Backend Engineering Lead

Wormhole; City of London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A progressive technology organization is seeking a Backend Engineering Lead to drive the development of backend systems and contribute to their blockchain ecosystem. In this role, you will lead a team in ensuring scalable and secure system architecture while integrating new blockchain technologies. Ideal candidates will have over 5 years of backend development experience and a strong focus on API design and performance. The position offers flexible remote work arrangements.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in backend development with 2+ years in a lead role.
• Proficient in TypeScript, Go, Rust, or Python.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems and API design.

Responsibilities

• Lead backend engineering strategy for scalability and reliability.
• Architect and design APIs and data pipelines.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver solutions.

Skills

TypeScript

Go

Rust

Python

Distributed Systems

API Design

Blockchain Integration

PostgreSQL

MongoDB

Redis

Kafka

RabbitMQ

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science

Tools

Kubernetes

GCP

AWS

Job description

Join to apply for the Backend Engineering Lead role at Wormhole Foundation.

As a Backend Engineering Lead at the Wormhole Foundation, you will make significant contributions to Wormhole's ecosystem of open‑source smart contracts and protocols. Reporting to our Head of Product, you will own the architecture, development, and evolution of our backend systems and lead a team that delivers intuitive, performant, and secure interfaces across our suite of products.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the backend engineering strategy, ensuring scalability, reliability, and top‑tier user experience.
• Architect, design, and implement APIs and data pipelines supporting wallets, transactions, and blockchain integrations.
• Build and maintain high‑performance systems for blockchain data indexing, analytics, and event processing.
• Integrate new blockchain ecosystems into Wormhole's suite of products, building adapters for novel consensus mechanisms, RPCs, and event formats.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Frontend, and other teams to deliver end‑to‑end solutions.
• Drive technical discussions, code reviews, and architectural decisions for backend components.
• Ensure adherence to best practices in testing, deployment, observability, and documentation.
• Mentor and coach backend engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and ownership.
• Contribute to the evolution of our infrastructure stack and the scaling of the engineering organization.

The Ideal Candidate will

• Have relevant tertiary qualifications in computer science or a closely related field (bachelors/masters) and/or relevant work experience.
• Have at least 5+ years of experience in backend development, including 2+ years in a lead or senior engineering role.
• Proficiency in TypeScript, Go, Rust, or Python (depending on stack).
• Have a deep understanding of distributed systems, API design, and blockchain consensus & node architecture.
• Experience with databases (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis) and event‑driven systems (Kafka, RabbitMQ).
• Hands‑on experience integrating with blockchains, nodes, or smart contracts — e.g., via Web3.js, ethers.js, or JSON‑RPC.
• Familiarity with DevOps best practices, deploying high‑availability services across multiple regions (Kubernetes, GCP/AWS, or similar).
• Strong focus on security, reliability, and performance optimization.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and cross‑functional collaboration skills.
• Be high agency and effect the outcomes they wish to see.
• Demonstrate obsession and feeling pride in building great experiences.
• Be highly collaborative with the internal team, other Wormhole collaborators, and customers.
• Care deeply about the business outcomes of your work and challenge priorities when the business impact is unclear.
• Enjoy working remotely with a talented global team and ideally based in the Americas or European time zones.

Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level | Employment type: Contract | Job function: Engineering and Information Technology | Industries: Technology, Information and Internet.