Location and CompensationLocation: US - Open to Europe if happy to overlap with ESTCompensation: $160K - $200KJob OverviewOur firm has been retained by a high-growth, mission-driven technology company to find a world-class Principal Java Systems Engineer. This is not a role for "glue" engineers who connect off-the-shelf components; this is for the engineer who sees performance ceilings as a personal challenge and prefers squeezing 30% more throughput out of clean Java over renting 30% more cloud compute.Our client is building a high-performance, publicly visible immutable ledger. In an industry where people "move fast and break things," this team operates like NASA: moving fast while ensuring correctness, performance, and efficiency are 100% right the first time. You will join an elite team where you aren't a cog in the machine—you are the architect building it.Key Responsibilities
First-Principles Engineering: Invent new protocols, data structures, and algorithms to solve problems no one else has tackledLow-Latency Systems: Design and write high-throughput Java systems from scratch, tuning memory down to the byte and performance to the nanosecondCore Infrastructure: Build parsers, interpreters, and performance profilers from the ground upTechnical Leadership: Mentor senior and staff engineers while making architectural decisions that ensure the correctness of a global ledgerOptimization: Switch fluently between high-level system design and single-instruction-level optimizationRigorous Testing: Build harnesses and tests to ensure mission-critical financial software never breaks
Requirements
Experience: 10+ years of professional software development experienceJVM Mastery: Deep understanding of the JVM, including memory models, threading, GC behavior, and performance profilingSystems Background: Experience with parsers, interpreters, compilers, or other language toolingCS Fundamentals: Strong grasp of data structures, algorithms, concurrency, and high-performance code with minimal dependenciesProven Delivery: Ability to deliver a high-performance server from scratch using just the JDK and an IDETooling: Proficient with JMH, PBJ, async-profiler, JFR, YourKit, or similar performance toolsEducation: Master's degree in Computer Science or equivalent deep industry experience
Preferred Good-to-Have Skills
Experience in distributed systems or blockchain technologyKnowledge of cryptographic primitives (hashes, public/private keys)Familiarity with Web3 tools, smart contract platforms (EVM), or high-frequency trading (HFT) systems
Benefits
Career-Defining Impact: Build the foundational infrastructure for the next generation of the digital economyTechnical Autonomy: Work on a small team with high ownership and the freedom to craft brilliant systems "the right way."Intellectual Challenge: Solve puzzles that require deep-stack engineering knowledge rather than standard API integrationProfessional Growth: Mentorship from and for some of the best minds in distributed systemsCompensation: Highly competitive salary and equity packages reflecting the "Principal" level of this role
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