Software Engineer (AI/LLM)

About The Company
Coinbase is a leading global cryptocurrency exchange and financial technology platform committed to increasing economic freedom worldwide. With a mission to create an open financial system for the world, Coinbase provides individuals and institutions with secure, user-friendly access to digital assets and blockchain technology. The company fosters innovation by building a robust onchain platform that supports a wide range of financial products and services. Coinbase emphasizes a high-performance work environment that values collaboration, integrity, and continuous learning, aiming to shape the future of finance through cutting-edge technology and strategic vision.
About The Role
We are seeking a highly skilled Staff Software Engineer to serve as the technical lead for the Policies Platform at Coinbase. This foundational engine manages policy creation, decisioning, and authorization across multiple domains and services. As a key member of our engineering team, you will define and execute the technical strategy for evolving the platform into an AI-native, self-serve policy engine. Your role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams—including engineering, compliance, legal, and product—to ensure the platform supports Coinbase’s global regulatory requirements and scaling needs. You will lead high-impact initiatives such as integrating AI-powered impact simulations, developing an AI chatbot for compliance self-service, and embedding authorization mechanisms into API gateways. Your expertise will influence how dozens of teams deploy and trust compliance logic at scale, handling millions of requests per minute. This position offers a unique opportunity to operate in a complex, ambiguous environment, driving clarity and building scalable systems that create significant leverage and impact across the organization.
Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a proven track record of designing and delivering high-scale, high-availability systems.
• Extensive experience leading AI and large language model (LLM) product development, including AI agents, code generation systems, or developer-facing AI tools in production environments.
• Strong proficiency in Go, gRPC, Kubernetes, and service mesh architectures.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, define clear technical solutions, and execute complex projects to completion.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of producing detailed technical documentation and influencing cross-organizational stakeholders.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams, including regulatory and compliance stakeholders, to drive platform adoption.
• Familiarity with generative AI tools and best practices for human-in-the-loop workflows.
• Remote-friendly with on-site presence in San Francisco or New York City approximately once per week.
• Demonstrated ability to influence organizational change and foster collaborative relationships across teams.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the technical strategy and architecture of the Policies Platform, including AI-native policy authoring, Policy Framework v2, and edge authorization systems.
• Define and drive the platform’s technical roadmap, balancing speed, reliability, and scalability to support new Coinbase products and international regulatory standards.
• Lead high-risk, ambiguous initiatives such as impact simulation using AI, AI-powered compliance chatbots, and embedding authorization into API tokens.
• Secure cross-team alignment by collaborating with over 20 dependent domain teams, compliance, legal, and engineering leadership to promote platform standards and best practices.
• Establish engineering processes and quality standards, including code review protocols, CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing for policy-as-code systems.
• Mentor and elevate the capabilities of engineering teams through hands-on leadership and technical guidance.
• Participate in organizational planning, including setting OKRs, prioritizing technical initiatives, and shaping long-term platform strategies.

Benefits

• Competitive salary aligned with experience and market standards.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan with company matching contributions.
• Generous paid time off and holidays to support work-life balance.
• Opportunities for professional development and continuous learning.
• Flexible work arrangements, including remote work options and in-person collaboration.
• Participation in innovative projects shaping the future of finance and blockchain technology.

Equal Opportunity
Coinbase is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where all qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Coinbase provides reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities throughout the hiring process.