Staff Data Engineer

Staff Data Engineer

Full-Time 36000 - 60000 £ / year (est.) No working from home possible
MoonPay

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Evolve and scale our data platform while solving complex systems problems.
  • Company: Join MoonPay, a leader in the decentralized economy and digital payments.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, equity options, unlimited holidays, and hybrid working.
  • Other info: Diverse and inclusive workplace with excellent growth opportunities.
  • Why this job: Shape the future of finance and empower global financial freedom.
  • Qualifications: Experience in data architecture and distributed systems is essential.

The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ per year.

About MoonPay

Hi, we’re MoonPay. We’re here to onboard the world to the decentralized economy by making digital money move as universally and effortlessly as the internet. Why? Because crypto, stablecoins and blockchain aren’t just technologies. They’re tools for global financial empowerment. They give people and businesses more control over their money, their digital assets, and their future, opening access to legacy financial systems that have been out of reach for many.

What we do: MoonPay is a unified payments platform for digital currency. We make it easy for anyone, anywhere, to buy, sell, swap and pay in digital currencies as easy as sending an email. That simplicity is intentional, our focus is reducing complexity so people can participate confidently, without needing to be crypto experts. We power the entire flow between fiat and crypto end to end, with compliance, identity checks, fraud prevention, and settlement all built in. This end‑to‑end approach reflects how we work internally: with accountability, rigor, and trust built into everything we ship.

Proven at scale: Trusted by over 30 million customers and over 500 ecosystem partners, our secure, enterprise‑grade platform is driving mainstream crypto adoption worldwide. Behind those numbers are millions of real people and organizations relying on MoonPay every day. We collaborate with innovative brands and projects to build secure, scalable solutions for a blockchain‑powered future. This is an opportunity to help shape systems, not just scale them. And we’re committed to doing it right. Fully licensed in the U.S. and regulated across the UK, EU, Canada, and Australia, because trust and compliance are non‑negotiable. But we’re just getting started. We’ve launched a consumer app that makes crypto accessible, intuitive, and usable for everyone, and it’s growing fast. We’re iterating every day to make it the best it can be. If you believe financial freedom should be for everyone. If you believe in building a fairer, more open financial system — we want you with us. To build systems that benefit all, we need contributions from all, regardless of background. Come build the future of payments and the decentralized economy with MoonPay. Let’s make financial freedom and autonomy the new normal.

About The Opportunity

This is a hands‑on Staff Engineer role focused on evolving and scaling our data platform as the company grows. You’ll work on the systems that power analytics, product insights, integrations, and data science — helping ensure they are reliable, secure, and built to last in a regulated environment. We’re looking for someone who enjoys solving complex systems problems end‑to‑end: from shaping architecture and making pragmatic design trade‑offs, to contributing directly to code. Your impact will come from improving how our platform works today while helping teams make better long‑term technical decisions. This role is about influence and execution — leading through strong engineering judgment, collaboration, and hands‑on contribution.

What You’ll Own

  • Technical Direction: Contribute to the evolution of our data platform across streaming, batch, warehousing, governance, and data science enablement. Help define and champion architectural principles that allow teams to build safely, consistently, and independently. Work closely with compliance and security and a range of teams to design systems that meet reliability and regulatory requirements. Identify long‑term technical risks and guide pragmatic, incremental improvements.
  • Reliability, Scale & Performance: Improve the reliability, scalability, and cost‑efficiency of our data platform as usage grows. Evolve our streaming and warehouse infrastructure to support increasing real‑time and batch workloads. Strengthen observability, deployment automation, and cost governance across the data stack. Reduce systemic complexity and eliminate fragile or redundant patterns.
  • Technical Leadership & Collaboration: Provide technical direction within the data platform domain through design reviews, mentoring, and hands‑on contribution. Influence adoption of shared services and common patterns through strong engineering practices and collaboration. Partner with engineering managers and product managers to inform quarterly planning and longer‑term technical priorities. Support teams in making sound trade‑offs between speed, quality, and long‑term maintainability.
  • Engineering Quality & Craft: Mentor senior engineers and help grow technical depth across the organization. Improve standards around data modeling, pipeline design, observability, and infrastructure as code. Encourage thoughtful design documentation and clear decision‑making. Introduce pragmatic improvements to engineering workflows where they meaningfully increase productivity or quality.

About You

  • Experience contributing to the architecture of a broad data platform.
  • Strong understanding of distributed and event‑driven systems, along with modern data warehousing approaches.
  • A track record of aligning engineers and stakeholders around shared technical standards and great developer experience.
  • Experience designing for reliability, cost management, governance, and compliance at scale.
  • The ability to move between high‑level architectural decisions and hands‑on implementation.
  • Familiarity with working in regulated environments.

You’re a systems thinker who has helped build and scale data platforms used by multiple teams. You’re comfortable operating across architecture, hands‑on delivery, and cross‑team influence. Experience with tools such as Kafka or Pub/Sub, Airflow, Kubernetes, Terraform, Python, and SQL is helpful — but strong architectural judgment and systems thinking matter more than any specific technology.

