Software Development Engineer in Test I (SDET I) - Pro
Building the Future of Open Finance
Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.
Before you apply, we encourage you to explore our culture page to understand what drives us and how we work.
The Team
Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for both individual investors and institutional clients.
The Pro team is responsible for everything to do with the trading backend services such as the matching engine, market data gateways, internal and external APIs, and various other trading services. The team is located globally and responsibilities are split into sub-teams, working with various tech stacks. Our teams code in Rust and work agile around the globe. Recently, the team played a critical role in scaling Kraken's trading infrastructure.
The Opportunity
As an SDET I within Kraken Pro, you'll be embedded directly within engineering teams as a software engineer focused on quality.
You'll help build and maintain automated testing solutions, CI/CD tooling, and quality engineering workflows for complex backend systems and APIs. Working closely with product engineers, you'll contribute to ensuring the reliability, performance, and correctness of Kraken's trading platform.
Depending on the team or product area you join, you may work on matching engine services, market data infrastructure, external APIs, Futures and Derivatives systems, and other areas of the Pro trading stack.
This is a backend-focused role requiring strong automation skills, solid engineering fundamentals, and a passion for building quality into software from the start.
- Design, build, and maintain automated tests covering backend APIs, integrations, and trading workflows.
- Contribute to automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and quality tooling.
- Review code changes and identify quality and testability risks.
- Investigate test failures and production issues alongside software engineers.
- Perform exploratory testing focused on edge cases and failure scenarios.
- Validate backend services and APIs throughout development and release cycles.
- Leveraging AI tools such as Cursor, Codex, Claude Code, and MCP integrations.
- Collaborate with engineers and other SDETs to improve testing practices and automation coverage.
What You Bring
- Strong Python/Rust/C++ skills with experience building automated tests and tooling.
- Experience testing backend systems and APIs using REST, WebSocket, gRPC, FIX, or similar technologies.
- Experience working with CI/CD pipelines, automation frameworks, and containerised environments such as Docker.
- Experience within trading systems, fintech, exchanges, payments, betting, or other real-time, high-availability environments.
- Understanding of trading concepts such as order lifecycle, execution flows, balances, margin, and exchange mechanics.
- Strong troubleshooting skills and the ability to investigate complex system issues.
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools to improve productivity and quality.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills within engineering teams.
OUR COMMITMENT
Payward is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate the diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions, and unique perspectives that everyone brings to the table. We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgeable about crypto.
We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. These assessments evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Results are considered alongside experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.
As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis unless a specific deadline is stated in the posting.
STAY CONNECTED
Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/krakenfx
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kraken-exchange/
Kraken Blog: https://blog.kraken.com
Candidate Privacy Notice: https://www.kraken.com/legal/candidate-privacy-notice
Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.
We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.
Payward is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate the diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions, and unique perspectives that everyone brings to the table. We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgeable about crypto.
We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. These assessments evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Results are considered alongside experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.
As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.
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