Bullish
Principal Engineer, CoinDesk Data Engineering
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Principal Engineer, CoinDesk Data Engineering
Director of Engineering, CoinDesk Data Engineering
About Us
Bullish is an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. This includes:
- Bullish Exchange – A regulated and institutionally focused digital assets spot and derivatives exchange, integrating a high-performance central limit order book matching engine with automated market making to provide deep and predictable liquidity. Regulated in Germany, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar.
- CoinDesk Indices – A collection of tradable proprietary and single-asset benchmarks and indices tracking digital asset performance for global institutions in digital assets and traditional finance.
- CoinDesk Data – A suite of digital assets market data and analytics, providing real-time insights into prices, trends, and market dynamics.
- CoinDesk Insights – A digital asset media and events provider and operator of Coindesk.com – a platform covering news, insights, and developments in digital assets, policy, and blockchain technology.
About the Role
Reports to: Director, Engineering, CoinDesk
Engineering Organisation & Culture
At CoinDesk, we go beyond reporting on the future of money—we help shape it. As the global leader in crypto news, indices, and events, we provide the transparency and context the world needs to understand the digital asset revolution.
Our mission is built on a shared vision of informing, educating, and connecting the global community. This impact is amplified by our collaboration with Bullish, a regulated, institutional-grade exchange known for its technological innovation. Our engineers share Bullish’s core belief in the transformative power of digital assets.
We value craftsmanship in development, welcoming problem solvers who can navigate ambiguity, structure complex challenges, and shape long-term frameworks. We refuse to compromise on quality and seek engineers who thrive on high-impact technical challenges.
The Team: CoinDesk Data Engineering
The CoinDesk Data Engineering Team builds the high-performance infrastructure behind the world’s most trusted crypto market data. Our work includes:
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- Processing over 26 billion monthly requests for real-time market insights.
- Automating data extraction and normalization from global exchanges.
- Serving high-throughput data via:
- REST APIs
- WebSocket streaming
- Direct client deliveries
- Operating mission-critical infrastructure, including:
- Calculating flagship indices (powering some of the largest crypto ETFs).
- Bridging creative innovation with institutional-grade stability.
As a core part of the global leader in crypto news and indices, our work provides the transparency and context that helps shape the future of money.
What You’ll Do
- Drive Technical Evolution:
- Develop and champion a long-term technical roadmap uniting our existing services (internal, external, REST, streaming) into a unified, scalable architectural vision.
- Architect for the Future:
- Lead the design of resilient, high-throughput systems, ensuring solutions are robust, secure, and standards-setting for future development.
- Tackle Foundational Challenges:
- Be the technical point person for cross-team challenges, including:
- Ensuring data resiliency
- Maintaining uptime
- Evolving client-facing infrastructure without service interruptions
- Be the technical point person for cross-team challenges, including:
- Elevate Engineering Excellence:
- Mentor senior engineers in advanced architectural patterns, trade-off analysis, and operational best practices.
- Foster a culture of technical curiosity and ownership.
- Champion Cross-Cutting Initiatives:
- Identify and lead engineering-wide improvements in:
- Observability
- Developer tooling
- Testing strategies
- Performance and reliability enhancements.
- Identify and lead engineering-wide improvements in:
What You’ll Bring
Essential Requirements
- Principal-Level Experience (8+ years):
- Backend development with a proven track record in a Staff or Principal role where you led the technical direction of multiple services.
- Expertise in Distributed Systems:
- Hands-on experience in synchronous (REST APIs) and asynchronous (WebSockets, Kafka/Kafka Streams, RabbitMQ, event streams) communication patterns.
- Operational Resilience:
- Experience with High Availability, Disaster Recovery (HA/DR), or financial-grade reliability for 24/7 global systems.
- Pragmatic Polyglot:
- Fluent in multiple production languages, with expertise in Node.js or Go.
- Strategic Buy vs. Build:
- Ability to evaluate third-party vendors vs. in-house solutions for core data infrastructure, ensuring cost-efficiency and performance.
- Data-Intensive Application Expertise:
- Deep experience with modern databases (e.g., Redis, PostgreSQL), including:
- Schema design
- Query optimization
- Performance tuning for high-throughput workloads.
- Deep experience with modern databases (e.g., Redis, PostgreSQL), including:
- Full Lifecycle Ownership:
- Strong DevSecOps mindset, with expertise in:
- CI/CD pipelines
- Infrastructure-as-code (IaC)
- Observability (monitoring, logging, tracing, APM).
- Strong DevSecOps mindset, with expertise in:
- Quality as a Feature:
- Commitment to comprehensive testing (unit, integration, end-to-end, performance) to ensure system reliability.
- Influence & Collaboration:
- Exceptional communication skills with expertise in:
- Influencing technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Articulating complex architectural decisions.
- Building consensus across cross-functional teams.
- Exceptional communication skills with expertise in:
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Nice to Haves
- Cloud Architecture:
- Experience designing and deploying on AWS, Azure, or GCP.
- Blockchain Expertise:
- Deep understanding of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, or decentralized systems.
- Financial Market Knowledge:
- Background in traditional finance, trading systems, or investment platforms.
- Containerisation & Deployment:
- Proficiency with Docker and Kubernetes.
- Observability:
- Hands-on experience with Prometheus, Datadog, Jaeger, or OpenTelemetry.
- Data Governance:
- Experience with GDPR/CCPA compliance or regulated financial environments.
Additional Information
- Location: Applicant must have the right to work in the UK.
- Culture & Values:
- Bullish is an equal opportunity employer, committed to fostering a globally diverse and inclusive community.
- Success is driven by integrity and the diverse perspectives of our team.
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