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- Tasks: Lead API design and application-layer architecture for innovative financial services.
- Company: Join Alpaca, a dynamic broker-dealer transforming financial services globally.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, stock options, health benefits, and monthly stipends.
- Other info: Work remotely with a diverse global team and enjoy excellent career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a significant impact in a rapidly growing tech company with a mission to democratise finance.
- Qualifications: 8+ years in backend engineering with strong API design expertise.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
Who We Are: Alpaca is a US-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure for stocks, ETFs, options, crypto, fixed income, 24/5 trading, and more. Our recent Series D funding round brought our total investment to over $320 million, fueling our ambitious vision. Amongst our subsidiaries, Alpaca is a licensed financial services company, serving hundreds of financial institutions across 40 countries with our institutional-grade APIs. This includes broker-dealers, investment advisors, wealth managers, hedge funds, and crypto exchanges, totalling over 9 million brokerage accounts.
Our global team is a diverse group of experienced engineers, traders, and brokerage professionals who are working to achieve our mission of opening financial services to everyone on the planet. We’re deeply committed to open-source contributions and fostering a vibrant community, continuously enhancing our award-winning, developer-friendly API and the robust infrastructure behind it. Alpaca is proudly backed by top-tier global investors, including Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, Unbound, SBI Group, Derayah Financial, Elefund, and Y Combinator.
Our Team Members: We’re a dynamic team of 230+ globally distributed members who thrive working from our favourite places around the world, with teammates spanning the USA, Canada, Japan, Hungary, Nigeria, Brazil, the UK, and beyond! We’re searching for passionate individuals eager to contribute to Alpaca’s rapid growth. If you align with our core values—Stay Curious, Have Empathy, and Be Accountable—and are ready to make a significant impact, we encourage you to apply.
Your Role: We’re looking for a Staff Backend Engineer to lead API design, governance, and application-layer architecture across Alpaca. This role acts as the technical owner of Alpaca’s APIs—both internal and external—ensuring they are consistent, reliable, secure, and easy to evolve. You will define standards, guide architectural decisions, and own critical orchestration and aggregation services that power Alpaca’s applications. This is a hands-on technical leadership role with a strong architectural focus. While you won’t be writing every line of code, you will contribute to shared frameworks, review designs, and own key application-level services.
Things You Get To Do:
- Drive Alpaca’s API design principles and governance across internal and external APIs.
- Lead application-layer architecture, including orchestration and aggregation services.
- Own and evolve critical services powering application experiences (e.g., portfolio history, account views).
- Define standards for API versioning, security, backward compatibility, and documentation.
- Drive best practices for observability, performance, and reliability at the application layer.
- Partner with platform engineering on service templates and shared infrastructure.
- Review API and architectural designs across teams and guide complex technical decisions.
- Contribute to shared frameworks, libraries, and tooling.
- Mentor senior engineers and raise the bar for backend and API craftsmanship.
Who You Are (Must-Haves):
- 8+ years of backend engineering experience, including Staff-level technical leadership.
- Strong expertise in API design and distributed systems.
- Proficiency in Golang or Java (or equivalent backend experience).
- Experience with service orchestration, aggregation patterns, and BFF architectures.
- Deep understanding of observability and operational excellence.
- Experience in defining and influencing engineering standards across teams.
- Strong architectural judgment and ability to balance long-term design with delivery.
- Excellent communication skills and a collaborative mindset.
- Familiarity with frontend systems (React/TypeScript) and API consumption patterns.
- Algo trading experience (either professional or personal).
Who You Might Be (Nice-to-Haves):
- Experience or understanding of financial markets.
- Experience working at a startup.
- Experience working remotely.
How We Take Care of You: Competitive Salary & Stock Options, Health Benefits, New Hire Home-Office Setup: One-time USD $500, Monthly Stipend: USD $150 per month via a Brex Card. Alpaca is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace dedicated to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce.
Staff Backend Architect — API Design & Systems Leadership employer: Alpaca
Contact Detail:
Alpaca Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Staff Backend Architect — API Design & Systems Leadership
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in your industry on LinkedIn or at meetups. A personal connection can often get your foot in the door faster than a CV.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you’ve got a portfolio or GitHub with projects that highlight your API design and backend prowess, make sure to share it during interviews. It’s a great way to demonstrate what you can bring to the table.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for technical interviews by brushing up on your problem-solving skills. Practice coding challenges and system design questions that are relevant to backend architecture. We all know how crucial those are for a Staff Backend Engineer role!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in joining our awesome team at Alpaca.
We think you need these skills to ace Staff Backend Architect — API Design & Systems Leadership
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion: When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for backend engineering and API design shine through. We want to see how your values align with ours—Stay Curious, Have Empathy, and Be Accountable.
Tailor Your Experience: Make sure to highlight your relevant experience in backend engineering and API governance. We’re looking for someone with strong expertise, so don’t hold back on showcasing your skills and achievements!
Be Clear and Concise: Keep your application straightforward and to the point. Use clear language to describe your past roles and responsibilities, especially those that relate to technical leadership and architectural decisions.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity at Alpaca!
How to prepare for a job interview at Alpaca
✨Know Your APIs Inside Out
Make sure you have a solid understanding of API design principles and governance. Be prepared to discuss your experience with internal and external APIs, and how you've ensured their reliability and security in past roles.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As a Staff Backend Architect, you'll need to demonstrate your technical leadership. Share examples of how you've guided architectural decisions and mentored other engineers. Highlight your ability to balance long-term design with immediate delivery.
✨Familiarise Yourself with Financial Markets
While not mandatory, having a grasp of financial markets can set you apart. Brush up on your knowledge of algo trading and how APIs are used in this space. This will show your genuine interest in the role and the company.
✨Communicate Clearly and Collaboratively
Excellent communication skills are key for this role. Practice articulating complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner. Be ready to discuss how you've collaborated with cross-functional teams to drive best practices in observability and performance.