Senior Software Engineer
TRM Labs
Senior Software Engineer
TRM Labs
Blockchain analytics for financial crime
TRM Labs provides AI-powered intelligence solutions that help public and private sector agencies investigate and disrupt crime. TRM's platforms enable investigators to trace illicit activity, build cases, and construct operating pictures of threat networks. Leading agencies and businesses worldwide rely on TRM to make the world safer and more secure.
The Full-Stack Product Engineering team is responsible for building a comprehensive set of features, frameworks, and functionalities for both end customers and internal-facing teams to successfully execute and scale TRM’s business. We are looking for a pragmatic full-stack engineer who can build reliable and scalable software that will be used by all TRM customers. You’ll also design backend APIs with a deep understanding of the customer experience and performance.
As an early member of the team, you will be deeply involved in the technical details along with our operational processes to champion the velocity, quality, and overall impact of TRM, ultimately building a safer financial system for billions of people.
This role is based in our San Francisco office. Employees in this position are expected to work from the office at least three (3) days per week to support in-person collaboration and team engagement.
The impact you’ll have here:
Work on complex engineering problems that help you build and hone not only technical skills but also project management and human/soft skills.
Develop and maintain public APIs that are part of the API Product suite
Collaborate with stakeholders on transforming a functional vision into a tangible roadmap with clear outcomes.
Support and enable internal business units through shared engineering services and functionalities.
Develop cross-functional relationships with stakeholders across the organization to understand and empower their mission from end to end.
Experience designing and building scalable systems, web applications, APIs, and services (our backend is built in Node.js but prior experience in Node.js is not required; we believe tools and languages can be learned on the job)
What we’re looking for:
Experience designing and building scalable systems, web applications, APIs, and services.
An understanding of storage systems such as relational databases (e.g., Postgres) and analytical databases.
Demonstrated experience in understanding customer pain points and bridging their needs to technical & product requirements.
A high degree of initiative and ownership, combined with the ability to navigate ambiguity and adapt quickly to change.
Exceptional ability to structure problems and identify the most critical issues to prioritize.
Ability to communicate complex ideas effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences, verbally and in writing.
Experience working collaboratively in a cross-functional environment with a diverse group of people at all levels in an organization.
About the Team:
The team operates on a weekly sprint schedule. Individuals on the team are tasked to lead projects as technical anchors, and given a chance to grow and take ownership according to their level and goals. We work closely with our internal stakeholders to deliver impactful features to our internal customers and the company.
The team’s culture is built on psychological safety wherein team members build rapport and trust-based relationships with teammates, hold each other accountable and to a high bar, collaborate extensively, and have lots of fun along the way.
The team’s timezone is a mix of EST and PST with at least 6 hours of overlap with PST (8 am to 2 pm PST)
On-Call: We have an on-call rotation that is a week long in duration approximately once every 4-6 weeks. On-call requests can be categorized into two large buckets; a) PagerDuty alerts that warrant immediate attention and b) customer support requests from specific Slack channels that an on-call engineer is responsible for triaging and answering.
Work Week Travel: This role requires participation in in-person R&D work weeks, typically 1–2 times per quarter, at a TRM hub or other designated location. TRM coordinates and covers approved travel, lodging, and workspace. Accommodations are available for legitimate caregiving, health, immigration, and similar constraints.
Learn about TRM Speed in this position:
Ruthless Prioritization & Adaptability: We adapt quickly when faced with new information. For example, an engineer may message the PM or EM to prioritize Task A vs. Task B in the middle of the sprint – we don’t let inertia guide our decisions. Instead we focus on ruthless prioritization and pivot quickly as needed.
Challenging Timelines (Execution Pressure): An engineer questions a teammate’s proposed 3-week timeline, and constructively argues for condensing it to 2 weeks—backed by rationale, tradeoffs, and a plan to reduce scope or increase velocity. They show ownership of delivery speed and willingness to push for urgency.
Time-Boxed Spiking (Rapid Learning & Decision-Making): An engineer proposes a 1-week spike with a clear time-box and success criteria to explore implementation options or validate feasibility through a proof of concept. They demonstrate speed not just in execution, but in de-risking decisions early.
The following represents the expected range of compensation for this role:
Individual pay is determined by skills, qualifications, experience, and location. The compensation details listed in this posting reflect the US base salary only.
The estimated base salary range for this role is $180,000 - $240,000.
Additionally, this role may be eligible to participate in TRM’s equity plan.
Please note – we factor in the different costs for geographies outside the United States.
About TRM's Engineering Levels:
Engineer: Responsible for helping to define project milestones and executing small decisions independently with the appropriate tradeoffs between simplicity, readability, and performance. Provides mentorship to junior engineers, and enhances operational excellence through tech debt reduction and knowledge sharing.
Senior Engineer: Successfully designs and documents system improvements and features for an OKR/project from the ground up. Consistently delivers efficient and reusable systems, optimizes team throughput with appropriate tradeoffs, mentors team members, and enhances cross-team collaboration through documentation and knowledge sharing.
Staff Engineer: Drives scoping and execution of one or more OKRs/projects that impact multiple teams. Partners with stakeholders to set the team vision and technical roadmaps for one or more products. Is a role model and mentor to the entire engineering organization. Ensures system health and quality with operational reviews, testing strategies, and monitoring rigor.
If you’re interested in joining TRM, we encourage you to apply directly. Every application is reviewed by our Talent team.
