Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.
Before you apply, we encourage you to explore our culture page to understand what drives us and how we work.
Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for both individual investors and institutional clients.
Kraken's Data Platform team builds the real-time infrastructure that powers decision-making across one of the world's largest digital asset exchanges. We operate at the intersection of streaming data, large-scale platform engineering, and AI-driven automation — processing billions of events daily across trading, compliance, and product systems.
This role leads the team responsible for Kraken's streaming and data platform layer — designing systems that move, transform, and serve data in real time. You'll own the architecture around stream processing (RisingWave, Flink), drive adoption of AI-powered automation and workflows across the data stack, and build the platform primitives that the rest of engineering depends on.
Lead and grow a team of senior data platform engineers building Kraken's real-time streaming infrastructure
Own the architecture and roadmap for high-volume low-frequency data systems, with focus on data stack like Spark, Kafka, Iceberg, RisingWave, Apache Flink
Design and operate scalable data architecture that serve trading, risk, compliance, analytics and many product teams.
Drive adoption of AI automation and intelligent workflows — automating data quality checks, pipeline orchestration, anomaly detection, and self-healing infrastructure
Partner with ML/AI, analytics, and product engineering teams to deliver platform capabilities that accelerate their work
Evolve Kraken's data-lake and warehouse architecture to support both batch and streaming workloads seamlessly
Set technical direction for the team — balancing reliability, velocity, and cost efficiency at scale
Hire, mentor, and retain top-tier platform engineers; build a culture of ownership and technical excellence
8+ years in data engineering, platform engineering, or distributed systems — with at least 3 years managing engineering teams
Experience and knowledge of building data-lakes in AWS (i.e. Spark, Athena, Iceberg, Parquet, Presto), including data modeling, data quality best practices, and self-service tooling.
Strong expertise in building and operating real-time data at scale including Kafka, Spark Streaming, Debezium, and CDC pipelines.
Proven ability to manage competing priorities across multiple stakeholder groups — aligning platform investments with the needs of product, finance, compliance, analytics, and other teams
Strong communicator — able to explain risks, trade-offs, and roadmap decisions to both senior technical audiences and non-specialist stakeholders.
Experience designing or adopting AI/ML-powered automation in data workflows — pipeline orchestration, intelligent monitoring, automated remediation, or LLM-integrated tooling
Proficiency in Python, Scala, or Java in a production data platform context
Solid understanding of cloud-native data infrastructure (AWS preferred — Glue, Athena, S3, EMR, Lambda, or equivalents)
Track record of managing, recruiting, and developing high-performing remote engineering teams
Ability to translate long-term platform vision into executable quarterly roadmaps
Servant-leadership style — you coach, unblock, and grow your engineers
AI-ready to 10X the team efficiency and overall output.
Experience with RisingWave and/or Clickhouse specifically — either in production or in serious evaluation
Familiarity with LLM-based agents or AI workflow frameworks (e.g. LangChain, LangGraph, custom orchestration)
Background in cryptocurrency, trading systems, or high-throughput financial data
Experience building self-service data platform tooling for internal engineering consumers
Contributions to open-source streaming or data infrastructure projects
Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.
We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.
Payward is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate the diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions, and unique perspectives that everyone brings to the table. 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. These assessments evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Results are considered alongside experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.
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.
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Skills Required
- 8+ years in data engineering or platform engineering
- At least 3 years managing engineering teams
- Experience building data-lakes in AWS
- Strong expertise in building real-time data systems
- Proficiency in Python, Scala, or Java
Kraken Digital Asset Exchange Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Kraken Digital Asset Exchange and has not been reviewed or approved by Kraken Digital Asset Exchange.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered competitive for many roles, with strong total compensation reported for in‑demand technical and senior positions. Market‑aligned packages are highlighted across key functions, indicating the ability to reach top‑of‑market for certain hires.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity grants are available for most roles, complemented by bonus programs and the option to receive a portion of pay in crypto. This ownership‑oriented design is positioned as part of the standard total compensation approach.
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Flexible Benefits — A remote‑first operating model, flexible time off, and a remote‑workstation setup bonus emphasize autonomy and location flexibility. Core benefits are framed to support distributed work across multiple regions.
Kraken Digital Asset Exchange Insights
What We Do
Kraken is one of the world’s longest-standing and most secure crypto platforms. Our mission is to accelerate the global adoption of crypto, so that everyone can achieve financial freedom and inclusion. Globally, Kraken clients trade more than 200 digital assets and 6 different national currencies, including GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, CHF, and AUD. Kraken was founded in 2011 and was one of the first platforms to offer spot trading with margin,, staking, regulated derivatives and index services. Trusted by over 10 million individuals, traders and institutions around the world, Kraken offers professional 24/7/365 client support along with one of the fastest, most performant trading platforms available. Kraken has set the industry standard for transparency and client trust, and was the first crypto platform to conduct Proof of Reserves. In 2024, Kraken ranked 12th in Newsweek's Global Top 100 list of Most Loved Workplaces. This recognition reflects our ongoing commitment to providing a flexible workplace that prioritizes wellbeing and career development. Kraken prioritizes client-centricity, security, and superior products, valuing merit and encouraging bold ideas within a transparent communication framework. Kraken offers a flexible, asynchronous, and globally remote work culture, allowing its employees (aka Krakenites) to balance team and personal needs. Kraken provides diverse learning and development programs, enabling Krakenites to chart their own professional paths in the crypto industry. Benefits include globally competitive compensation (with crypto payment options), flexible time off, wellness perks, and annual team retreats. Kraken's collaborative culture promotes authenticity, humility, and respect, encouraging candid interactions and valuing diverse perspectives from its global team. Crypto conviction is central to Kraken's ethos, driving product and service development. The company views challenges as opportunities for creative problem-solving, remaining adaptable in the fast-paced crypto industry. Kraken seeks individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit and a curious, self-starting approach to complex problems. The company fosters a culture of accountability and clear communication, valuing critical feedback for continuous improvement. Overall, Kraken's EVP reflects its commitment to building a bridge from traditional finance to crypto, both in its broader mission and in supporting employees transitioning to crypto careers.
Why Work With Us
Work at Kraken to be part of a mission-driven crypto revolution. Enjoy a flexible, remote-first culture that values bold ideas. Grow your career with competitive benefits and diverse learning opportunities. Join a collaborative team that embraces innovation, accountability, and globally inclusive perspectives.
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