Senior Software Engineer, C++

**Stellar** Senior Software Engineer, C++, NY/SF; $180,000 - $290,000 depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location

**About Company** Stellar is a decentralized, public blockchain that gives developers the tools to create experiences that are more like cash than crypto. The network is faster, cheaper, and far more energy-efficient than most blockchain-based systems. It’s designed so Stellar’s ecosystem can make a real-world, lasting impact.

**About the Role** As a C++ Engineer at Stellar, you'll be at the heart of it all—designing and evolving Stellar Core, the distributed engine powering our global ledger and consensus. This is your chance to work on real-world, high-impact distributed systems that are actively used by developers, institutions, and builders around the world.

You’ll tackle complex, meaningful challenges that push the boundaries of what’s possible in blockchain—boosting performance, strengthening decentralization, and designing incentive mechanisms that drive long-term network health. Whether you're optimizing peer-to-peer networking, building resilience against coordinated attacks, or simulating consensus models to validate security and scalability—you’ll be doing it all.

**Responsibilities** - Design and build key components of Stellar Core - the backbone software behind the Stellar Network. - Design and develop robust, scalable, and extensible technologies that empower our developers and network participants. - Collaborate on new architectures and subsystems, working alongside our CTO, our team of engineers, and our community of open source developers. - Write clean, maintainable code with an emphasis on edge case analysis and future-proofing our work. - Own core subsystems of Stellar Core, and help the team hit critical product milestones. - Collaborate with the team on code review and design, and contribute to best practices for all of engineering at SDF. - Investigate and refactor performance bottlenecks in order to continue scaling the system. - Author detailed technical feature and protocol (RFC) specifications - we take design seriously, and we encourage everyone to be a part of our RFC processes.

**Required Skills** A. 4+ years of experience developing software on a team. B. BS or MS in Computer Science or equivalent field. C. Excel in writing code in modern C++ in a production environment (absolute must have), with demonstrated experience in distributed systems. D. Great communicator that can advocate and lead technical discussions, especially during the design and code review process. E. Solid understanding of software design patterns, and how to build components that are reusable, extensible, and modular. F. Direct engineering experience (or active project contribution) in blockchain, decentralized ledger, DeFi application, or crypto protocol development (e.g., Stellar, Ethereum, Solana) is required.

**Bonus Skills** - Direct experience with designing and implementing distributed systems. - Strong curiosity in blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies, and understand the fundamentals of these systems. - Rust is a strong bonus, but C++ is the primary language.

**Logistical Info** - **Location: **Based in NY/SF or willing to relocate (in-person collaboration is critical). In-person component is mandatory (if in NYC/SF, 3 days a week; if within 30 miles outside the city - 1 day a week) - **Compensation: **$180,000 - $290,000 depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location - Number of openings: 1 - **Other:** Can do visa transfer or provide TN visa, but not fresh visa or OPT

**Ideal Background** - Candidates from Web3 or AI backgrounds are required. - People from later-stage companies, not super early-stage. - Didn’t give specific names, but companies like Coinbase are assumed to be a good fit. - FAANG candidates can do well, but they sometimes struggle to convert them. - No interest in candidates from BlackRock, Bloomberg, or similar.

**Example Candidates** - Ex-Gemini (2 years), ex-Microsoft (2 years); C++ since 2004. - AWS SDE II (07/2022–06/2025), prior BAE Systems; no Web3 experience.

**Green Flags** - Strong C++ and the core technical skills the role requires - Passes the take-home / coding assessment - Responsive and engaged throughout the process

**Red Flags** - Candidates whose experience is primarily in legacy/enterprise technology environments (e.g. Oracle, IBM, traditional finance/banks/insurance) will not be considered. - Candidates whose recent experience is primarily in network engineering, DevOps, SRE, or infrastructure operations rather than active C++ systems development — this role requires hands-on C++ coding as the primary day-to-day skill.

**Interview Process** - Recruiter interview - Three-part take-home assessment - Hiring manager conversation (walkthrough of role and milestones) - Virtual onsite (two parts, some technical content) - Final onsite in SF to meet the CTO/Head of Engineering and team