Lead Software Engineer, Payments

Who We Are

The Solana Foundation is a non-profit based in Zug, Switzerland, dedicated to the adoption, decentralization, and security of the Solana network. Solana is a high performance blockchain that can deliver a fast and friendly user experience, without sacrificing security. The Solana Foundation is working to realize a world where individuals own their data, use permissionless networks, and transfer information and value freely around the world. We are looking for talented people who are willing to jump right in and use their expertise to help the ecosystem build.

What We Do

The Ecosystem Engineering team is a horizontal team of strategically deployed engineers that live at the intersection of business, technology, and innovation in the Solana ecosystem. We support teams small and large by providing technical guidance, architecture review, and maximize our leverage by driving adoption of technical public goods through code and coordination.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a lead engineer to own the payments and stablecoins domain for the Solana ecosystem. You'll define and drive the technical roadmap for payments on Solana, establish yourself as the go-to expert for payments infrastructure, and coordinate across ecosystem teams to ensure Solana becomes the default rail for global payments.

To be successful in this role

You will be

• •Driving standards adoption: lead the creation and ecosystem-wide adoption of standards for onchain payments, stablecoin integrations, and traditional finance connectivity

• •Compliance and regulatory tooling for stablecoins

• •Agentic and automated payment flows

• •Solana Pay evolution

• •Cross-border payment corridors

• •Serving as the payments expert: be the authoritative technical voice on payments for the Solana Foundation internally, with ecosystem teams, and publicly

• •Building strategic relationships: cultivate deep technical relationships with key payments infrastructure providers, stablecoin issuers, and fintech companies

• •Supporting high-priority opportunities: provide hands-on technical leadership for tier-1 payments integrations, working directly with business development on strategic deals

• •Mentoring and elevating others: raise the bar for payments expertise across the ecosystem engineering team and broader ecosystem

You ideally have

• •6+ years of software engineering experience with 3+ years focused on payments or financial infrastructure

• •Proven track record of defining and executing technical roadmaps

• •Deep expertise in payment systems, whether onchain, traditional rails (ACH, SWIFT, card networks), or both

• •Experience with Rust, Typescript, or other performant languages in production environments

• •Strong opinions on how blockchain technology will reshape global payments, backed by hands-on experience

• •Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence technical direction across organizations

Bonus points

• •Experience working with the Solana protocol

• •Deep understanding of correspondent banking, cross-border payments, and remittance corridors

• •Relationships with major payment processors, stablecoin issuers, or fintech infrastructure providers

• •Experience with compliance tooling, travel rule implementations, or regulatory frameworks for digital assets

• •Track record of shipping widely-adopted standards or specifications

• •Experience leading or mentoring other team members