Senior Software Engineer, Backend | Product Engineering

Build a Safer World.

TRM Labs provides blockchain analytics and AI solutions to help law enforcement and national security agencies, financial institutions, and cryptocurrency businesses detect, investigate, and disrupt crypto-related fraud and financial crime. TRM’s blockchain intelligence and AI platforms include solutions to trace the source and destination of funds, identify illicit activity, build cases, and construct an operating picture of threats. TRM is trusted by leading agencies and businesses worldwide who rely on TRM to enable a safer, more secure world for all.

The Product Engineering team is responsible for building a comprehensive set of features, frameworks, and functionalities for both end customers and internal-facing teams to successfully execute and scale TRM’s business. We are looking for a pragmatic backend engineer who can build reliable and scalable software that will be used by all TRM customers. You’ll also design backend APIs with a deep understanding of the customer experience and performance.

As an early member of the team, you will be deeply involved in the technical details along with our operational processes to champion the velocity, quality, and overall impact of TRM, ultimately building a safer financial system for billions of people.

The impact you’ll have here:

• Work on complex engineering problems that help you build and hone not only technical skills but also project management and human/soft skills
• Develop and maintain public APIs that are part of the API Product suite
• Collaborate with stakeholders on transforming a functional vision into a tangible roadmap with clear outcomes
• Support and enable internal business units through shared engineering services and functionalities
• Develop cross-functional relationships with stakeholders across the organization to understand and empower their mission from end to end
• Experience designing and building scalable systems, web applications, APIs, and services (our backend is built in Node.js but prior experience in Node.js is not required; we believe tools and languages can be learned on the job)

What we’re looking for:

• Experience designing and building scalable systems, web applications, APIs, and services.
• An understanding of storage systems such as relational databases (e.g., Postgres) and analytical databases.
• Demonstrated experience in understanding customer pain points and bridging their needs to technical & product requirements.
• A high degree of initiative and ownership, combined with the ability to navigate ambiguity and adapt quickly to change.
• Exceptional ability to structure problems and identify the most critical issues to prioritize.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences, verbally and in writing.
• Experience working collaboratively in a cross-functional environment with a diverse group of people at all levels in an organization.

About the Team:

• The team operates on a weekly sprint schedule. Individuals on the team are tasked to lead projects as technical anchors, and given a chance to grow and take ownership according to their level and goals. We work closely with our internal stakeholders to deliver impactful features to our internal customers and the company.
• The team’s culture is built on psychological safety wherein team members build rapport and trust-based relationships with teammates, hold each other accountable and to a high bar, collaborate extensively, and have lots of fun along the way.
• The team’s timezone is a mix of EST and PST with at least 6 hours of overlap with PST (8 am to 2 pm PST)
• On-Call: We have an on-call rotation that is specific to internal tools. In this role, the internal tools engineer is responsible for triaging customer support requests from specific Slack channels pertaining to internal tools.

Learn about TRM Speed in this position:

• Ruthless Prioritization & Adaptability: We adapt quickly when faced with new information. For example, an engineer may message the PM or EM to prioritize Task A vs. Task B in the middle of the sprint – we don’t let inertia guide our decisions. Instead we focus on ruthless prioritization and pivot quickly as needed.
• Challenging Timelines (Execution Pressure): An engineer questions a teammate’s proposed 3-week timeline, and constructively argues for condensing it to 2 weeks—backed by rationale, tradeoffs, and a plan to reduce scope or increase velocity. They show ownership of delivery speed and willingness to push for urgency.
• Time-Boxed Spiking (Rapid Learning & Decision-Making): An engineer proposes a 1-week spike with a clear time-box and success criteria to explore implementation options or validate feasibility through a proof of concept. They demonstrate speed not just in execution, but in de-risking decisions early.

The following represents the expected range of compensation for this role:

• Individual pay is determined by skills, qualifications, experience, and location. The compensation details listed in this posting reflect the US base salary only.
• The estimated base salary range for this role is $200,000 - $220,000.
• Additionally, this role may be eligible to participate in TRM’s equity plan.
• Please note – we factor in the different costs for geographies outside the United States.

Life at TRM

We are building a safer world. That promise shows up in how we work every day.

TRM runs fast. Really fast. We’re a high‑velocity, high‑ownership team that expects clarity, follow‑through, and impact. People who thrive here are energized by hard problems, experimentation, and direct feedback. If something takes months elsewhere, it often ships here in days.

That pace isn’t for everyone. If you are optimizing primarily for consistent work-life balance, use the interview process to pressure-test fit. We want teammates who thrive here, not just survive here.

AI Fluency at TRM

AI fluency is a baseline expectation at TRM.

We believe AI meaningfully changes how top performers operate. We expect every team member to use AI to accelerate and reimagine their craft, not just automate surface tasks.

At TRM, AI fluency means you are among the top 10 percent of operators in your function in how you apply AI to:

• Accelerate repeatable workflows
• Structure and solve problems
• Improve output quality
• Increase speed and leverage

You will be evaluated on applied AI fluency during the interview process.

Leadership Principles

We hire and grow against three leadership principles. They’re the standards for how we operate, treat each other, and make decisions.

• Impact-Oriented Trailblazer: We put customers first and move with speed, focus, and adaptability. We treat every plan like an experiment – test, ship, measure, and iterate quickly.
• Master Craftsperson: We care deeply about our craft. We balance speed with high standards, own outcomes end‑to‑end, and invest in getting better everyday.
• Inspiring Colleague: We add clarity and energy, not noise. We bring humility, candor, and a one‑team mindset — giving and receiving feedback to make the team stronger.

Learn more: Interviewing at TRM: How We Hire and What Success Looks Like

The impact you will have

This work has real stakes. Depending on your role at TRM, your week might look like:

• Driving critical investigations that can’t wait for typical business hours.
• Shipping products in days when others would schedule quarters.
• Partnering with teams across time zones to deliver insights while the story is still unfolding.
• Building new solutions from first principles when the playbook doesn’t yet exist.
• Protecting victims and customers by tracing illicit activity and disrupting criminal networks.

Join our Mission

At TRM we care deeply about our craft. We are looking for individuals who want their work to matter, who experiment with speed and rigor, and who take pride in building a safer world for billions of people. If you’re excited by TRM’s mission but don’t check every box, we encourage you to apply — we hire for slope, judgment, and the will to learn fast.

TRM is a Series C company with $220M in total funding, backed by Blockchain Capital, Goldman Sachs, Bessemer, Y Combinator, Thoma Bravo, and others. Headquartered in San Francisco, TRM operates as a distributed-first company with hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., London, and Singapore.

Recruitment agencies

TRM Labs does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to TRM employees. TRM Labs is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes and will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company without a signed agreement.

Privacy Policy And Additional Information

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Our typical hiring cycles for specialized roles span 24 to 36 months. Accordingly, we retain your personal information for up to 36 months to evaluate your application and to consider you for current and future employment opportunities, unless you request earlier deletion or a different retention period is required or permitted by law.

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