Head of Exchange Infrastructure

Kraken

1d • $177,400 - $395,100

About The Position

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, is seeking a Head of Exchange Infrastructure to own and lead the development of the core exchange layer. This role involves consolidating multiple existing exchange components into a single, unified platform that will serve all Kraken products and interfaces. The Head of Exchange Infrastructure will lead a team of product managers and collaborate closely with engineering leaders to ensure a seamless migration and maintain high performance standards (p99 latency, throughput, uptime, resiliency). The position requires a senior product leader with experience in high-performance platforms and a strong understanding of exchange architecture, market structure, and the crypto market.

Requirements

• Senior product leader with experience in exchange, trading, or high-performance platforms
• Experience managing and developing product managers, on a team senior enough to run without you in the room
• Happy to be a player-coach. This team is independent, so you will own roadmaps and write specs yourself at times, not only review them
• Proven ability to set product vision and translate it into a long-term roadmap
• Strong understanding of matching engine and market data architecture, and the tradeoffs low latency forces
• Experience building platforms for internal customers, with the judgment to tell a platform from a series of bespoke builds
• Excellent communication skills — can influence technical and non-technical stakeholders
• A passion for crypto markets, market structure, and building the next generation of infrastructure

Nice To Haves

• Engineering background before moving into product, so you've built or operated high-performance systems yourself and not just specced them
• Experience across both spot and derivatives venues, with the market structure differences that come with each
• Time at a crypto exchange operating at comparable scale, volume and uptime expectations
• Track record building platform roadmaps that interlock with adjacent product orgs rather than running in isolation

Responsibilities

• Own the product vision and roadmap for the exchange layer: matching engine, core infrastructure, third-party custody, algo engine and API engine
• Lead and grow a team of four to five product managers, and set the bar for product craft across the layer
• Lead the consolidation of multiple matching engines into one, starting with US derivatives, then international derivatives, then spot
• Build interface-agnostic, so every product team and every interface can build on the same platform rather than their own
• Define success metrics (p99 latency, throughput, uptime, resiliency) and hold teams accountable to them
• Partner with engineering leaders across exchange and core infrastructure to sequence the migration without disrupting live markets
• Partner with Risk and Credit Infrastructure so a client can hold one account and trade every product against it
• Anticipate industry shifts and shape our platform to stay ahead
• Align cross-functional teams (product, engineering, risk, compliance) around the exchange strategy

Benefits

• We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job.
• We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgeable about crypto.
• We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process.
• As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed