Staff Software Engineer, Exchange Platform

As a Staff Backend Engineer on Robinhood's Exchange Platform team, you will define the technical vision, long-term architectural roadmap, and engineering standards for platform modernization. You serve as a primary technical leader across the Bitstamp exchange ecosystem, architecting the next generation of cloud infrastructure for mission-critical, low-latency services, driving complex distributed systems integrations, and elevating the technical bar across Robinhood. Bitstamp, the world's first regulated crypto exchange founded in 2011, is now a key part of the Robinhood family, and you will help ensure it remains unshakeable as we enable global expansion.

What you'll do

• Architect and define the long-term vision for high-availability, low-latency cloud platforms, setting engineering standards that ensure performance, reliability, and portability across the global ecosystem
• Spearhead multi-quarter modernization initiatives, driving the transition of foundational services to resilient, containerized cloud environments while optimizing deployment pipelines and auto-scaling patterns
• Lead the technical alignment and distributed architecture bridging Bitstamp's exchange backend with Robinhood's global infrastructure, solving complex cross-organization technical challenges
• Anticipate future scalability bottlenecks and architect self-healing systems and intelligent automation that reduce operational load and boost developer velocity
• Take end-to-end accountability for ambiguous, high-impact technical initiatives, navigating complex trade-offs between speed, resilience, cost, and maintainability
• Mentor and elevate senior engineers, lead architectural design reviews, and establish engineering best practices that raise the bar across the organization
• Act as a senior escalation point for high-severity incidents, lead rigorous post-mortems, and institute systemic safeguards to ensure 24/7 platform integrity
• Participate in an on-call rotation to support business needs

What you bring

• 8+ years of relevant experience in backend and distributed systems engineering, with a proven track record operating as a technical lead or Staff-level engineer in high-scale environments
• Advanced architectural expertise with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) and enterprise-scale AWS cloud services (EC2, ECS/EKS, Aurora, DynamoDB)
• Deep understanding of high-concurrency, low-latency backend architectures, event-driven systems, fault tolerance, and data consistency models
• Demonstrated ability to take ambiguous, organization-wide problems from inception to production, successfully delivering high-impact business outcomes
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to build technical consensus, influence cross-functional roadmaps, and align senior engineering and product stakeholders across multiple geographies
• A pragmatic, systems-thinking mindset that balances forward-looking architectural evolution with the operational realities of supporting a 24/7 financial exchange

What we offer

• Performance-driven compensation with multipliers for outsized impact and bonus programs
• Top-tier benefits including supplemental health insurance, ancillary insurance, and mental health support programs
• Access to the best AI tools on the market and continuous AI skill-building for all employees
• Lifestyle wallet, a highly flexible employer-paid benefits spending account for wellness, childcare, learning, and more
• Time off including company holidays, paid time off, sick time, paid volunteer time off, and parental leave
• Exceptional office experience with catered meals, events, and comfortable workspaces
• Monthly commuter stipend to help offset in-office commuting costs

This role is based in the Ljubljana, Slovenia office, with in-person attendance expected at least 3 days per week. Total Rewards vary by region and entity.

About Robinhood

Robinhood's mission is to democratize finance for all. The Exchange Platform team, encompassing Bitstamp (the world's first regulated crypto exchange, founded in 2011), owns the full service lifecycle and builds modern, high-velocity infrastructure enabling global expansion.