Senior Software Engineer, Backend - Platform (Payment Rails)

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join the Payment Rails team within Coinbase's Platform organization. Payment Rails is the foundational infrastructure that powers how money moves at Coinbase—processing fiat deposits, withdrawals, and transfers across payment methods, gateways, and banking integrations at scale. You'll design and build the low-latency, high-throughput backend services that ensure every transaction is fast, secure, and reliable, directly enabling millions of customers to move value seamlessly across the Coinbase ecosystem and beyond.

What you’ll be doing (ie. job duties):

• Design and build scalable payment systems that process millions of transactions daily—developing APIs, services, and integrations that power deposits, withdrawals, and fund transfers across multiple payment methods and rails.
• Own backend services end-to-end from architecture through production—writing high-quality, well-tested code and operating services that must be correct, auditable, and reliable in a real-time financial environment.
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Design, Compliance, and Finance to translate complex payment requirements into robust, scalable technical solutions that balance speed, safety, and regulatory compliance.
• Drive technical vision and execution by working with engineers, product managers, and senior leadership to shape the long-term roadmap for Payment Rails—identifying opportunities to improve reliability, reduce latency, and scale our systems.
• Integrate with internal and external partners including banking systems, payment processors, and teams across Coinbase (e.g., FinHub, Ledger, Risk) to ensure seamless money movement across the platform.
• Contribute to engineering excellence by mentoring teammates, participating in design reviews, and helping build a strong, inclusive, and high-performing engineering culture.

 

What we look for in you (ie. job requirements):

• 5+ years of experience in backend software engineering, with demonstrated experience building high-volume, low-latency distributed systems.
• Strong coding skills in Go (preferred) or similar languages, with solid understanding of relational databases, transactions, and data consistency.
• Experience designing and operating production services at scale—including monitoring, alerting, incident response, and performance optimization.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, APIs, and system design principles—you can decompose complex problems into well-structured, service-oriented architectures.
• Proven ability to collaborate across teams and functions, driving alignment with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• You're passionate about building an open financial system that brings the world together.
• Demonstrates the ability to responsibly use generative AI tools and copilots (e.g., LibreChat, Gemini, Glean) in daily workflows, continuously learn as tools evolve, and apply human-in-the-loop practices to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in efficiency, cos