Senior Backend Engineer - Systems & Infrastructure

New York City (4 days/week in-office) $220,000 – $275,000 base + equity About the Company A profitable, venture-backed startup building differentiated products and core infrastructure in decentralized finance. The company operates one of the leading on-chain exchanges in its category — processing tens of billions in trading volume since launching in 2023 — and is one of the most active on-chain market makers in crypto. The team is small, technically elite, and has remained low-profile while achieving top-10 market positioning. Engineering talent comes from Stripe, Jane Street, Akuna Capital, and Solana Labs. The company is expanding its product surface significantly, including into perpetual futures and a new Layer 2 blockchain. This is a ground-floor opportunity to join a profitable, well-capitalized team at an inflection point. About the Role We're looking for a strong generalist backend engineer — senior to staff level — to join the core engineering team. This is a systems and infrastructure role, not a quant or trading role. The primary bar is exceptional CS fundamentals and system design ability. You'll own complex initiatives end-to-end, architect systems from the ground up, and work closely with engineering leadership in a fast-moving, high-ownership environment. What You'll Do Build and maintain core backend infrastructure across the platform Design and implement high-performance, reliable systems under real production constraints Own initiatives from design through launch and ongoing reliability Collaborate directly with engineering and leadership on architecture decisions Adapt quickly to evolving requirements in a lean, fast-shipping team What We're Looking For 7+ years of experience building and maintaining production-grade software systems Exceptional CS fundamentals and system design skills — this is the primary evaluation criterion Demonstrated ability to lead projects, architect systems end-to‑end, and operate independently on complex work Consistent job tenure — stable career history with meaningful time at each company Proficiency in one or more of: Rust, C++, C, Go, Python, TypeScript Low-level programming experience (systems, compilers, databases, networking) — this is a significant differentiator Experience with blockchain technology Interest in DeFi and trading systems (intellectual curiosity valued; passion not required) TradFi or crypto background What We're Not Looking For Candidates whose experience is limited to general web backend without systems or infrastructure depth Jumpy backgrounds or flat career trajectories Resumes that lead with a keyword list rather than specific ownership and impact Compensation & Logistics $220,000 – $275,000 base salary + equity New York City, 4 days/week in-office #J-18808-Ljbffr Syndesus, Inc.