Kraken
Senior Software Engineer - C++ - Trading Technologies
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Senior Backend Systems Engineer – Low-Latency Trading Messaging (C++) at Payward (Kraken Exchange Team)
About the Role
Building the Future of Open Finance
Payward – the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services, and CF Benchmarks – has spent the last 15 years developing one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, designed to foster an open, global financial system.
We encourage you to explore our culture page before applying to understand what drives us and how we operate.
The Team
Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world’s longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services—tailored for both retail and institutional clients.
Join our Exchange team and start shaping the internet of money. The team manages everything related to the trading backend, including:
- Matching engine
- Market data gateways
- Internal and external APIs
- Margin systems
- Other trading-related services
Globally distributed, the team split into sub-teams, each contributing to distinct projects using C++, Go, Rust, and Python.
This role is within the Trading Technologies sub-team, responsible for the messaging and transport layer—the backbone of Kraken’s trading infrastructure. Built using Aeron for ultra-low-latency, reliable UDP messaging, your work will directly impact the systems handling market data, orders, and trade events at sub-millisecond scale.
The Opportunity
You will:
- Develop and maintain the core framework and critical software components for the Kraken trading engine, with a focus on the Aeron-based messaging transport layer
- Design and implement low-latency, high-availability messaging solutions across unicast, multicast, and IPC transport paths
- Configure profiles and tune the system stack—CPU pinning, NUMA topology, kernel bypass, and receive buffer sizing—to optimize latency on production infrastructure
- Extend Aeron Archive integrations for durable message replay and stream persistence
- Build and design security and risk-mitigation solutions for systems and data protection
- Write reusable, testable, and efficient code
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams and contribute to the product roadmap
- Engage with globally distributed teams by leveraging soft skills for effective stakeholder communication
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What You Bring
Technical Experience & Skills
- 5+ years working with modern C++
- Prior experience with Linux-based:
- Distributed or highly-concurrent systems
- Low-latency or high-volume transaction environments
- Deep knowledge of low-latency systems fundamentals:
- Lock-free data structures
- Mechanical sympathy (hardware awareness in code)
- Cache-line discipline
- Busy-spin vs. park/wake tradeoffs
- Strong preference for experience with:
- Aeron or similar messaging technologies (e.g., Chronicle Queue, ZeroMQ, LMAX Disruptor)
- UDP networking, multicast, and kernel-bypass techniques (e.g., DPDK, RDMA)
- SBE (Simple Binary Encoding) or comparable zero-copy serialization formats (a plus)
- Code profiling & optimization (e.g., perf, flamegraphs, VTune)
- High-level proficiency in Python, Rust, and SQL strongly recommended
- Familiarity with order types, trading systems, and financial products (desirable)
- Knowledge of cryptocurrency/blockchain (preferable)
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Mindset & Behavior
- Proactive, go-getter mindset with the ability to prioritize tasks and meet strict deadlines
- Must have a BS (or equivalent) in technical or quantitative disciplines
About Payward
Payward is a global team celebrating diversity in backgrounds, talents, and perspectives. We hire for skill—not just credentials—and encourage applications from candidates who may not fully meet all requirements, especially those passionate about crypto.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
We are an equal-opportunity employer, committed to discouraging discrimination based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, orientation, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as defined by federal, state, or local laws.
Criminal history assessments follow San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance. Contact us to learn more.
Next Steps
Applications are considered on a ongoing basis, unless specified otherwise by a stated deadline.
Candidate Considerations
- Resumes may be redacted or adjusted to remove personal information (age, date of birth, educational gaps, etc.)
- You may complete job-related skills assessments as part of the application process. These evaluate competency and are applied fairly alongside your profile.
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