[Remote] Staff Engineer / Team Lead - Identity at Alpaca

North America

Alpaca Logo
Not SpecifiedCompensation
Senior (5 to 8 years), Expert & Leadership (9+ years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
FinTech, Financial Services, BrokerageIndustries

Requirements

  • 10+ years of backend engineering experience, with 4+ years in (incomplete, but specified as must-have)
  • Proven experience building and architecting at scale
  • Keen on providing quality solutions
  • Not afraid of challenging conventions or voicing opinions
  • Understanding of cloud-based modern architecture, infrastructure, and orchestration practices
  • Align with core values: Stay Curious, Have Empathy, and Be Accountable

Responsibilities

  • Own end-to-end architecture for the identity suite, ensuring scalability, modularity, and maintainability
  • Drive technical planning, sprint scoping, and cross-functional alignment with product teams
  • Mentor senior and mid-level engineers, foster engineering best practices
  • Set and uphold standards for code quality, observability, and performance
  • Collaborate with leadership on roadmap priorities, and help steer product evolution (e.g., direct indexing, advisory fee modelling)
  • Contribute to a core system that millions of end users will rely on
  • Help create a global financial identity verification and risk management service
  • Implement backend services and work on designing an architecture where reliability matters
  • Take ownership of tasks, identify and address technical challenges proactively, and propose innovative solutions
  • Participate in code reviews
  • Troubleshooting on incidents and reported bugs
  • May be asked to be on-call to assist with engineering projects that are timely in nature

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

Identity ManagementUser OnboardingIdentity VerificationScalable SystemsDistributed SystemsAPI DevelopmentTeam Leadership

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

Is this a remote position?

Yes, the role is remote with a globally distributed team of 230+ members working from locations around the world including the USA, Canada, Japan, Hungary, Nigeria, Brazil, the UK, and beyond.

What is the salary or compensation for this role?

This information is not specified in the job description.

What skills and experience are required for this Staff Engineer / Team Lead position?

The role requires proven experience building and architecting at scale, staff engineer level expertise, an understanding of cloud-based modern architecture, infrastructure, and orchestration practices, plus the ability to provide quality solutions and challenge conventions.

What is the company culture like at Alpaca?

Alpaca has a diverse, global team committed to core values of Stay Curious, Have Empathy, and Be Accountable, with a focus on open-source contributions, fostering a vibrant community, and enabling team members to thrive from their favorite places around the world.

What makes a strong candidate for this team lead role?

Strong candidates are passionate individuals at staff engineer level with proven experience architecting at scale, autonomy to design solutions, willingness to voice opinions and challenge conventions, and knowledge of cloud-based architecture who align with Alpaca's core values.

Alpaca

API-first brokerage for stock trading

About Alpaca

Alpaca Securities LLC operates in the stock brokerage industry by providing an API-first brokerage service that allows other businesses to create their own trading applications. This service enables companies to integrate stock trading functionality into their platforms without the need to become brokers themselves, saving them time and resources. Alpaca's API supports seamless trading experiences for users and includes features like Local Currency Trading, which allows international investors to trade US stocks in their local currency. Additionally, Alpaca offers crypto wallets and coin pair trading, expanding the financial services available to its clients. Unlike traditional brokers, Alpaca focuses on a business-to-business model, catering primarily to other companies that want to offer trading services to their customers. The goal of Alpaca is to simplify the trading process for businesses and their users while providing a secure and efficient platform for executing trades.

San Mateo, CaliforniaHeadquarters
2015Year Founded
$84.5MTotal Funding
CONVERTIBLECompany Stage
Fintech, Financial ServicesIndustries
201-500Employees

Benefits

Competitive salary & stock options
Medical, dental, & vision
Home office setup stipend
Monthly Brex Card stipend

Risks

Increased competition from fintech platforms like GUGU offering commission-free trading.
Potential regulatory challenges in international markets may complicate Alpaca's expansion.
Self-clearing transition introduces operational risks in managing settlement processes.

Differentiation

Alpaca offers API-first brokerage services, enabling businesses to build trading applications.
Alpaca supports local currency trading, simplifying US stock trading for international investors.
Alpaca provides crypto wallets and coin pair trading, expanding financial services for clients.

Upsides

Alpaca's self-clearing transition enhances asset transfers and securities lending opportunities.
Partnership with Derayah Financial accelerates Middle Eastern business expansion for Alpaca.
Alpaca's limit orders and extended hours trading for fractional shares lead retail trading.

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