Staff Software Engineer, New Markets Middle East

Your Role

As a Staff Software Engineer at Alpaca Middle East, you will be a strategic technical leader responsible for architecting, designing, and establishing the foundational software systems that power Alpaca's financial infrastructure in the region. Your primary responsibility will be setting the technical direction for our software engineering practices, establishing architectural standards and patterns, and ensuring our systems meet regulatory compliance requirements while maintaining world-class reliability, scalability, and performance.

You will demonstrate exceptional technical depth and breadth across software engineering, serving as the recognized expert in system design, architecture, and performance optimization. You will independently lead complex, multi-team software initiatives, resolve systemic issues that impact the entire organization, and establish high standards for quality through innovative design solutions and engineering excellence. Your influence extends across the entire engineering organization, shaping software strategy, setting organizational processes and standards, and driving long-term technical vision.

In addition to software development, you will establish strategic approaches for infrastructure coordination with regional deployments and cloud or data center operations as needed for UAE and Saudi markets. While day-to-day infrastructure work may be performed, you will define infrastructure coordination frameworks,, and ensure strategic alignment between software requirements and infrastructure capabilities. Occasional on-site or regional travel may be required for strategic technical reviews, and ensuring infrastructure meets operational and regulatory standards.

This role requires exceptional problem-solving abilities, deep software engineering expertise recognized across the industry, and genuine care for system reliability, team dynamics, and organizational impact. You will serve as the ultimate technical authority on challenging software engineering issues, driving architectural decisions that impact multiple teams and systems. Your work will have organization-wide impact, influencing how software is designed, developed, and operated across Alpaca's Middle East operations.

Things You Get To Do

Software Architecture and Strategic Development

• Architect and establish foundational software systems using Go or similar languages, setting technical direction for organizational software development
• Design and establish event-driven architectures, message queues, and asynchronous processing patterns that serve as organizational standards
• Build and maintain APIs, services, and integrations that power Alpaca's financial infrastructure, establishing architectural patterns and best practices
• Optimize system performance at scale, identifying bottlenecks and implementing efficient solutions that influence organizational performance standards
• Ensure systems meet reliability, scalability, and regulatory compliance requirements, establishing compliance frameworks for the organization
• Establish coding standards and best practices, writing clean, maintainable, and well-tested code that serves as examples for the organization
• Design and implement scalable, maintainable, and performant systems that meet business requirements and serve as architectural blueprints

Technical Leadership and Strategic Expertise

• Demonstrate exceptional technical competency recognized across the organization and industry, serving as the ultimate authority across multiple areas including design, architecture, and performance optimization
• Lead complex, multi-team software initiatives from conception to delivery, establishing organizational standards and best practices
• Resolve systemic issues that impact the entire organization, applying deep technical knowledge and innovative problem-solving approaches
• Serve as the recognized expert on challenging technical issues, providing strategic guidance and solutions that influence organizational technical direction
• Establish and maintain high standards for quality across the organization, ensuring robust testing, code review, and efficient design solutions
• Evaluate and recommend strategic technical solutions, considering trade-offs between performance, maintainability, cost, and long-term business objectives, influencing organizational technical decisions

Infrastructure Coordination and Strategic Management

• Establish infrastructure coordination frameworks and strategies with DevOps and vendors for regional deployments.
• Define organizational approaches for ensuring infrastructure meets software requirements, operational standards, and local data residency or regulatory requirements
• Establish vendor management strategies for infrastructure services, ensuring service level agreements (SLAs) are met and defining organizational vendor relationship standards
• Coordinate with cloud providers, data center vendors, and managed service providers for infrastructure-related activities, establishing organizational coordination practices
• Define communication frameworks and coordinate activities between software development needs and infrastructure capabilities
• Lead vendor meetings and strategic technical discussions to ensure alignment between software and infrastructure at the organizational level
• Travel occasionally within the region to conduct strategic technical reviews and coordinate with vendors and DevOps on-site as required

Mentoring and Organizational Knowledge Sharing

• Actively mentor engineers across all levels (junior, intermediate, and senior), fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and continuous improvement across the organization
• Provide strategic technical guidance and architectural review feedback that helps engineers grow their skills and make better technical decisions
• Share knowledge through comprehensive documentation, technical talks, and organizational discussions that influence technical direction
• Create learning opportunities across the organization through pair programming, design reviews, technical workshops, and establishing mentorship programs
• Establish and evolve best practices and coding standards that improve organizational productivity and code quality

Organizational Influence and Strategic Collaboration

• Influence software practices, project direction, and cross-team collaborations across the entire engineering organization
• Play a leading role in setting organizational processes and standards, shaping long-term software strategies and technical vision
• Demonstrate leadership within executive and strategic discussions, driving architectural decisions and technical roadmaps that impact the entire organization
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams including product, design, business stakeholders, and executive leadership
• Bridge technical and business perspectives at the strategic level, translating business requirements into technical solutions and technical vision
• Lead cross-team initiatives, sharing expertise and aligning multiple teams on shared technical goals and software strategy

