Staff Software Engineer, Bitcoin Platform

Company Description

Block is one company built from many blocks, all united by the same purpose of economic empowerment. The blocks that form our foundational teams — People, Finance, Counsel, Hardware, Information Security, Platform Infrastructure Engineering, and more — provide support and guidance at the corporate level. They work across business groups and around the globe, spanning time zones and disciplines to develop inclusive People policies, forecast finances, give legal counsel, safeguard systems, nurture new initiatives, and more. Every challenge creates possibilities, and we need different perspectives to see them all. Bring yours to Block.

Job Description

The Bitcoin Platform team develops infrastructure for Block to send, receive and custody bitcoin by operating a stack for both cold, hot, and lightning wallets. Our goal is to bring bitcoin to people around the world, unlocking previously impossible use cases to accelerate a world built on better money. The team is composed of two engineering teams, Custody and Trading, who specialize in backend, security, and blockchain engineering. 

Our Staff Software Engineering position sits on the Custody Engineering team, which is responsible for managing and improving our hot and cold Bitcoin wallets, handling transfers in and out of our wallets, and working on next generation Bitcoin technology and features like running a Lightning network node. You will be responsible for designing, building, troubleshooting and improving Bitcoin platform features, services, and infrastructure. We are scaling quickly and are excited to grow the team!

Qualifications

You have:

• 12+ years of relevant experience building backend systems at scale, specifically in the bitcoin or lightning space

• Experience leading the technical direction of large-scale projects, spanning multiple engineering teams

• A pragmatic approach with a focus on delivery.

• Ability to excel in macro and micro elements of software design.

• Demonstrated ability to influence those around through technical leadership, mentorship, and coaching

• Demonstrated technical initiative and leadership on previous projects.

• Motivation to contribute to a meaningful product that will fundamentally change the way people interact with financial institution. 

You will:

• Help enable instant cross-border payments by helping design, build, and deploy a self-custody Lightning solution for the wallet

• Work with other experts at Block to improve Bitcoin Development Kit and Lightning Development Kit to benefit the broader bitcoin ecosystem and community

• Influence and define the future blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies leveraged in the wallet, Block and the broader industry

• Help guide and write code that we can share between our mobile application and backend services

• Make key architecture and platform choices, leveraging existing Block infrastructure and best practices where appropriate and and forging a new path when our unique needs require it

• Collaborate with mobile and firmware engineers, product managers, and infrastructure and service teams throughout the company

• Own testing, observability, and maintenance for the solutions you and the team create

Technologies we use and teach:

• Java, Kotlin

• Go

• Docker, Kubernetes

• Jaeger, Prometheus, Datadog

• JUnit

• Hibernate, Vitess, Guice

• Bitcoin, Lightning

Additional Information

Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. U.S. locations are categorized into one of four zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Zone A: USD $239,000 - USD $359,000
Zone B: USD $239,000 - USD $359,000
Zone C: USD $239,000 - USD $359,000
Zone D: USD $239,000 - USD $359,000

To find a location’s zone designation, please refer to this resource. If a location of interest is not listed, please speak with a recruiter for additional information. 

Full-time employee benefits include the following:

• Healthcare coverage (Medical, Vision and Dental insurance)
• Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account
• Retirement Plans including company match 
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Wellness programs, including access to mental health, 1:1 financial planners, and a monthly wellness allowance 
• Pai