Lead Software Engineer (Crypto, SV) US IC6 2026

Nu is the leading digital bank in Latin America serving 135 million customers across Brazil Mexico and Colombia. The company has been leading an industry transformation by leveraging data and proprietary technology to develop innovative products and services.

Guided by its mission to fight complexity and empower people Nu caters to customers complete financial journey promoting financial access and advancement with responsible lending and transparency. The company is powered by an efficient and scalable business model that combines low cost to serve with growing returns.

Nus impact has been recognized in multiple awards including Time 100 Most Influential Companies Fast Companys Most Innovative Companies and Forbes Worlds Best Banks.

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Nu is building secure compliant crypto infrastructure that will expand financial access for millions of people across Latin America. As we open our Silicon Valley engineering hub were looking for a Lead Software Engineer Crypto who thinks adversarially builds defensively and operates at the intersection of cryptography distributed systems and financial regulation.

Youll be part of a focused crypto team in Palo Alto collaborating with security compliance and product teams across our global offices. Our crypto engineering culture values correctness above all. We design systems assuming they will be attacked and build accordingly. We move deliberately with a high bar for security reviews and code quality.

In this role youll own cryptographic systems protocols or blockchain infrastructure for your domain (key management signing flows consensus mechanisms and on-chain integrations). Youll ensure correctness security and regulatory compliance and youll be the person who says no thats not safe and makes it stick.

• Own cryptographic systems protocols or blockchain infrastructure for your domain including key management signing flows and on-chain integrations.

• Design and implement secure compliant crypto infrastructure that meets the highest standards for correctness and reliability.

• Think adversarially: design systems assuming they will be attacked conduct threat modeling and build defensive architectures.

• Navigate the intersection of cryptography distributed systems and financial regulation ensuring all systems meet compliance requirements.

• Lead security reviews and code quality processes for crypto-related systems enforcing a high bar for production readiness.

• Collaborate with security compliance and product teams to ensure crypto features are both safe and user-friendly.

• Mentor peers on crypto engineering best practices and contribute to the teams security-first engineering culture.

Required

• Track record of building and operating cryptographic systems blockchain infrastructure or secure financial systems in production.

• Deep understanding of cryptographic primitives key management signing protocols and consensus mechanisms.

• Strong software engineering fundamentals with experience in languages used in crypto infrastructure (e.g. Go Rust Java Python).

• Experience designing systems with an adversarial mindset: threat modeling security reviews and defensive architecture.

• Understanding of financial regulation as it applies to crypto and digital assets with experience building compliant systems.

• Demonstrated ability to make high-stakes engineering decisions where correctness and security are non-negotiable.

• Experience collaborating with security compliance and legal teams on system design and review processes.

Nice to have

• Experience with specific blockchain protocols (e.g. Ethereum Bitcoin Solana) and their integration patterns.

• Background in DeFi protocols custody solutions or institutional crypto infrastructure.

• Experience in fintech payments or other financial services environments with strict regulatory requirements.

• Familiarity with HSMs secure enclaves and hardware-backed key management systems.

• Proficiency with AI-assisted development tools and a thoughtful approach to leveraging AI in security-critical engineering.

Palo Alto United States

• Opportunity of earning equity at Nu

• Medical Insurance

• Dental and Vision Insurance

• Life Insurance and AD&D

• Extended maternity and paternity leaves

• Nucleo Our learning platform of courses

• NuLanguage Our language learning program

• NuCare Our mental health and wellness assistance program

• 401K

• Saving Plans Health Saving Account and Flexible Spending Account

• Work-from-home Allowance

• Relocation Assistance Package if applicable

Hybrid 2-3 times/week: Our hybrid work model brings us to the office at least twice a week on strategic days designed to maximize team connection and collaboration. For more details visit how we build technology at Nubank:

recruitment process may involve the use of artificial intelligenceenabled tools such as automated interview transcription and analysis to support the evaluation process. Artificial intelligence is not used to make final hiring decisions; all decisions are made by human reviewers.

Required Experience:

IC