Senior Software Engineer - Ledger

As a Senior Software Engineer - Ledger at Alpaca, your core responsibilities will include designing, implementing, and maintaining the modern ledger system that provides a comprehensive view of account activities. You'll collaborate with various internal stakeholders, such as finance and operations, to deliver impactful features and ensure system integrity, scalability, and stability. Additionally, you'll lead high-visibility projects from design to deployment, ensuring that the systems are reliable and capable of supporting our growing user base.

To qualify for the Senior Software Engineer - Ledger position at Alpaca, you should possess at least 5 years of experience working with systems at scale. A strong background in coding, particularly in Go, is essential. Ideal candidates will also have a proactive mindset, excellent problem-solving skills, and the ability to align technical and non-technical teams. Familiarity with technologies such as gRPC, cloud platforms like GCP, and relational databases such as PostgreSQL is also desirable.

Absolutely! Alpaca embraces a globally distributed model, allowing team members to work remotely from their preferred locations around the world. This flexibility supports a diverse workforce and enables you to maintain a work-life balance while contributing directly to our projects and initiatives.

As a Senior Software Engineer - Ledger at Alpaca, you'll work on numerous high-impact projects involving the development of the ledger system, critical for maintaining accurate transactional data. You will also take ownership of delivering high-visibility features while collaborating cross-functionally with other engineering teams, finance, and operations, significantly contributing to the health and functionality of Alpaca's systems.

Senior Software Engineers - Ledger at Alpaca can expect a competitive salary and stock options, along with health benefits starting from day one. Other perks include a one-time home office setup allowance of $500 and a monthly stipend of $150 to support your remote work needs. Furthermore, you'll work alongside talented individuals and innovative partners, contributing to exciting projects in a rapidly growing fintech environment.

When answering this question, you should provide specific examples of projects where you've developed scalable systems. Focus on what technologies you used, how you addressed challenges, and the outcomes. Highlight how your work has improved system performance, and be prepared to discuss metrics that showcase your success.

Discuss your methodologies for maintaining code quality, such as code reviews, automated testing, or continuous integration practices. You may also share any personal habits or tools that you use to catch issues early in the coding process and to ensure that your code is both functional and maintainable.

Describe your collaborative process with various stakeholders, including finance, product, and other engineering teams. Emphasize your communication skills, how you align technical insights with business needs, and examples of successful teamwork or project outcomes that benefitted from cross-functional collaboration.

In your answer, mention specific programming languages, frameworks, and tools you have experience with, particularly those relevant to the Ledger position at Alpaca, like Go, gRPC, cloud platforms, and relational databases. Be sure to explain why you favor these tools and how you've used them in past projects.

Provide a structured approach to your debugging process, including how you prioritize issues, gather data, and conduct analysis. Mention tools and techniques you use for debugging large systems and share examples of complex issues you've successfully resolved, demonstrating your problem-solving skills.

Select a challenging project and outline the obstacles faced, your specific contributions, and the strategies you employed to overcome those challenges. Highlight your technical and soft skills, and focus on the positive outcomes, things you learned, and how the experience made you a better engineer.

In your response, demonstrate your understanding of the ledger's role in providing accurate and comprehensive records of transactions. Discuss how this impacts financial reporting, decision-making, and compliance, and express your enthusiasm for contributing to the success of Alpaca’s ledger system.

Craft your answer around your passion for fintech, the innovative work Alpaca is doing, and your career aspirations to grow in such an environment. Mention specific aspects of the company's culture and mission that resonate with you, highlighting how your values align with those of Alpaca.

Discuss initiatives you take to keep your skills sharp, such as attending workshops, following industry news, participating in online courses, or being involved in open-source projects. It shows your commitment to professional development and eagerness to bring the latest best practices to your work.

Provide a clear explanation of your understanding and experience with event-driven systems. Share examples of your work in implementing or optimizing such architectures, including the tools and frameworks you used. Explain the advantages you've noticed in adopting event-driven designs and how they've positively affected system performance.