Senior Principal Backend Engineer, Crypto and Alternative Trading Products

Questrade Financial Group•Toronto, ON

6d•CA$160,000 - CA$200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Questrade Financial Group (QFG) is seeking a Senior Principal Backend Engineer specializing in Crypto and Alternative Trading Products. This role is crucial for shaping the future of digital asset and alternative offerings by building core infrastructure for retail crypto trading platforms, administrative tools, and expanding crypto capabilities across Questrade products. The engineer will also launch new alternative trading products within the Growth Portfolio entity. The position involves architecting, designing, developing, and maintaining scalable and secure backend services, expanding crypto infrastructure, leading new product launches, contributing to alternative trading products, providing expert support for crypto solutions, designing and documenting APIs, coaching and mentoring team members, automating workflows, optimizing system performance, troubleshooting complex technical issues, and collaborating with various stakeholders. The role also requires staying updated on blockchain and cryptocurrency trends to bring innovative solutions to the team.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in backend software development, with a strong focus on building scalable and resilient systems.
Proficiency in one or more modern backend programming languages (e.g., C#, Java, Go, Python, Node.js).
Solid understanding of object-oriented programming (OOP) and SOLID principles.
Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases, and optimizing applications for large datasets.
Experience with event-driven architecture and message queues (e.g., PubSub, Kafka, RabbitMQ).
Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., GCP, Azure, AWS) and containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
Experience with unit testing frameworks and practices.
Proven ability to design and architect complex, high-availability systems with a focus on performance, security, and maintainability.
Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a keen eye for detail and a proactive approach to issue resolution.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
A strong team player who thrives in a collaborative environment and is eager to share knowledge and expertise, fostering a culture of continuous learning.
A self-starter with a proactive mindset and a relentless drive to deliver high-quality solutions and push technological boundaries.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing and building RESTful and WebSocket APIs is desired.
Proficiency in Java and Spring Boot is desired.
Experience integrating common crypto platform vendors (hot wallets, custodians, execution management service, payment processors) is a plus.
Experience in the financial services or FinTech industry.
Familiarity with security best practices in blockchain and financial applications.
Experience launching new products from 0 to 1.
Experience in Angular, and React Native is a bonus.

Responsibilities

Architect, design, develop, and maintain robust, scalable, and secure backend services for Questrade's retail crypto and alternatives trading platforms.
Drive the expansion of crypto infrastructure across various Questrade products, ensuring seamless integration, high performance, and future scalability.
Lead the development and launch of new crypto capabilities for clients and internal teams, from ideation to deployment.
Contribute to the architecture, build, and delivery of other new alternative trading products within the dedicated Growth Portfolio entity, actively identifying and adopting emerging technologies.
Provide expert support for all crypto trading and transfer solutions, ensuring system stability and reliability through proactive monitoring and incident resolution.
Create and meticulously document clear, efficient, and secure APIs (including RESTful and WebSocket APIs) to facilitate all aspects of crypto and alternatives transactions.
Coach and mentor junior and intermediate team members, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, knowledge sharing, and adoption of innovative development practices.
Identify opportunities to automate workflows, optimize system performance, and enhance development pipelines to boost team efficiency and accelerate delivery cycles.
Diagnose and troubleshoot complex technical issues, ensuring high availability and optimal performance of crypto and trading systems.
Work closely with product owners, front-end developers, QA engineers, and other stakeholders to translate business requirements into cutting-edge technical solutions.
Stay abreast of the latest trends and technologies in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, actively bringing innovative solutions and new tools to the team.