Backend Developer Team Lead Jobs in Ridgewood, NJ

Who You Are:

You'll design and build backend systems powering blockchain infrastructure and staking products across Galaxy - spanning Ethereum-based systems, staking infrastructure (native and liquid), and blockchain data systems and APIs. Liquid Collective is one of several key initiatives you'll contribute to. 

This is a hands-on role with significant ownership and influence. You'll play a key part in shaping architecture, development practices, and engineering culture - not just building features, but raising the bar on how the team works. You'll own systems end-to-end, from architecture through to observability, and you'll operate in a spec-first development environment that increasingly leverages AI-assisted workflows. 

Typical time allocation: roughly 60% building systems and features, 20% code review and mentorship, 20% design, architecture, and product collaboration. 

What You'll Do:

• Build and own backend systems
  • Design and build APIs, services, Ethereum data pipelines and indexers, staking and validator infrastructure integrations, and monitoring and operational tooling.
  • Own system design end-to-end: architecture, implementation, testing, deployment, and observability. 
  • Work across the Ethereum stack, integrating with both execution layer and consensus layer clients. 
  • Contribute to Liquid Collective alongside other staking and blockchain infrastructure projects across Galaxy.
• Define and uphold engineering standards
  • Set and maintain the bar on API design, testing strategies for distributed systems, reliability and fault tolerance, and security and key management practices.
  • Operate in a spec-first development environment - translate product and protocol requirements into clear technical specs before building. 
  • Leverage AI-assisted development workflows (e.g. Claude Code) and work with emerging paradigms like MCP (Model Context Protocol) and agent-based tooling.
• Collaborate and contribute to engineering culture
  • Work cross-functionally with protocol, product, and infrastructure teams. 
  • Mentor engineers through code review, design feedback, and raising the overall quality of what the team ships.
  • Contribute to how the team evolves its practices - not just executing within the current system, but improving it.
• Embrace and champion the thoughtful adoption of AI to improve team performance and business outcomes.
• Leverage AI tools (e.g., generative AI, automation platforms, data copilots) to improve productivity, decision-making, and output quality in your day-to-day work.

What We're Looking For:

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience. 
• Strong experience building backend systems in Golang. 
• Deep understanding of distributed systems. Experience working with blockchain systems, preferably Ethereum - including familiarity with execution vs consensus layers, node operation, and data flow. 
• Experience with cloud-native infrastructure: AWS, Kubernetes, Helm, GitOps (e.g. Flux). 
• Strong testing practices for complex and stateful systems. 
• Experience working in remote, asynchronous teams. 
• High agency, low ego - you own your work end-to-end and hold yourself accountable for quality. 

Bonus Points: 

• Hands-on experience with Ethereum nodes (execution and/or consensus clients) or validator and staking infrastructure. 
• Understanding of proof-of-stake mechanisms. 
• Experience building blockchain indexers, data pipelines, dApps, or smart contracts (Solidity). 
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development workflows: spec-driven development, code generation tools, MCP, or agent-based paradigms. 
• Contributions to open-source projects. 
• Experience with Rust. 

What We Offer:

• Competitive base salary and discretionary bonus
• Hybrid/Flexible Working Arrangements 
• Flexible Time Off (paid)
• 3% 401(k) company contribution
• Company-paid health and protective benefits for employees, partners, and other dependents
• Generous paid Parental Leave
• Competitive family planning benefits for US employees 
• Opportunities to learn about the Crypto industry
• Smart, entrepreneurial, and fun colleagues
• Free daily snacks and weekly breakfasts/lunches 
• Employee Resource Groups
• Free coaching and counseling sessions through Headspace

Apply now and join us on our mission to engineer a new economic paradigm.