Senior Staff Software Engineer, Solana Staking Protocol

Ready to be pushed beyond what you think you’re capable of?

At Coinbase, our mission is to increase economic freedom in the world. It’s a massive, ambitious opportunity that demands the best of us, every day, as we build the emerging onchain platform — and with it, the future global financial system.

To achieve our mission, we’re seeking a very specific candidate. We want someone who is passionate about our mission and who believes in the power of crypto and blockchain technology to update the financial system. We want someone who is eager to leave their mark on the world, who relishes the pressure and privilege of working with high caliber colleagues, and who actively seeks feedback to keep leveling up. We want someone who will run towards, not away from, solving the company’s hardest problems.

Our work culture is intense and isn’t for everyone. But if you want to build the future alongside others who excel in their disciplines and expect the same from you, there’s no better place to be.

While many roles at Coinbase are remote-first, we are not remote-only. In-person participation is required throughout the year. Team and company-wide offsites are held multiple times annually to foster collaboration, connection, and alignment. Attendance is expected and fully supported.

The Mission

At Coinbase, our mission is to increase economic freedom in the world. Staking is central to that mission — it enables anyone to participate in securing blockchain networks and earn rewards for doing so. Coinbase operates one of the largest Solana staking operations in the world, managing a validator fleet that represents approximately 9.25% of all staked SOL. We are committed to delivering industry-leading, risk-adjusted yield with world-class security, compliance, and reliability.

The Role

We are looking for a Senior Staff Software Engineer to serve as Coinbase's Solana Staking Protocol CTO — the definitive technical authority on all things Solana staking across the company. This is not a typical engineering role. You will combine deep Solana protocol mastery with strategic technical leadership to shape Coinbase's Solana staking trajectory for years to come. You will own the technical strategy across validator operations, staking integrations, and protocol evolution — partnering directly with engineering leadership, product teams, and external ecosystem players including the Solana Foundation.  You will represent Coinbase on the world stage as a recognized Solana expert, speaking at conferences, engaging with the validator community, and influencing protocol direction. Internally, you will be the go-to expert for any Solana staking technical decision, from runtime-level optimizations to cross-product integration strategy.

What You'll Do

• Define Solana Staking Strategy: Own and drive Coinbase's multi-year technical strategy for Solana staking across validator performance, protocol participation, and product integration. Connect engineering decisions to business outcomes including yield optimization, cost efficiency, and customer growth.
• Maximize Validator Performance: Lead the engineering effort to achieve industry-leading APY through validator optimization — including vote accuracy, block production, MEV strategies, commission tuning, and stake distribution. Build systems and tooling that give Coinbase a durable performance edge.
• Own Protocol Expertise: Serve as Coinbase's foremost authority on the Solana runtime, consensus mechanism, staking economics, and validator client landscape (Agave, Firedancer, etc.). Evaluate protocol upgrades (e.g., SIMD proposals), assess risks, and proactively position Coinbase for changes before they land.
• Drive Cross-Product Integration: Partner with Retail Staking and Institutional Staking product and engineering teams to architect scalable staking integrations across Coinbase's product surface area. Ensure Solana staking is deeply embedded and differentiated in every Coinbase staking product.
• Build External Presence & Influence: Represent Coinbase in the Solana ecosystem. Maintain deep relationships with the Solana Foundation, core development teams, other major validators, and ecosystem partners. Speak at major conferences (Breakpoint, etc.) and contribute to protocol governance. Be Coinbase's voice on Solana staking.
• Lead Technical Execution: Write production code. Design and build critical infrastructure for validator operations, monitoring, automation, and reliability. Set the technical bar for the team — code reviews, architecture decisions, incident response.
• Expand Beyond Staking: Serve as a technical advisor on non-staking Solana initiatives where deep protocol knowledge is required (e.g., Solana tax infrastructure, token programs, new Solana-based products).
• Mentor and Scale the Team: Elevate a team of strong engineers (IC4-IC5) through mentorship, architectural guidance, and raising the bar on Solana-specific domain expertise. Define what great Solana engineering looks like at Coinbase.

