Staff Software Engineer, Fullstack (Developer - Onchain Payments)

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.

In the past few years, the foundational technology required for crypto to replace traditional payment rails has finally come online: stablecoins, cost-effective L2 networks, and Coinbase Smart Wallet. This represents a multi-billion dollar opportunity for Coinbase to disrupt the payments industry by leveraging its leading position in onchain development and deep expertise of existing fiat rails.

This role is for the lead engineer of the team for this new Onchain Payments effort, which will include both 0-1 product development and building off of the existing Coinbase Commerce product. It’s best to think of the team as a start-up within Coinbase looking to find product market fit for a radically new approach to payments

What you'll be doing: 

• Bring a 0-to-1 product to life to replace the global payment stack with crypto rails
• Lead the fullstack design and development of a secure, high-performance product using TypeScript, Go, and Solidity
• Rapidly prototype user flows to gain market feedback and adjust accordingly, productionizing code as necessary
• Integrate with a variety of existing Coinbase surfaces, including Smart Wallet, Commerce, and Platform APIs
• Design, implement, and drive adoption of a novel open-source web3 payment protocol using Solidity
• Work closely with product managers, designers, and other cross-functional partners to find product market fit
• Leverage, maintain, and improve upon an existing legacy codebase of Coinbase Commerce
• Drive the adoption of engineering best practices, ensuring operational excellence and sound maintenance of legacy code
• Optimize frontend and backend performance, ensuring fast transaction processing, smooth UI interactions, and efficient resource utilization
• Troubleshoot and debug complex fullstack issues, ensuring platform stability, reliability, and security
• Provide technical guidance and support to the entire engineering team and contribute to the overall technical direction of Coinbase

What we look for in you: 

• 8+ years of experience in software development with a strong focus on fullstack development; 2+ years of experience in a leadership position of a crypto start-up is a plus
• Mastery of Go, JavaScript, TypeScript, and Solidity; familiarity with Ruby is a plus
• Proven track record of rapidly shipping high-quality fullstack systems
• Deep understanding of Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains and experience with developing smart contracts
• Demonstrated commitment to excellent developer experiences and open source code, especially in relation to crypto and payments
• Strong expertise in frontend development using modern frameworks like React, Next.js, and Angular
• Solid understanding of distributed systems, microservices architecture, and event-driven architectures, including experience with databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB), caching systems (Redis, Memcached), and message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
• Experience with developer operations, including Cloud providers such as AWS and containerization technologies such as Kubernetes
• Deep understanding of web security best practices and experience with implementing secure coding practices for financial systems
• Exceptional problem-solving skills and ability to find elegant solutions to complex challenges in the crypto payment processing domain
• Outstanding communication, leadership, and collaboration skills, with the ability to inspire and mentor teams
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent experience
• Crypto-forward experience, including familiarity with onchain activity such as interacting with Ethereum addresses, using ENS