Summary

The team

As a Software Engineer on the Prime Trading Desk, you will play a key role in building and maintaining the systems that power Kraken’s institutional trading operations. This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of finance and technology—collaborating directly with Traders, Quants, Product Managers, and cross-functional engineering teams. You will be responsible for designing, implementing, and optimizing backend services that are core to our trading infrastructure. Your work will have a direct impact on the performance, reliability, and scalability of mission-critical systems used to execute high-value trades in a fast-moving global market.

The opportunity

1. Collaborate with Traders, Quants, and Product Managers to deliver customized software solutions aligned with trading objectives
2. Design and implement scalable, high-performance, low-latency backend systems to support institutional trading workflows
3. Own end-to-end development of major features, including architecture, implementation, deployment, and monitoring
4. Write clean, maintainable, and testable code, with a focus on reliability and performance
5. Maintain and enhance continuously running services with high availability requirements
6. Integrate with third-party APIs (REST, FIX, WebSocket), normalizing and aggregating real-time market and trading data
7. Conduct thorough code reviews, identify bugs, and implement robust fixes to maintain production integrity

Skills you should HODL

1. 5+ years of backend engineering experience, ideally in trading, fintech, or financial services
2. 3+ years of hands-on experience with Go (Golang) in production environments
3. Strong command of SQL (MySQL, Postgres) and experience with caching/datastores such as Redis
4. Proven ability to work collaboratively with non-technical stakeholders in a fast-paced setting
5. Solid understanding of software architecture principles and system design

Nice to haves

1. Experience with Rust, C++, or Python for systems-level or quantitative development
2. Knowledge of gRPC and service-oriented architecture (SOA)
3. Proficiency in designing RESTful APIs and familiarity with OpenAPI/Swagger standards
4. Experience deploying services in containerized environments using Docker, Kubernetes, or Nomad
5. Familiarity with AWS services (e.g., S3, RDS) and infrastructure best practices
6. Prior experience in crypto, FX, or derivatives trading platforms
7. Background in building or maintaining trading systems or market data infrastructure

Skills

• C++
• Communications Skills
• Cryptocurrency
• Database Management
• Development
• Rust
• Software Engineering
• SQL
• Team Collaboration