Strategic Project Execution

• Own the outcome of strategic initiatives that span multiple teams, ensuring they meet quality standards, timelines, and strategic business objectives
• Break down complex organizational problems into manageable initiatives and coordinate execution across multiple teams
• Proactively identify and mitigate strategic risks, ensuring smooth project delivery and establishing risk management practices
• Balance multiple strategic priorities and initiatives, effectively managing time and resources while maintaining focus on long-term objectives
• Communicate project status, technical challenges, and solutions clearly to stakeholders at all levels, including executive leadership

Problem Solving and Quality

• Exhibit exceptional problem-solving abilities and consistently drive organizational quality improvements
• Debug complex issues across multiple systems, applying systematic troubleshooting approaches and establishing organizational debugging practices
• Identify root causes and implement long-term strategic solutions that prevent future issues, not just quick fixes
• Establish and improve development processes, tooling, and infrastructure practices across the organization
• Advocate for quality improvements, including better testing, monitoring, and observability, establishing organizational quality standards

Who You Are (Must-Haves)

Technical Excellence

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience with a proven track record of architecting and building complex, production systems at scale
• Exceptional technical competency recognized across the organization and industry, with deep expertise across multiple areas including design, architecture, and performance optimization
• Expert-level mastery of Go or similar backend languages, with exceptional system design and architecture skills, and the ability to establish organizational architectural standards
• Proven track record of building scalable, high-availability applications that handle complex business logic and high transaction volumes, with experience establishing organizational scalability patterns
• Deep understanding of software engineering fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, and system design principles, with the ability to establish organizational engineering practices
• Extensive experience with event-driven architectures, message queues, pub/sub systems, and asynchronous processing patterns, with the ability to establish organizational architectural patterns
• Proven ability to independently lead complex, multi-team software initiatives and resolve systemic issues that impact the entire organization
• Exceptional problem-solving skills with the ability to debug complex issues across multiple systems and establish preventive measures
• Extensive experience with testing methodologies, including unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests, with the ability to establish organizational testing standards
• Deep expertise with cloud infrastructure (GCP, AWS, Azure) and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes), with strategic understanding of hybrid and multi-cloud architectures

Leadership and Organizational Influence

• Demonstrated leadership within executive and strategic discussions, recognized as the ultimate authority on challenging technical issues across the organization
• Proven ability to influence organizational practices, strategic project direction, and cross-team collaborations at the highest levels
• Experience playing a leading role in setting organizational processes and standards, shaping long-term software strategies and technical vision
• Exceptional mentorship capabilities with experience actively mentoring engineers across all levels (junior, intermediate, and senior)
• Ability to foster a culture of knowledge sharing and continuous improvement across the entire organization
• Track record of consistently owning strategic initiative outcomes and providing guidance that influences organizational technical direction

Problem-Solving and Quality

• Exhibits exceptional problem-solving abilities and consistently drives organizational quality improvements
• Obsession with performant, defect-free, maintainable code and systems, establishing organizational quality standards
• Ability to identify root causes and implement long-term strategic solutions that prevent future issues, not just quick fixes
• Establishes and maintains high standards for quality across the organization, ensuring robust testing and efficient design solutions
• Proactive strategic mindset with the ability to foresee organizational problems before they occur and establish preventive measures

Communication and Strategic Collaboration

• Exceptional communication skills to collaborate effectively with team members, stakeholders, cross-functional teams, and executive leadership
• Ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership, influencing strategic decisions
• Experience working in a collaborative environment, leading organizational discussions and driving strategic decisions
• Ability to balance multiple strategic priorities and work effectively in a fast-paced environment while maintaining focus on long-term objectives
• Willingness and ability to travel occasionally within the Middle East region for strategic on-site work and vendor coordination

Learning and Growth

• Drives organizational learning and experimentation, pioneering adoption of cutting-edge technologies and establishing organizational technical direction
• Stays current with industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies, sharing insights that influence organizational strategy
• Actively seeks out new knowledge and applies innovative solutions to problems that impact the entire organization
• Willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies, tools, and methodologies, establishing organizational best practices for technology adoption

Domain Knowledge (Preferred)

• Experience working with financial systems, APIs, or fintech applications
• Understanding of financial transaction processing, accounting principles, or regulatory compliance
• Familiarity with domain-driven design and event-driven design patterns
• Experience with distributed systems, microservices, and service-oriented architectures

Who You Might Be (Nice-To-Haves)

• Experience coordinating infrastructure provisioning activities or working with cloud and data center environments in regulated markets
• Experience managing vendor relationships for infrastructure services, including cloud providers and data center vendors
• Familiarity with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools like Terraform and GitOps practices
• Understanding of Kubernetes orchestration, networking concepts, and infrastructure monitoring tools
• Experience with infrastructure deployment in regulated environments or data residency requirements (e.g., UAE, Saudi Arabia)
• Experience in the financial services or fintech industry
• Experience working with Middle East financial markets (UAE, DIFC, Saudi Arabia / Tadawul, CMA)
• Experience with regulatory compliance in the region (DFSA, SCA, CMA, ISO 27001, SOC 2)
• Experience working with global teams across multiple time zones
• Knowledge of emerging technologies and their application to financial services
• Experience with observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, distributed tracing)
• Contributions to open-source projects or technical communities
• Experience with database design and optimization (PostgreSQL, Redis, etc.)
• Certifications in cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, Azure) or infrastructure management (Kubernetes, Terraform)
• Familiarity with Middle East fintech ecosystem and market dynamics