Senior Staff Backend Engineer

Senior Staff Backend Engineer

Location: Manhattan, New York

Onsite | Full-time

We are hiring on behalf of our client who is the development powerhouse behind one of the largest and most high-traffic platforms in the digital asset space. Currently processing ~$1B in daily volume, their technology stack handles low-latency, high-throughput, and constant load at a scale few companies ever reach.

The Role

In this role, you will act as a technical anchor, overseeing the integrity and evolution of their core backend systems. You will balance high-level architectural governance with deep-tier execution, driving technical excellence from the front. Your primary focus will be the proactive mitigation of scaling risks and the design of durable, fault-tolerant systems capable of sustaining high-throughput workloads.

What You’ll Do:

• Own & Execute: Directly write and ship production code across core services, owning the design and implementation of high-scale distributed systems.
• Architect for Scale: Make principled decisions that balance rapid iteration with long-term scalability and maintainability.
• Drive Initiatives: Lead multi-service projects spanning storage, compute, APIs, and blockchain infrastructure.
• Set the Standard: Establish patterns for observability, reliability, and performance tuning while raising the engineering bar through design reviews and RFCs.
• Technical Leadership: Act as a technical anchor during incidents and mentor senior peers through technical depth and clarity of thought.
• Optimize Velocity: Improve internal developer experience by evolving tooling, CI/CD pipelines, and service abstractions.

They are looking for a high-agency engineer who shapes direction by building. This role requires a rare blend of deep technical intuition and the ability to thrive in a high-intensity environment.

• Experience: 10+ years of backend engineering experience, having navigated multiple cycles of building and operating distributed systems in production.
• Technical Depth: Expertise in Rust, Go, or TypeScript, paired with a strong intuition for systems-level engineering.
• Systems Design: Mastery of distributed systems (consensus, failure modes, replication, consistency models) and complex data modeling.
• Problem Solving: Proven ability to own ambiguous, cross-cutting problems that span multiple teams and services.
• Leadership: Recognized as a technical authority by peers; you lead through execution and technical excellence rather than just management.
• Culture Fit: You thrive in an in-person, high-intensity environment with unconventional hours and high expectations.
• Bonus: Direct experience within the crypto/blockchain ecosystem.

They offer a high-performance environment where impact is immediate and autonomy is the default.

• Compensation: Competitive salary with equity and performance bonuses.
• Unmatched Autonomy: The freedom to own your work and make foundational decisions without bureaucratic friction.
• Extreme Scale: Gain exposure to systems operating at the absolute edge of crypto-native throughput and volume.
• Rapid Impact: Ship fast and see your work used by a massive global audience in real-time.
  
  

Due to the high volume of applications we anticipate, we regret that we are unable to provide individual feedback to all candidates. If you do not hear back from us within 4 weeks of your application, please assume that you have not been successful on this occasion. We genuinely appreciate your interest and wish you the best in your job search.

Commitment to Equality and Accessibility:

At MLabs, we are committed to offer equal opportunities to all candidates. We ensure no discrimination, accessible job adverts, and providing information in accessible formats. Our goal is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace with equal opportunities for all. If you need any reasonable adjustments during any part of the hiring process or you would like to see the job-advert in an accessible format please let us know at the earliest opportunity by emailing human-resources@mlabs.city.

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