Job Description for Senior Backend Engineer at Ethena Labs - Globally Remote
Who We Are:
Ethena Labs is at the forefront of the next wave of DeFi, dedicated to building products for modern finance. Ethena is a synthetic dollar protocol built on Ethereum that provides a crypto-native solution for money, USDe, alongside a globally accessible dollar savings asset, sUSDe.
Our core mission is to provide truly crypto-native financial solutions that are globally accessible and bridge the gap between TradFi and the digital asset economy. We believe in transparency, efficiency, and empowering both individuals and institutions with greater control over their assets.
What we are Doing:
Ethena Labs is actively building and deploying a suite of groundbreaking products designed to address key challenges and unlock new opportunities within the digital finance landscape.
Our flagship product, USDe, is a synthetic dollar backed by digital assets, and takes the novel approach of using a delta-neutral hedging strategy to maintain its peg. This provides a truly scalable and censorship-resistant digital dollar.
Building upon USDe, we offer sUSDe. sUSDe provides crypto-native rewards generated from funding rates in derivatives markets, offering an alternative to existing products tethered to the traditional financial system.
Furthermore, we are actively developing solutions to facilitate institutional adoption of digital assets. In partnership with Securitize and Blackrocks BUIDL fund, USDtb provides a more traditional, asset-backed stablecoin option, leveraging established financial infrastructure to appeal to institutional clients. Expanding on this, iUSDe is designed specifically for traditional financial institutions, incorporating necessary compliance features to enable them to access the crypto-native rewards our protocol generates, in an institutional-friendly manner.
Finally, our most ambitious undertaking to date is Converge, our joint blockchain initiative with Securitize. This hybrid blockchain is designed to be the nexus where DeFi meets the needs of CeFi and TradFi. Converge aims to be a primary issuance layer for tokenised assets, integrating seamlessly with existing DeFi protocols to provide institutions with an environment to participate in the decentralised economy.
Through these offerings, Ethena Labs is not just creating new financial products; we are building the foundational infrastructure for a more open, efficient, and interconnected global financial system.
Join us!!
Location: European or Asian Time Zone
The Role
As a Senior Engineer you’ll contribute to the design, development, and scaling of our core products and engineering systems. You’ll play a key role on our Product Engineering team, covering all user-facing systems for hundreds of thousands of users. The role has a strong emphasis on backend architecture and integrations. You will be responsible for enhancing the reliability, performance, and maintainability of our services, including points programs, mint/redeem APIs, security systems, websites, databases, and internal dashboards. By leading key automation and resiliency efforts, you will help us meet our OKRs, reduce bottlenecks, and free up leadership to focus on strategic initiatives and new product research.
What You’ll Do
- Strengthen our backend infrastructure and scalability by refactoring and optimizing existing Python-based systems.
- Develop and maintain robust, secure, and well-documented APIs for asset minting/redeeming and other core functions.
- Handle a continuous flow of new integration requests, automating where possible to streamline the process.
- Improve system reliability and security through automated failover, robust error handling, and implementing security features.
- Collaborate closely with the other members of the product engineering team to deliver new features efficiently and on time.
- Mentor fellow engineers on backend best practices, including scalable architecture and database management.
- Drive engineering excellence and automation by establishing modern development processes, including CI/CD pipelines and automated testing.
- Contribute to ongoing system audits and post-mortems to ensure the platform is future-proofed against growing user and transaction volumes.
What We’re Looking For
- Deep knowledge of backend development, including building scalable APIs, data pipelines, and integrations. We are Python heavy
- Experience in API development (e.g., REST/GraphQL) with a focus on security, reliability, and ease of extension.
- Proficiency in database design and optimisation (SQL/NoSQL) for high-performance environments.
- An understanding of DevOps and infrastructure (AWS/GCP, Docker/Kubernetes, CI/CD).
- Experience scaling systems to handle increasing loads, including latency reduction and resource optimization.
- A proactive and curious problem-solver who can adapt to a fast-paced environment and make data-driven decisions.
- Strong collaboration and mentorship skills.
- If not already having an understanding of crypto-native concepts (e.g., asset minting/redeeming, airdrop systems), a desire and willingness to learn it quickly.
Why Ethena Labs?
Join a forward-thinking, crypto-native company with a mission to revolutionize decentralized finance.
Work alongside a passionate and innovative team that values collaboration and creativity.
Enjoy a flexible, remote-friendly work environment with opportunities for growth and learning.
If you subscribe to the mission of separating the dollar from the state, then we want to hear from you!
We look forward to receiving your application and will be in touch after having a chance to review.
In the meantime, here are some links to more information about Ethena Labs to help you check us out:
This job opportunity is part of Scouthappy's curated collection of remote jobs open to African talent. Apply now to join a global team.
