the Know Your Rights notices by clicking on their corresponding links. Additionally, Coinbase participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law.
Coinbase is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please contact us at accommodations[at]coinbase.com to let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. For quick access to screen reading technology compatible with this site click here to download a free compatible screen reader (free step by step tutorial can be found here).
Global Data Privacy Notice for Job Candidates and Applicants
Depending on your location, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) may regulate the way we manage the data of job applicants. Our full notice outlining how data will be processed as part of the application procedure for applicable locations is available here. By submitting your application, you are agreeing to our use and processing of your data as required. For US applicants only, by submitting your application you are agreeing to arbitration of disputes as outlined here.
AI Disclosure
For select roles, Coinbase is piloting an AI tool based on machine learning technologies to conduct initial screening interviews to qualified applicants. The tool simulates realistic interview scenarios and engages in dynamic conversation. A human recruiter will review your interview responses, provided in the form of a voice recording and/or transcript, to assess them against the qualifications and characteristics outlined in the job description.
For select roles, Coinbase is also piloting an AI interview intelligence platform to transcribe and summarize interview notes, allowing our interviewers to fully focus on you as the candidate.
The above pilots are for testing purposes and Coinbase will not use AI to make decisions impacting employment. To request a reasonable accommodation due to disability, please contact accommodations[at]coinbase.com
- Medical Plan, Dental and Vision Plan with generous employee contributions
- Health Savings Account with company contributions each pay period
- Disability and Life Insurance
- 401(k) plan with company match
- Wellness Stipend
- Mobile/Internet Reimbursement
- Volunteer Time Off
- Fertility Counseling and Benefits
- Generous Time off/Leave Policy
- The option of getting paid in digital currency