Principal Engineer

About Paradex

Paradex isn't just another decentralized exchange; it's the Everything Store for Finance. We've combined three powerful financial primitives—Exchange, Asset Management, and Borrow/Lend—all seamlessly composable and accessible through one unified account that uses your entire portfolio as collateral, including spot and derivative assets. Trade 250+ markets on a super exchange with zero fees, better-than-CEX liquidity, and institutional-grade privacy, all built on a blazingly fast blockchain.

Backed by top-tier investors and incubated by Paradigm, we're scaling fast and building a team of mission-driven engineers to redefine what's possible in decentralized finance. We have no product managers, no managers, no 1:1s at Paradex. No bullshit. Just code. You'll work directly with our CEO and a small, elite team of builders in the trenches every day, pushing the limits of performance and UX.

Fair warning: this is not an easy place to work. We will push you hard. But you'll grow faster than you thought possible, and you'll do some of the most meaningful, high-impact work of your life. You'll own what you ship end to end, tackle real technical challenges (not just UX tweaks), and help shape the future of decentralized finance. Join us on the frontline

Quick Facts

• $200+ Billion Lifetime Volume
• $1.2+ BiIlion Average Daily Volume
• $60+ Million Total Value Locked
• Paradex is committed to building transparently in public key platform stats

Your mission

As a key member of the product engineering team, you'll own the entire lifecycle of major features: from concept to launch. You will work closely with cross functional teams across the company. We're looking for someone with deep expertise in distributed systems and hands-on experience building on blockchain smart contract platforms. You'll work in a dynamic cross-functional team, driving high-impact features that directly benefit our users. Some projects will focus on enhancing the customer experience, while others will tackle the critical challenges of scalability, integrations, and performance optimizations.

What You'll Do

• Protocol Development: Design and implement a decentralized protocol for crypto derivatives trading, including developing, testing, and deploying systems and smart contracts.
• API and SDK Development: Design and develop APIs and SDKs to support robust trade execution services.
• System Monitoring: Own monitoring, alarming, analytics, and reporting for all services you build, ensuring they meet high performance and responsiveness standards.
• Effective Communication: Collaborate and communicate requirements effectively within and across teams to ensure alignment on project goals.

What You Bring

• Proven Experience: 8+ years of backend engineering experience, ideally from ideation to launch within a strong engineering team.
• Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge and hands-on experience with modern programming languages like Javascript, Python, Golang, Java, C++. Proficiency in basic cryptography and experience with Solidity for creating upgradeable smart contracts.
• Blockchain Proficiency: Hands-on experience building on blockchain platforms, comfortable with cloud-native AWS infrastructure and/or Kubernetes.
• Cryptocurrency Knowledge: Deep understanding of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and underlying technologies like blockchain, PoW, PoS, and L1/L2 technologies.
• Innovative Mindset: Interest in ZK-Rollups and cutting-edge blockchain technologies.

Your Perks & Benefits

• Competitive Pay: Top-tier compensation in the industry.
• Generous PTO: Unlimited vacation.
• Full Benefits: Comprehensive packages tailored by country.
• No manager 1:1s and no bullshit meetings.