Tech Lead/Staff Engineer, TBD

Founded in July 2021, TBD is one of Block's four business units, alongside Square, Cash App, and Tidal. At TBD, we believe in a decentralized future that returns ownership and control over your finances, data, and identity. Guided by this vision, TBD is building an open source platform and developer infrastructure that enables everyone to access and participate in the global economy.

TBD is inviting the world to join us in building and adopting open and decentralized technologies that solve real problems for real people — from next generation infrastructure that lowers the cost of global payments and enables frictionless commerce, to decentralized identity technologies that enable anyone to access and participate in the global economy. Our mission advances economic empowerment through the power of decentralized solutions, built open source and collaboratively.

The offerings we build will provide developers, institutions, and individuals with the capabilities needed to build the next wave of innovative apps and services, and access this decentralized future. We’re leveraging bitcoin and other decentralized technologies to reinvent the global financial system in an open and permissionless way to further Block’s mission of economic empowerment, with a global focus.

The legacy global payments system is slow, expensive, and exclusionary, with risk priced in as fees or exclusion from the system itself, hitting the most economically disadvantaged the hardest.  To address this, TBD is developing tbDEX, an open, interoperable protocol that provides a universal infrastructure and language for developers, enterprises, entrepreneurs, and governments to move value around the world in a more inclusive, efficient, and trusted way.  tbDEX unlocks frictionless payments, commerce, and liquidity; enables counterparties to establish mutual trust and compliance; and creates common standards and an open network that anyone can join, allowing financial institutions, consumer fintech apps, and identity verification providers to establish new services and benefit from an ever-growing network of participants.

TBD Engineering has a dual responsibility: developing open source standards and SDKs while also building and operating our own products.  These open source components are designed to facilitate the growth of the tbDEX ecosystem by simplifying integration for participants.  Additionally, TBD leverages these same components to develop our product offerings, such as liquidity nodes and compliance systems.

In 2024, TBD's focus is on the launch of our first products.  As a Technical Lead within TBD Engineering, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the systems design, software architecture, implementation, and operationalization of these products.  You will work closely with our business development, compliance, developer relations, and infrastructure teams to ensure the delivery of robust, secure, and compliant services that meet the needs of our customers and partners.

At TBD, we foster a low-ego, deliver-and-iterate philosophy where everyone's ideas are heard.  As a member of our engineering team, you will have the opportunity to make a significant impact on the future of global payments and financial inclusion.  If you are passionate about leveraging cutting-edge technologies to solve complex challenges and create a more accessible financial world, we encourage you to apply.

As a member of our engineering team you will collaborate with us to:

• Lead the team in delivering a reliable and maintainable financial services system to production.

• Collaborate closely with engineering leadership and cross-functional teams to define our roadmap and take ownership of delivery.

• Foster the growth of our development capabilities by leading, mentoring, and supporting fellow engineers.

• Establish best practices for production deployment, monitoring, and on-call support.

• Work alongside staff security engineers to implement secure development practices and ensure system security.

• Guide the selection, implementation, and integration of appropriate technologies, prioritizing efficiency, compatibility, and adaptability.

• Thrive in a fast-paced, startup-like environment within a nascent business unit.

• Effectively manage the integration and use of evolving open source projects.

• Contribute to TBD's mission of promoting financial accessibility and serving the global south.

You Have:

• 15+ years of experience developing production-grade systems and applications

• 10+ years of experience in cloud deployment, specifically with Kubernetes and AWS

• Proficient in Go programming language

• Experience in shaping technical strategy across multiple teams or organizations, with a demonstrated ability to drive company-wide standards in software engineering practices

• Proven ability to transition between individual contributor and technical leadership roles (preferably at both scaled and small companies)

• Strong operations skills and background, with experience running services in production

• Detail-oriented with a keen eye for quality software craftsmanship

• Rapid ability to learn and adapt to new technologies and concepts

• Skilled at handling a high degree of context switching and wearing multiple hats

Preferred Experience (all of the above, plus)

• Financial technology projects, cryptography, or blockchain.

• Programming languages such as JavaScript/TypeScript, Kotlin, or Rust

• Prior experience leading teams who build scaled products as a hands on manager of people

Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. U.S. locations are categorized into one of four zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Zone A: USD $239,600 - USD $359,400
Zone B: USD $239,600 - USD $359,400
Zone C: USD $239,600 - USD $359,400
Zone D: USD $239,600 - USD $359,400

Please talk with the Recruiter on this role about additional equity; this range reflects a single level for this hire, we have some flexibility to level this role up or down. 

To find a location’s zone designation, please refer to this resource. If a location of interest is not listed, please speak with a recruiter for additional information. 

Full-time employee benefits include the following:

• Healthcare coverage (Medical, Vision and Dental insurance)
• Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account
• Retirement Plans including company match 
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Wellness programs, including access to mental health, 1:1 financial planners, and a monthly wellness allowance 
• Paid parental and caregiving leave
• Paid time off (including 12 paid holidays)
• Paid sick leave (1 hour per 26 hours worked (max 80 hours per calendar year to the extent legally permissible) for non-exempt employees and covered by our Flexible Time Off policy for exempt employees) 
• Learning and Development resources
• Paid Life insurance, AD&D, and disability benefits 

These benefits are further detailed in Block's policies. This role is also eligible to participate in Block's equity plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies, and may be eligible for a sign-on bonus. Sales roles may be eligible to participate in a commission plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.

We’re working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is a proud equal opportunity employer. We work hard to evaluate all employees and job applicants consistently, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class. 

We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we’re doing to build a workplace that is fair and square? Check out our I+D page.

Block will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment in accordance with state and local laws and “fair chance” ordinances. Because the material duties of this role involve direct or indirect access to sensitive personal or financial data, a criminal background check is required following a contingent offer of employment.

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD, we build tools to help more people access the economy. Square helps sellers run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services. With Cash App, anyone can easily send, spend, or invest their money in stocks or Bitcoin. Spiral (formerly Square Crypto) builds and funds free, open-source Bitcoin projects. Artists use TIDAL to help them succeed as entrepreneurs and connect more deeply with fans. TBD is building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution.

While there is no specific deadline to apply for this role, on average, U.S. open roles are posted for 70 days before being filled by a successful candidate.