
Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform (Canada)
TRM Labs · NAMER
- Hybrid
- Internship
- $150,000 / year
- NAMER
Job highlights
- Build scalable data services for blockchain analysis.
- Develop real-time ETL pipelines for petabyte-scale data.
- Design optimal data models for sub-second query latency.
- Deploy and monitor large database clusters.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams on data initiatives.
About the role
About TRM Labs
TRM Labs provides AI-powered intelligence solutions that help public and private sector agencies investigate and disrupt crime. TRM's platforms enable investigators to trace illicit activity, build cases, and construct operating pictures of threat networks. Leading agencies and businesses worldwide rely on TRM to make the world safer and more secure.The Role: Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform
The Data Platform team collaborates with an experienced group of data scientists, engineers, and product managers to build highly available and scalable data infrastructure for TRM's products and services. As a Senior Software Engineer on the Data Platform team, you will be responsible for executing mission-critical systems and data services that analyze blockchain transaction activity at petabyte scale, and ultimately work to build a safer financial system for billions of people.The Impact You’ll Have Here
- Build highly reliable data services to integrate with dozens of blockchains.
- Develop complex ETL pipelines that transform and process petabytes of structured and unstructured data in real-time.
- Design and architect intricate data models for optimal storage and retrieval to support sub-second latency for querying blockchain data.
- Oversee the deployment and monitoring of large database clusters with an unwavering focus on performance and high availability.
- Collaborate across departments, partnering with data scientists, backend engineers, and product managers to design and implement novel data models that enhance TRM’s products.
What We’re Looking For
- A Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science or a related field.
- A proven track record, with 5+ years of hands-on experience in architecting distributed system architecture, guiding projects from initial ideation through to successful production deployment.
- Exceptional programming skills in Python, as well as adeptness in SQL or SparkSQL.
- Versatility that spans the entire spectrum of data engineering in one or more of the following areas:
- In-depth experience with data stores such as Iceberg, Trino, BigQuery, and StarRocks, and Citus.
- Proficiency in data pipeline and workflow orchestration tools like Airflow, DBT, etc.
- Expertise in data processing technologies and streaming workflows including Spark, Kafka, and Flink.
- Competence in deploying and monitoring infrastructure within public cloud platforms, utilizing tools such as Docker, Terraform, Kubernetes, and Datadog.
- Proven ability in loading, querying, and transforming extensive datasets.
About The Team
The Data Platform team is the funnel between all of TRM's data world and product world. We care about all layers of stack including petabyte of data stores, pipelines, and processes. We have quite a big scope as a the team with new and exciting projects every quarter. As a result, we collaborate across the board with most teams at TRM. We believe in async communication and are also not afraid to jump on a quick huddle if that helps to move things faster. We are both scrappy when the situation demands and also process-oriented when we need to achieve our OKRs. We are always looking for people who can elevate the quality our tech and our execution. If you enjoy a remote-first and async friendly environment to achieve efficacy and efficiency at petabyte scale, our team could be a great pick for you! Team members are based in the US across almost all timezones! We do try to reserve some overlap in the day for meetings. Our north star - no IC spends more than 3-4 hours/week in meetings.Learn About TRM Speed In This Position
- Build scalable engines to optimize routine scaling and maintenance tasks like create self-serve automation for creating new pgbouncer, scaling disks, scaling/updating of clusters, etc.
- Enable tasks to be faster next time and reducing dependency on a single person.
- Identify ways to compress timelines using 80/20 principle. For instance, what does it take to be operational in a new environment? Identify the must have and nice to haves that are need to deploy our stack to be fully operation. Focus on must haves first to get us operational and then use future milestones to harden for customer readiness. We think in terms of weeks and not months.
- Identify first version, a.k.a., "skateboards" for projects. For instance, build an observability dashboard within a week. Gather feedback from stakeholders after to identify more needs or bells and whistles to add to the dashboard.
About TRM's Engineering Levels
Engineer: Responsible for helping to define project milestones and executing small decisions independently with the appropriate tradeoffs between simplicity, readability, and performance. Provides mentorship to junior engineers, and enhances operational excellence through tech debt reduction and knowledge sharing.Senior Engineer
Successfully designs and documents system improvements and features for an OKR/project from the ground up. Consistently delivers efficient and reusable systems, optimizes team throughput with appropriate tradeoffs, mentors team members, and enhances cross-team collaboration through documentation and knowledge sharing.Staff Engineer
Drives scoping and execution of one or more OKRs/projects that impact multiple teams. Partners with stakeholders to set the team vision and technical roadmaps for one or more products. Is a role model and mentor to the entire engineering organization. Ensures system health and quality with operational reviews, testing strategies, and monitoring rigor.Life at TRM
We are building a safer world. That promise shows up in how we work every day. TRM moves quickly. We are a high velocity, high ownership team that expects clarity, follow-through, and impact. People who thrive here are energized by hard problems, experimentation, and continuous feedback. If something takes months elsewhere, it will ship here in days. Our work sits at the intersection of AI, national security, and fighting crime. The problems are complex, the stakes are real, and the environment evolves quickly. The pace and intensity of the work reflect the importance of the mission. As a result, the way we operate requires a high level of ownership, adaptability, collaboration, and creative problem-solving.At TRM, You Should Expect
- Priorities and targets to change quickly as we experiment and iterate
- Work that often requires operating with a high degree of ambiguity
- A high level of personal ownership and accountability
- Close collaboration across teams and functions
- Frequent, high-touch communication
- Creative problem solving and out-of-the-box thinking
- A pace that rewards urgency, adaptability, and outcomes
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
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‑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.
