Senior Backend Engineer

Senior Backend Engineer (Generalist)
Ellipsis Labs

About Ellipsis Labs

Ellipsis Labs is a profitable venture-backed New York-based startup building differentiated products and infrastructure in decentralized finance. The company is the developer of Phoenix the leading order book spot exchange on the Solana blockchain and a top 10 DEX (decentralized exchange) with >$70B in volume since inception in 2023. Additionally we are one of the most active and prominent on-chain market makers in crypto.

About the Role

Ellipsis Labs seeks a Senior Backend Engineer (Generalist) to join the engineering team. Unlike the Risk Engineering role this position is focused on general backend infrastructure and systems work across the platform. The team is looking for a strong generalist engineer who brings excellent CS fundamentals and system design skills without requiring a specific quant or trading background.

We are looking for a senior-to-staff-level engineer (510 years of experience) who can architect systems end-to-end lead complex projects independently and has a track record of building robust high-performance backend systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain core backend infrastructure and systems across the Ellipsis Labs platform.
• Design and implement high-performance reliable systems in a fast-paced startup environment.
• Own initiatives from design through launch and ongoing reliability collaborating closely with engineering and leadership.
• Adapt to fast-changing requirements and shipping cycles in a startup context.

Requirements

• 7 years of experience building and maintaining production-grade software systems (preferably in Rust C C Golang Python TypeScript).
• Very strong CS fundamentals and system design skills (primary evaluation criterion).
• Senior-to-staff-level seniority: ability to lead projects architect systems end-to-end and operate independently on complex work.
• Job stability with consistent tenure (no frequent job hopping).

Bonus Skills

• Low-level programming experience (C C Rust) building low-level systems (strong plus).
• Experience with blockchain technology specifically Solana.
• Proficiency in Rust or interest in building in Rust.
• Interest in DeFi and trading systems (curiosity valued not required).
• TradFi or crypto experience is a plus but not required.