Design, build, and operate scalable distributed backend systems and services end to end. Integrate Web3 protocols, blockchain networks, and smart contracts while ensuring reliability, security, performance, observability, and code quality. Collaborate with product teams and API clients to shape solutions, contribute to technical discussions, mentor engineers, and use AI throughout the development workflow.
We're looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to join our backend team at Zerion.
This team builds and evolves the backend systems at the core of our products and customer-facing solutions.
In this role, you'll design and operate distributed systems, work with Web3 infrastructure, and collaborate closely with product, support, and the clients building on our API to deliver reliable, scalable solutions.
We value strong ownership, thoughtful system design, and a high bar for code quality.
If you enjoy building solid systems, moving fast without cutting corners, and using AI as a core part of how you work, you'll feel right at home with us.
This team builds and evolves the backend systems at the core of our products and customer-facing solutions.
In this role, you'll design and operate distributed systems, work with Web3 infrastructure, and collaborate closely with product, support, and the clients building on our API to deliver reliable, scalable solutions.
We value strong ownership, thoughtful system design, and a high bar for code quality.
If you enjoy building solid systems, moving fast without cutting corners, and using AI as a core part of how you work, you'll feel right at home with us.
What You’ll Do
- Design, build, and maintain scalable distributed backend systems powering platform and product capabilities.
- Own backend services end-to-end: from architecture and implementation to monitoring and long-term reliability.
- Take part in the team's on-call rotation. When a service breaks in production, you respond, find the cause, fix it, and make sure it doesn't happen again.
- Work closely with product and engineering peers to actively shape product decisions — not just execute specs.
- Scope solutions with the clients building on our API: turn a vague request into a concrete proposal, and the proposal into a plan the team can build.
- Build and evolve Web3 platform backend components, including protocol integrations, support for newly emerging blockchain networks, and reliable interactions with smart contracts.
- Ensure high standards of code quality, performance, security, and observability.
- Operate comfortably in a fast-paced startup environment, balancing speed and correctness.
- Use AI as a core part of your engineering workflow — designing, reviewing, debugging and shipping with it. This is how the team works day to day, not an experiment we're running.
- Contribute to technical discussions, reviews, and mentorship within the engineering team.
What We’re Looking For
- 5+ years of experience designing and building distributed backend systems.
- Strong knowledge of algorithms, data structures, and software design patterns.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced startup environment.
- Strong desire to actively contribute to product evolution, not just implementation.
- Comfortable working directly with customers — hearing a vague problem and coming back with a concrete proposal.
- Hands-on, daily use of AI in your engineering work. You should be able to talk concretely about where it has changed how you build, and where you've learned not to trust it.
- High standards for code quality, system reliability, and user experience — you care about getting it right, not just getting it done.
- Strong ownership mindset — you take responsibility for outcomes, not just tasks.
- Clear and proactive communication in a distributed team.
- Pragmatic decision-making: knowing when to move fast vs. go deep.
- Ability to learn quickly and adapt.
Technical Skill Set
- Excellent knowledge of Golang is a plus, not a blocker.
- Experience with containerized systems: Docker & Kubernetes.
- Experience with databases:
- SQL: Postgres
- NoSQL: MongoDB, Cassandra
- Experience with monitoring and observability tools: Sentry, Prometheus, Grafana.
- Hands-on experience with AWS (Amazon Web Services).
- Experience with Python 3.
- Comfort experimenting with and integrating AI-assisted workflows into daily engineering work.
Bonus Points
- Hands-on Web3 experience: Blockchain systems, dApps, Smart contracts.
- Prior experience in a startup environment that emphasizes trust and autonomy.
- Located in time zones close to Europe for smoother collaboration.
- Collaborative mindset and respect for different perspectives.
- Curiosity and willingness to challenge existing solutions when better ones exist.
Interview Process
- Screening Call – 30 minutes
- Hiring Manager Interview – up to 60 minutes
- Technical Interview – up to 60 minutes
- System Design Interview – up to 90 minutes
- Team Interview – up to 60 minutes
- Founders Call – up to 60 minutes
- Reference Check
Why You Should Join
Company Overview
Zerion API
Trusted by 50+ top crypto and fintech brands
Powering 2k+ active clients monthly
Over 10B total requests processed
A lean, senior AI-native team shipping at outsized scale
Zerion Wallet
1.7M+ active funded wallets
27.6M+ transactions
2.5B+ transaction volume
416K+ unique holders of Zerion DNA NFT
Culture: Our culture shines through in our strong team engagement and impressive retention, showing just how much we value creating a workplace where people truly want to stay and thrive.
People: Collaborate with some of the most driven and intelligent individuals in the crypto space.
Salary & Benefits: Receive a competitive salary, medical insurance, coworking membership, and additional benefits.
Unlimited Days Off and Flexible Work Schedule: Recharge and explore life outside the office with our flexible time-off policy and work schedule.
Remote Work Essentials: We provide all the necessary software and equipment to ensure you're fully equipped to work from home comfortably and efficiently.
Stock Options: Contribute to Zerion's success and watch your stock options become valuable.
Travel: Connect with your teammates around the world at industry events and our annual team offsite.
Distributed Team: Zerion is a fully remote team with members worldwide. Embrace asynchronous collaboration, find your own work rhythm, and enjoy a healthy work-life balance.
To ALL recruitment agencies and individual recruiters: Zerion only accepts resumes from its partners, with whom Zerion has contractual relations. Zerion is not responsible for any fees or charges associated with unsolicited resumes.
We read every application in full before moving forward - as part of that, please include the word WATERMELON somewhere in your answer to the application question below
Similar Jobs
Big Data • Fintech • Mobile • Payments • Financial Services
Own and deliver quarterly engineering goals for Affirm’s ML Feature Platform. Design, develop, and launch scalable backend systems, lead engineers through ambiguous problems, collaborate with product and design stakeholders, improve platform reliability and availability, support on-call operations, establish quality standards, and mentor team members. The role focuses on highly available distributed systems supporting machine learning feature creation, storage, serving, and offline backfilling.
Top Skills:
AWSKotlinKubernetesMySQLPython
Big Data • Fintech • Mobile • Payments • Financial Services
Own and deliver goals for ML training and serving infrastructure. Lead engineers through ambiguous, distributed-systems challenges; design, develop, and operate highly available backend platforms; monitor reliability and support on-call operations. Collaborate with product and engineering stakeholders, improve code and design standards, identify and resolve technical issues, and mentor team members. The role focuses on scalable systems that enable production model training and serving.
Top Skills:
AWSKotlinKubernetesMySQLPython
Big Data • Fintech • Mobile • Payments • Financial Services
Own backend engineering goals for Consumer Engineering, lead delivery of scalable systems, collaborate with product, design, and analytics, improve reliability and code quality, resolve technical and business issues, support on-call operations, and mentor engineers.
Top Skills:
AWSKotlinKubernetesMySQLPython
What you need to know about the Chicago Tech Scene
With vibrant neighborhoods, great food and more affordable housing than either coast, Chicago might be the most liveable major tech hub. It is the birthplace of modern commodities and futures trading, a national hub for logistics and commerce, and home to the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association. This diverse blend of industry influences has helped Chicago emerge as a major player in verticals like fintech, biotechnology, legal tech, e-commerce and logistics technology. It’s also a major hiring center for tech companies on both coasts.
Key Facts About Chicago Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 245,800; 5.2% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: McDonald’s, John Deere, Boeing, Morningstar
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, fintech, software, logistics technology
- Funding Landscape: $2.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Arch Venture Partners, MATH Venture Partners, Jump Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Institute of Technology, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
