Senior Software Engineer, Backend | Product Engineering

Build to Protect Civilization

TRM is a blockchain intelligence company that’s on a mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people. We’re a lean, high-impact team tackling some of the world’s most critical challenges, ranging from human trafficking and financial fraud to terrorist financing. We are builders who power governments, financial institutions, and crypto companies when the clock is running and the consequences are real. This is why every TRMer is a bet on our future and has the power to change our trajectory.

About the Position

The Product Engineering team is responsible for building a comprehensive set of features, frameworks, and functionalities for both end customers and internal-facing teams to successfully execute and scale TRM’s business. We are looking for a pragmatic backend engineer who can build reliable and scalable software that will be used by all TRM customers. You’ll also design backend APIs with a deep understanding of the customer experience and performance.

As an early member of the team, you will be deeply involved in the technical details along with our operational processes to champion the velocity, quality, and overall impact of TRM, ultimately building a safer financial system for billions of people.

The impact you’ll have here:

• Work on complex engineering problems that help you build and hone not only technical skills but also project management and human/soft skills
• Develop and maintain public APIs that are part of the API Product suite
• Collaborate with stakeholders on transforming a functional vision into a tangible roadmap with clear outcomes
• Support and enable internal business units through shared engineering services and functionalities
• Develop cross-functional relationships with stakeholders across the organization to understand and empower their mission from end to end
• Experience designing and building scalable systems, web applications, APIs, and services (our backend is built in Node.js but prior experience in Node.js is not required; we believe tools and languages can be learned on the job)

What we’re looking for:

• Experience designing and building scalable systems, web applications, APIs, and services.
• An understanding of storage systems such as relational databases (e.g., Postgres) and analytical databases.
• Demonstrated experience in understanding customer pain points and bridging their needs to technical & product requirements.
• A high degree of initiative and ownership, combined with the ability to navigate ambiguity and adapt quickly to change.
• Exceptional ability to structure problems and identify the most critical issues to prioritize.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences, verbally and in writing.
• Experience working collaboratively in a cross-functional environment with a diverse group of people at all levels in an organization.

About the Team:

• The team operates on a weekly sprint schedule. Individuals on the team are tasked to lead projects as technical anchors, and given a chance to grow and take ownership according to their level and goals. We work closely with our internal stakeholders to deliver impactful features to our internal customers and the company.
• The team’s culture is built on psychological safety wherein team members build rapport and trust-based relationships with teammates, hold each other accountable and to a high bar, collaborate extensively, and have lots of fun along the way.
• The team’s timezone is a mix of EST and PST with at least 6 hours of overlap with PST (8 am to 2 pm PST)
• On-Call: We have an on-call rotation that is specific to internal tools. In this role, the internal tools engineer is responsible for triaging customer support requests from specific Slack channels pertaining to internal tools.

Learn about TRM Speed in this position:

• Ruthless Prioritization & Adaptability: We adapt quickly when faced with new information. For example, an engineer may message the PM or EM to prioritize Task A vs. Task B in the middle of the sprint – we don’t let inertia guide our decisions. Instead we focus on ruthless prioritization and pivot quickly as needed.
• Challenging Timelines (Execution Pressure): An engineer questions a teammate’s proposed 3-week timeline, and constructively argues for condensing it to 2 weeks—backed by rationale, tradeoffs, and a plan to reduce scope or increase velocity. They show ownership of delivery speed and willingness to push for urgency.
• Time-Boxed Spiking (Rapid Learning & Decision-Making): An engineer proposes a 1-week spike with a clear time-box and success criteria to explore implementation options or validate feasibility through a proof of concept. They demonstrate speed not just in execution, but in de-risking decisions early.

Life at TRM

We build to protect civilization. That promise shows up in how we work every day.

TRM runs fast. Really fast. We’re a high-velocity team that expects ownership, clarity, and follow-through. People who thrive here are inspired by hard problems, experimentation, direct feedback. If it takes months elsewhere, it often ships here in days. If you are optimizing primarily for consistent work-life balance, use the interview process to pressure-test fit. We want teammates who thrive here, not just survive here.

We coach directly, assume positive intent, and play for the front of the jersey.

Leadership Principles

• Impact-Oriented Trailblazer: We put customers first, driving for speed, focus, and adaptability.
• Master Craftsperson: We prioritize speed, high standards, and distributed ownership.
• Inspiring Colleague: We value humility, candor, and a one-team mindset.

Want to learn more about how we interview at TRM Labs? Check out more about our leadership principles and hiring process here.

What You’ll Do Here

This work has teeth. At TRM, your week might include:

• Driving critical investigations that can’t wait for typical business hours.
• Shipping products in days when others would schedule quarters.
• Partnering with teams across time zones to deliver insights while the story is still unfolding.
• Building new solutions from first principles when the playbook doesn’t yet exist.
• Protecting victims and customers by tracing illicit activity and disrupting criminal networks.

Join our Mission

We look for people who want their work to matter, who build with speed and rigor, and who take pride in protecting others through their craft. If you’re excited by TRM’s mission but don’t check every box, apply anyway. We hire for slope, judgment, and the will to learn fast.

Build to protect civilization. Let’s do it together.

Recruitment agencies

TRM Labs does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to TRM employees. TRM Labs is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes and will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company without a signed agreement.

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