What We Look For

• Deep Solana Protocol Expertise: You have extensive, hands-on experience with Solana's architecture — Eg: the runtime, validator mechanics, staking economics, consensus (Tower BFT), turbine, Gulf Stream, and the validator client ecosystem. You understand Solana at the source-code level, not just the API level.
• Technical Authority & Execution: You are a strong IC7-caliber engineer. You design and build complex distributed systems. You write production code in Rust and/or Go. You have deep experience with infrastructure at scale — bare metal, cloud, networking, observability.
• Strategic Vision: You can define year-long technical strategies and connect them to business goals. You break down ambiguous, large-scope problems into executable plans with measurable milestones. You think in terms of competitive advantage, not just engineering correctness.
• Ecosystem Presence & Influence: You are a known figure in the Solana ecosystem. You have existing relationships with the Solana Foundation, core contributor teams, and major validators. You have a track record of public speaking, community engagement, or protocol governance participation.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: You partner effectively with product, business, and executive stakeholders. You translate complex protocol dynamics into business-relevant terms for non-technical audiences. You drive alignment across multiple teams and functions.
• Passion for Solana: This isn't a role for a generalist who happens to know some Solana. You are genuinely passionate about the Solana ecosystem, follow protocol developments closely, and have a strong thesis on where Solana staking is headed.
• Demonstrates the ability to responsibly use generative AI tools and copilots (e.g., LibreChat, Gemini, Glean) in daily workflows, continuously learn as tools evolve, and apply human-in-the-loop practices to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in efficiency, cost, and quality.

Nice to Have

• Core contributor to Solana validator clients (Agave, Firedancer) or significant Solana ecosystem projects.
• Experience operating in highly regulated industries or security-first cultures.
• Background in financial services, fintech, or crypto custody.
• Track record of publishing technical content (blog posts, research, conference talks) on Solana or Blockchain in general
• Experience with Solana's evolving staking landscape — liquid staking, stake pools, restaking protocols.
• Familiarity with other PoS protocol staking operations (Ethereum, Cosmos ecosystem) for comparative perspective.

Pay Transparency Notice: Depending on your work location, the target annual base salary for this position can range as detailed below. Total compensation may also include equity and bonus eligibility and benefits (including medical, dental, vision and 401(k)).

Annual base salary range (excluding equity and bonus):

$253,895—$298,700 USD

Please be advised that each candidate may submit a maximum of four applications within any 30-day period. We encourage you to carefully evaluate how your skills and interests align with Coinbase's roles before applying.

Commitment to Equal Opportunity

Coinbase is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation or any other basis protected by applicable law. Coinbase will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.  For US applicants, you may view the Employee Rights and the Know Your Rights notices by clicking on their corresponding links. Additionally, Coinbase participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law. 

Coinbase is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please contact us at accommodations[at]coinbase.com to let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.   For quick access to screen reading technology compatible with this site click here to download a free compatible screen reader (free step by step tutorial can be found here).

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Depending on your location, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) may regulate the way we manage the data of job applicants. Our full notice outlining how data will be processed as part of the application procedure for applicable locations is available here. By submitting your application, you are agreeing to our use and processing of your data as required. For US applicants only, by submitting your application you are agreeing to arbitration of disputes as outlined here.    

AI Disclosure

For select roles, Coinbase is piloting an AI tool based on machine learning technologies to conduct initial screening interviews to qualified applicants. The tool simulates realistic interview scenarios and engages in dynamic conversation. A human recruiter will review your interview responses, provided in the form of a voice recording and/or transcript, to assess them against the qualifications and characteristics outlined in the job description.  

For select roles, Coinbase is also piloting an AI interview intelligence platform to transcribe and summarize interview notes, allowing our interviewers to fully focus on you as the candidate. 

The above pilots are for testing purposes and Coinbase will not use AI to make decisions impacting employment. To request a reasonable accommodation due to disability, please contact accommodations[at]coinbase.com