Before applying, review the job description carefully and highlight the experience and impact that best demonstrate the required qualifications. Please also provide thoughtful and accurate answers to the application questions, as these will be used to evaluate your skills and qualifications for the role.
If you send your resume directly to someone at TRM, we can’t guarantee it will reach the appropriate hiring team. Applying directly is the best way to ensure your application will be considered.
Our process is designed to understand how you think, solve problems, and deliver impact, while allowing you to evaluate TRM. Most interview processes include a case study, an AI skills assessment, and a Leadership Principles interview.
Recruiter Intro: Qualifications, motivations, and alignment with the role.
Hiring Manager: Deep dive into your relevant experience, skills, and impact.
First Round: 1–2 interviews focused on the skills most critical to the role.
Final Round: Hands-on case study. This is usually a panel-style session where we go deeper into your craft, problem-solving, and alignment with TRM.
References: Former colleagues who can provide insight into your work and impact.
Offer: Congrats! Your recruiter will present the offer and compensation details.
Welcome to TRM: We're excited to build a safer world with you!
Your recruiter will share your specific interview plan and preparation guidance along the way.
AI fluency is a baseline expectation at TRM.
We believe AI meaningfully changes how top performers operate. We expect every team member to use AI to accelerate and reimagine their craft, not just automate surface tasks.
At TRM, AI fluency means you are among the top 10 percent of operators in your function in how you apply AI to:
Accelerate repeatable workflows
Structure and solve problems
Improve output quality
Increase speed and leverage
You will be evaluated on applied AI fluency during the interview process.
We are building a safer world. That promise shows up in how we work every day.
TRM moves FAST. We are a high-velocity, high-ownership team that expects clarity, follow-through, and impact. People who thrive here are energized by hard problems, experimentation, and continuous feedback. If something takes months elsewhere, it will ship here in days.
Our work sits at the intersection of AI, national security, and fighting crime. The problems are complex, the stakes are real, and the environment evolves quickly. The pace and intensity of the work reflect the importance of the mission. As a result, the way we operate requires a high level of ownership, adaptability, collaboration, and creative problem-solving.
At TRM, you should expect:
Priorities and targets to change quickly
Operating with a high degree of ambiguity
A high level of personal ownership and accountability
Close collaboration across teams and functions
Frequent, high-touch communication
Creative problem-solving and out-of-the-box thinking
A pace that rewards urgency, adaptability, and outcomes
This environment is energizing for people who enjoy building, solving hard problems, and making progress in situations that are not always fully defined. It also requires thriving in ambiguity, adjusting course as new information emerges, and maintaining focus and positivity in a fast-moving and intense environment.
We also recognize that this style of operating is not for everyone. If you are primarily optimizing for predictability or a consistently balanced workload, we encourage you to use the interview process to pressure-test whether this environment is truly the right fit. We want teammates who thrive here, not just survive here.
If you are excited by meaningful problems, motivated by ambitious goals, and energized by working alongside mission-driven colleagues, there is a good chance you will find TRM to be an exceptional place to grow and contribute.
We hire and grow against three leadership principles. They’re the standards for how we operate, treat each other, and make decisions.
Impact-Oriented Trailblazer: We put customers first and move with speed, focus, and adaptability. We treat every plan like an experiment – test, ship, measure, and iterate quickly.
Master Craftsperson: We care deeply about our craft. We balance speed with high standards, own outcomes end‑to‑end, and invest in getting better everyday.
Inspiring Colleague: We add clarity and energy, not noise. We bring humility, candor, and a one‑team mindset — giving and receiving feedback to make the team stronger.
At TRM, we care deeply about our craft. We are looking for individuals who want their work to matter, who experiment with speed and rigor, and who take pride in building a safer world for billions of people. If you’re excited by TRM’s mission but don’t check every box, we encourage you to apply — we hire for slope, judgment, and the will to learn fast.
TRM is a Series C company with $220M in total funding, backed by Goldman Sachs, Bessemer, Y Combinator, Thoma Bravo, and others. Headquartered in San Francisco, TRM operates as a distributed-first company with hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., London, and Singapore.
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We collect the information you provide (such as your resume, work history, and contact details) solely for the purpose of evaluating your candidacy for current and future roles at TRM.
Because our hiring cycles for certain positions may span 24 to 36 months, we retain your personal information for up to 36 months from the date of your application. After that period, your data is deleted unless a different retention period is required or permitted by law.
If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with applicable data protection laws, you have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data at any time before that period ends. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected].
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The use of AI tools of any kind (including but not limited to notetakers, interview assistants, and real-time coaching tools such as Otter.ai, Fireflies, Fathom, Cluey, or similar) during TRM interviews is not permitted without prior approval from TRM. TRM uses its own internal tools for note-taking to ensure a consistent and confidential experience for all candidates.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this form.
TRM Labs does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to TRM employees. TRM Labs is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes and will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company without a signed agreement.
TRM Labs provides blockchain intelligence tools for financial institutions, crypto businesses, and government agencies to detect and investigate crypto-related financial crime and fraud. It analyzes blockchain activity using data engineering, data science, and threat intelligence to surface risk signals, enable investigations, and support compliance workflows. Its products combine on-chain and off-chain data, risk scoring, and case management through subscription services and customized solutions. Compared to others, TRM Labs serves a diverse client base (banks, exchanges, regulators) and emphasizes end-to-end investigative capabilities and tailored risk insights rather than generic analytics. The company’s goal is to improve the security and integrity of the global financial system by reducing illicit activity in the crypto space.
Explore more opportunities at TRM Labs