Tech Lead/Staff Engineer

Job Description

The legacy global payments system is slow, expensive, and exclusionary, with risk priced in as fees or exclusion from the system itself, hitting the most economically disadvantaged the hardest.  To address this, TBD is developing tbDEX, an open, interoperable protocol that provides a universal infrastructure and language for developers, enterprises, entrepreneurs, and governments to move value around the world in a more inclusive, efficient, and trusted way.  tbDEX unlocks frictionless payments, commerce, and liquidity; enables counterparties to establish mutual trust and compliance; and creates common standards and an open network that anyone can join, allowing financial institutions, consumer fintech apps, and identity verification providers to establish new services and benefit from an ever-growing network of participants.

TBD Engineering has a dual responsibility: developing open source standards and SDKs while also building and operating our own products.  These open source components are designed to facilitate the growth of the tbDEX ecosystem by simplifying integration for participants.  Additionally, TBD leverages these same components to develop our product offerings, such as liquidity nodes and compliance systems.

In 2024, TBD’s focus is on the launch of our first products.  As a Technical Lead within TBD Engineering, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the systems design, software architecture, implementation, and operationalization of these products.  You will work closely with our business development, compliance, developer relations, and infrastructure teams to ensure the delivery of robust, secure, and compliant services that meet the needs of our customers and partners.

At TBD, we foster a low-ego, deliver-and-iterate philosophy where everyone’s ideas are heard.  As a member of our engineering team, you will have the opportunity to make a significant impact on the future of global payments and financial inclusion.  If you are passionate about leveraging cutting-edge technologies to solve complex challenges and create a more accessible financial world, we encourage you to apply.

As a member of our engineering team you will collaborate with us to:

• Lead the team in delivering a reliable and maintainable financial services system to production.

• Collaborate closely with engineering leadership and cross-functional teams to define our roadmap and take ownership of delivery.

• Foster the growth of our development capabilities by leading, mentoring, and supporting fellow engineers.

• Establish best practices for production deployment, monitoring, and on-call support.

• Work alongside staff security engineers to implement secure development practices and ensure system security.

• Guide the selection, implementation, and integration of appropriate technologies, prioritizing efficiency, compatibility, and adaptability.

• Thrive in a fast-paced, startup-like environment within a nascent business unit.

• Effectively manage the integration and use of evolving open source projects.

• Contribute to TBD’s mission of promoting financial accessibility and serving the global south.

Qualifications

You Have:

• 15+ years of experience developing production-grade systems and applications

• 10+ years of experience in cloud deployment, specifically with Kubernetes and AWS

• Proficient in Go programming language

• Experience in shaping technical strategy across multiple teams or organizations, with a demonstrated ability to drive company-wide standards in software engineering practices

• Proven ability to transition between individual contributor and technical leadership roles (preferably at both scaled and small companies)

• Strong operations skills and background, with experience running services in production

• Detail-oriented with a keen eye for quality software craftsmanship

• Rapid ability to learn and adapt to new technologies and concepts

• Skilled at handling a high degree of context switching and wearing multiple hats

Preferred Experience (all of the above, plus)

• Financial technology projects, cryptography, or blockchain.

• Programming languages such as JavaScript/TypeScript, Kotlin, or Rust

• Prior experience leading teams who build scaled products as a hands on manager of people