Senior/Principal Backend Engineer

About Metaplex

Metaplex powers one of the largest blockchain developer ecosystems in the world, providing the onchain infrastructure needed to build decentralized applications on Solana and the Solana Virtual Machine ("SVM"). As the leading digital asset protocol for tokens, NFTs, gaming assets and more, Metaplex has facilitated the creation of over 800 million assets and powered $8.3 billion in transaction value across 8.6 million unique signers.

The Metaplex Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and growing the Metaplex ecosystem. Our mission is to help build the onchain economy by empowering developers with comprehensive tools to create decentralized applications.

We are looking for a Senior or Principal Backend Engineer with deep expertise in distributed systems, database management, networking protocols, and blockchain technology, particularly Solana, to develop the Metaplex Aura data network.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable distributed systems to process, index, and serve data efficiently.
• Optimize data pipelines using technologies such as Redis, RocksDB, and PostgreSQL, leveraging asynchronous programming with Tokio and implementing APIs using the JSON-RPC protocol.
• Develop networking protocols and consensus mechanisms to ensure reliable communication and data consistency between nodes.
• Maintain a high-performance gateway for efficient API request handling and data retrieval.
• Build tools for monitoring, alerting, and automation to ensure system reliability.
• Write tests to validate features and prevent regressions.
• Ensure the systems and solutions are designed with the end-user and product requirements in mind, contributing to a cohesive and high-quality experience.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and mentor junior engineers.

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in backend/infrastructure software development, with 1 year of Solana development experience strongly preferred.
• Proven experience in designing and architecting large-scale distributed systems, preferably in blockchain technologies.
• Proficiency in Rust.
• Proficiency in Go is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with TypeScript is a plus.
• In-depth knowledge of Solana's architecture, including its transaction and consensus mechanisms.
• Experience with Git, CI/CD pipelines, and test-driven development (TDD).
• Exceptional problem-solving skills with the ability to work independently and collaboratively in a dynamic environment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Previous contributions to open-source projects are desirable.

Benefits

Compensation and benefits: The base compensation range for this role is $150,000 - $250,000 per year. Additionally, this role is eligible to participate in the Metaplex's Foundation's token incentive plan. Final offer amount will be at the Metaplex Foundation's sole discretion and determined by multiple factors, including years and depth of experience and expertise, location and other business considerations.

You will also be eligible to receive health, dental and vision benefits.