What You Will Be Working With/on…

  • Cloud‑native infrastructure (we use GCP).
  • Event streaming systems.
  • Real‑time and batch processing.
  • Shared data tooling and reusable frameworks.
  • Observability and operational maturity.
  • Governance and data quality systems supporting compliance and auditability.
  • Infrastructure powering analytics, system integrations, data science, and ML workloads.

Values

  • B - Be Hungry
  • L - Level Up
  • O - Own It
  • C - Crypto Curious
  • K - Kaizen

Research has shown that women are less likely than men to apply for this role if they do not have experience in 100% of these areas. Please know that this list is indicative, and that we would still love to hear from you even if you feel that you are only a 75% match. Skills can be learnt, diversity cannot.

Benefits & Perks

  • Competitive salary package.
  • Equity package: We believe financial freedom starts with our employees, so all employees have ownership at MoonPay.
  • Pay for performance equity bonus: Those who drive outsized outcomes receive outsized rewards.
  • Moonshot award. We honor exceptional impact - 10 employees twice a year, each earning a $250,000 equity grant.
  • Unlimited holidays: We give you the autonomy to choose when to work (and when to switch off).
  • Hybrid working schedule: Work fully remotely or your nearest Moonbase, the choice is yours.
  • Private Healthcare benefits: To protect you and your loved ones.
  • Enhanced parental leave: So you can spend more time with your loved ones without a second thought.
  • Annual training budget: We support your training journey every step of the way.
  • Home office setup allowance: Create the home office of your dreams.
  • Remote working allowance: Those working fully remotely get a little extra for utilities.
  • Monthly budget to spend on our products and zero fee crypto transactions: Cultivate your inner DEGEN.
  • Employee referral programme: Great people know great people, refer them to receive 10K in USDC.
  • Regular remote company offsites: Meet your colleagues regularly for high impact in person sessions and hackathons.
  • Working in a disruptive and fast‑growing company where excellence is rewarded.

Commitment To Diversity

At MoonPay we believe that every voice matters. We strive to create a mindful and respectful environment where everyone can bring their authentic self to work, and experience a culture that is free of harassment, racism, and discrimination. That’s why we are committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and are a proud equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including, but not limited to, hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, and leave of absence. MoonPay is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our job application procedures for qualified individuals with disabilities. Please inform our Talent Team if you need any assistance completing any forms or to otherwise participate in the application process. We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Staff Data Engineer employer: MoonPay

MoonPay is an exceptional employer that champions financial empowerment through innovative technology, offering a dynamic work culture that values collaboration and creativity. With competitive salaries, equity packages, unlimited holidays, and a commitment to employee growth through training budgets, MoonPay fosters an environment where every voice matters and diversity is celebrated. Located in a hybrid working model, employees enjoy the flexibility of remote work while contributing to a fast-growing company at the forefront of the decentralized economy.

MoonPay

Contact Details:

MoonPay Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Staff Data Engineer

Tip Number 1

Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in the industry, attend meetups, and connect with people on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can put in a good word for you.

Tip Number 2

Show off your skills! Create a portfolio or GitHub repository showcasing your projects and contributions. This gives potential employers a taste of what you can do and sets you apart from the crowd.

Tip Number 3

Prepare for interviews by practising common questions and scenarios related to data engineering. We recommend doing mock interviews with friends or using online platforms to boost your confidence.

Tip Number 4

Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in joining our team at MoonPay and contributing to the future of payments.

We think you need these skills to ace Staff Data Engineer

Data Platform Architecture
Distributed Systems
Event-Driven Systems
Data Warehousing
Reliability Engineering
Cost Management
Governance and Compliance

Some tips for your application 🫡

Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Staff Data Engineer role. Highlight your experience with data platforms and any relevant technologies like Kafka or Kubernetes. We want to see how your skills align with what we do at MoonPay!

Show Your Passion for Crypto:Let us know why you're excited about the world of digital currencies and blockchain. Share any personal projects or experiences that demonstrate your interest in the crypto space. We love seeing candidates who are genuinely curious about our industry!

Be Clear and Concise:When writing your application, keep it straightforward and to the point. Use clear language to describe your achievements and technical skills. We appreciate a well-structured application that makes it easy for us to see your potential.

Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to submit your application directly through our website. This helps us streamline the process and ensures your application gets the attention it deserves. Plus, it’s super easy to do!

How to prepare for a job interview at MoonPay

Know Your Data Inside Out

Before the interview, dive deep into your understanding of data platforms and distributed systems. Be ready to discuss your experience with tools like Kafka, Airflow, and SQL, as well as how you've tackled complex data architecture challenges in the past.

Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills

Prepare to share specific examples of how you've solved intricate systems problems. Think about times when you had to make tough design trade-offs or improve system reliability, and be ready to explain your thought process clearly.

Emphasise Collaboration and Leadership

MoonPay values teamwork, so highlight your experience in mentoring others and leading technical discussions. Be prepared to talk about how you've influenced engineering practices and collaborated with cross-functional teams to achieve shared goals.

Understand Compliance and Governance

Since this role involves working in a regulated environment, brush up on compliance standards relevant to data management. Be ready to discuss how you've ensured data governance and security in your previous roles, demonstrating your commitment to building trustworthy systems.