Head of Exchange Infrastructure

Payward is the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks. Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions globally, offering spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services for both individual investors and institutional clients.

• Senior product leader with experience in exchange, trading, or high-performance platforms
• Experience managing and developing product managers on senior teams
• Player-coach mindset, owning roadmaps and writing specs
• Proven ability to set product vision and long-term roadmap
• Strong understanding of matching engine and market data architecture and low latency tradeoffs
• Experience building platforms for internal customers distinguishing platforms from bespoke builds
• Excellent communication skills to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Passion for crypto markets, market structure, and next-generation infrastructure

Nice to haves:

• Engineering background with experience building or operating high-performance systems
• Experience across both spot and derivatives venues
• Experience at a crypto exchange with comparable scale, volume, and uptime
• Track record building platform roadmaps aligned with adjacent product organizations

• Own the product vision and roadmap for the exchange layer: matching engine, core infrastructure, third-party custody, algo engine and API engine
• Lead and grow a team of four to five product managers, setting the bar for product craft across the layer
• Lead the consolidation of multiple matching engines into one, starting with US derivatives, then international derivatives, then spot
• Build interface-agnostic platform for all product teams and interfaces
• Define success metrics (p99 latency, throughput, uptime, resiliency) and hold teams accountable
• Partner with engineering leaders to sequence migration without disrupting live markets
• Partner with Risk and Credit Infrastructure for unified client accounts across products
• Anticipate industry shifts and shape platform strategy
• Align cross-functional teams (product, engineering, risk, compliance) around exchange strategy

Unless a specific application deadline is stated, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. Applicants may redact or remove personal information on resumes. The employer considers qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. This is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on protected characteristics outlined by law.