Staff Software Enginer, Backend - Payments Platform
"What You'll Be Doing"
What You'll Be Doing
Own the multi-year technical strategy and architecture for the Payments platform, defining the roadmap for scaling integrations, routing, and funds-flow systems across global markets.
Build and evolve distributed systems that process high-volume payment traffic, designing for fault isolation, graceful degradation, observability, and clear SLOs for Tier-0/Tier-1 services.
Drive engineering quality by establishing paved roads, shared frameworks, and coding standards that raise the technical bar across the Payments team and adjacent orgs.
Partner cross-functionally with Product, Risk, Compliance, and Operations to translate ambiguous business requirements into well-scoped technical solutions that balance speed, safety, and regulatory needs.
Lead high-stakes scaling and reliability initiatives, anticipating bottlenecks before they occur and driving systematic improvements from incident postmortems.
Strengthen team capabilities through hands-on mentorship, design reviews, and architectural guidance that accelerate the growth of engineers across the team.
What We're Looking For
8+ years of experience in software engineering, including hands-on experience building payment systems, financial infrastructure, or high-volume transactional platforms.
Demonstrated track record of architecting and delivering fault-tolerant, highly reliable distributed systems at scale, with experience processing billions of dollars in transaction volume.
Experience leading platform-building efforts that transformed fragmented services into coherent, reusable systems (e.g., shared frameworks, unified APIs, multi-tenant architectures).
Proven experience owning production reliability, leading high-severity incident response, and driving systemic improvements across multiple teams or domains.
History of influencing technical direction across teams and organizations without direct authority, including representing your area in org-level architecture and strategy forums.
Uses generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.
Why Join Us
Annual base salary range of $218,025–$256,500 USD, excluding equity and bonus.
Total compensation may also include equity and bonus eligibility, and benefits such as medical, dental, vision, and 401(k).
About Coinbase
Coinbase is at the forefront of building a more open, accessible, and efficient financial system globally through blockchain technology. Our mission is to increase economic freedom in the world, and we do this by creating a reliable and easy-to-use platform that empowers individuals and institutions to participate in the burgeoning digital asset economy. We are committed to developing innovative tools and infrastructure that drive the future of finance, fostering a world where digital assets are universally understood and adopted. Our culture thrives on curiosity, collaboration, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. We believe in empowering our teams to take ownership, experiment with new ideas, and solve complex challenges with creativity and integrity. At Coinbase, you'll find a dynamic and inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are valued, and continuous learning is encouraged. We're building a future that demands bold thinking and a commitment to our shared vision. Joining Coinbase means contributing to a revolutionary shift in finance, working alongside some of the brightest minds in blockchain and technology. With 403 open positions, we offer unparalleled opportunities for professional growth, impact, and the chance to shape an industry from the ground up. If you're driven by a passion for innovation and want to build a world where economic freedom is a reality for everyone, explore career opportunities with us.
Ready to Apply?
To submit your application for this position, please visit Coinbase's official website and follow their application process.