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.Privacy Policy And Additional Information
By submitting your application, you are agreeing to allow TRM to process your personal information in accordance with the TRM Privacy Policy. 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. To notify TRM Labs that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance. The use of AI tools of any kind (including but not limited to notetakers, interview assistants, and real-time coaching tools such as Otter.ai, Fireflies, Fathom, Cluey, or similar) during TRM interviews is not permitted without prior approval from TRM. TRM uses its own internal tools for note-taking to ensure a consistent and confidential experience for all candidates. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this form.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.Learn More
Company Values | Interviewing | FAQsKey skills/competency
- Senior Software Engineer
- Data Platform
- Distributed Systems Architecture
- ETL Pipelines
- Data Modeling
- Database Clusters
- Python
- SQL
- Spark
- Kafka
Skills & topics
- Senior Software Engineer
- Data Platform
- Data Engineering
- ETL
- Python
- SQL
- Spark
- Kafka
- Cloud
- Distributed Systems
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight your 5+ years of distributed systems architecture experience and specific data engineering skills like Python, SQL, Spark, Kafka, and cloud platforms.
- Showcase impact: Quantify your achievements in building scalable data services, ETL pipelines, and managing large datasets.
- Demonstrate AI Fluency: Provide examples of how you've used AI to accelerate workflows or improve output quality.
- Understand the culture: Research TRM Labs' focus on speed, ownership, and impact, and be prepared to discuss how you align with their leadership principles.
Technical preparation
Master Python for data processing and distributed systems.,Deepen expertise in SQL, SparkSQL, and data modeling.,Gain hands-on experience with Kafka, Flink, or similar streaming.,Practice deploying and monitoring cloud infrastructure with Docker/Kubernetes.
Behavioral questions
Describe a complex distributed system you designed.,How have you handled high-velocity, ambiguous projects?,Provide an example of mentoring junior engineers.,How do you ensure data quality and system reliability?
Frequently asked questions
- What is the expected experience level for a Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform at TRM Labs?
- TRM Labs seeks a Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field and over 5 years of hands-on experience in architecting distributed systems and guiding projects from ideation to production. Emphasis is placed on programming skills in Python, SQL, SparkSQL, and expertise in various data engineering areas.
- What kind of data challenges will I solve as a Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform at TRM Labs?
- As a Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform at TRM Labs, you will tackle mission-critical systems and data services analyzing blockchain transaction activity at petabyte scale. This includes building reliable data services, developing complex real-time ETL pipelines, designing intricate data models for optimal storage and retrieval, and overseeing the deployment and monitoring of large database clusters.
- What are the key technologies used by the Data Platform team at TRM Labs?
- The Data Platform team at TRM Labs utilizes a range of technologies including Python, SQL, SparkSQL, data stores like Iceberg, Trino, BigQuery, StarRocks, and Citus. They also work with data pipeline tools such as Airflow and DBT, data processing technologies like Spark, Kafka, and Flink, and cloud infrastructure tools including Docker, Terraform, Kubernetes, and Datadog.
- Does TRM Labs offer remote work opportunities for the Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform role?
- Yes, TRM Labs operates as a distributed-first company and the Data Platform team specifically mentions being a remote-first and async friendly environment. Team members are based across the US, with efforts to reserve some daily overlap for meetings, and aim for minimal meeting time for individual contributors.
- How does TRM Labs evaluate AI Fluency in candidates for the Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform position?
- AI Fluency is a baseline expectation at TRM Labs. Candidates are evaluated on their ability to use AI to accelerate repeatable workflows, structure and solve problems, improve output quality, and increase speed and leverage. Applied AI fluency will be assessed during the interview process.
- What are the typical career progression paths for engineers at TRM Labs?
- TRM Labs outlines three engineering levels: Engineer, Senior Engineer, and Staff Engineer. A Senior Engineer is expected to design and document system improvements, deliver efficient systems, optimize team throughput, mentor team members, and enhance cross-team collaboration. This indicates a clear path for growth and increased responsibility.