Senior Software Engineer - Data Platform
Required skills
- backend software engineering
- data systems
- data pipelines
- Python
- Go
- Java
- scale-out architectures
- caching layers
- key/value stores
- columnar storage systems
Nice to have
- data integration SDKs
- self-service applications
- real-time event aggregation
Role summary
Coinbase is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for its Data Platform team to build systems for centralizing internal and third-party data. The role involves designing, developing, and operating foundational data services including data warehouses, lakes, processing (Spark, SQL), streaming (Kafka), and orchestration (Airflow). Responsibilities include building data integration SDKs, delivering self-service applications, and architecting data security and observability features. The ideal candidate has 5+ years of backend software engineering experience with data systems, proficiency in Python, Go, or Java, and hands-on experience with SQL, Airflow, Spark, Kafka, and data security/observability systems. Experience with Generative AI is also required.
Ready to do the most impactful work of your career? At Coinbase, we are uncompromising on our mission to increase economic freedom. The bar is high, the environment is intense, and we like it that way. This isn't a place for complacency, it’s a place to be pushed past your perceived limits. If you're ready to build the future of finance alongside people who refuse to settle for "good enough," you belong here. Coinbase is a remote-first, but not remote-only company. Expect to get together quarterly for intense in-person working sessions called “surges.” learn more about working at Coinbase.
As a Senior Software Engineer on the Data Platform team within the Platform group, you will help build the systems that centralize all of Coinbase's internal and third-party data. The Data Platform team makes it easy for teams across the company to access, process, and transform data for analytics, machine learning, and powering end-user experiences. You'll contribute to the full spectrum of our systems, from foundational data storage and processing to scalable pipelines, frameworks, and internal applications that make data efficiently available to every team at Coinbase.
What you'll do:
- Own the design, development, and operation of foundational data services spanning cloud data warehouses, data lakes, orchestration (Airflow), batch processing (Spark, SQL), streaming (Kafka), query federation, and real-time event aggregation stores.
- Build and maintain data integration and processing SDKs used by internal services and product teams throughout Coinbase to interact with the data platform reliably at scale.
- Deliver self-service applications that empower users to manage, monitor, and troubleshoot their own data pipelines running on our platform infrastructure.
- Architect end-to-end data security and observability services, including access controls across multiple storage and access layers, data quality tracking, dataset cataloging, lineage, and usage auditing.
- Partner with data analysts, ML engineers, and security and compliance teams to convert functional requests into reusable, scalable patterns and assemble data microservices into platforms for critical business verticals.
Required Skills and Experience:
- 5+ years of experience in backend software engineering, with hands-on experience building and operating data systems or data pipelines in production.
- Proficiency in Python, Go, or Java for backend development, with demonstrated ability to build services that process and serve data at scale.
- Experience with data infrastructure patterns including scale-out architectures, caching layers, key/value stores, and columnar storage systems.
- Hands-on experience with SQL, Airflow, Spark, Kafka, or similar data processing and orchestration frameworks in production environments.
- Experience with data security, access control, or data observability systems, including cataloging, lineage, or quality monitoring.
- Utilizes generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.
Pay Transparency Notice:Base salary varies by location (see range below). Total compensation may also include equity and bonus eligibility, and benefits (medical, dental, vision, 401(k)).
Annual base salary range (excluding equity and bonus): $186,065—$218,900 USD- Application Limit: Candidates may submit a maximum of 3 applications within a 6-month period.
- Equal Opportunity Employer: Coinbase is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information. Applicants with criminal histories will be considered consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws.
- US Applicants: View Employee Rights, Know Your Rights, and E-Verify Notice of Participation.
- Accommodations: If you are an individual with a disability who needs a reasonable accommodation, email us your request and contact info at accommodations[at]coinbase.com. Need screen reading technology? Click here to download a free compatible screen reader and view thetutorial.
- Data Privacy & Arbitration: By submitting your application, you agree to our Candidate Privacy Notice. US applicants: By submitting your application, you agree to Arbitration of Disputes.
Originally posted on Himalayas
Sample Coinbase interview questions
- 1
Design a Crypto Exchange
system designmedium - 2
Design a cryptocurrency dashboard using LLMs.
system designaverage - 3
Design a system for managing a distributed message broker.
system designmedium - 4
Design a system for managing a social network's newsfeed.
system designmedium - 5
How would you manage a large number of users in the database to ensure scalability?
system designaverage
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