Senior Staff Engineer, Spark

We take into account an individual’s qualifications, skillset and experience when determining salary. The salary range listed in the job posting reflects the new hire salary range across levels that would be applicable to the position and Los Angeles location. This role is eligible for health insurance, life insurance, 401k contribution, paid time off including vacation and sick leave and any other tax-reportable benefits. The final salary will be commensurate with the candidates final level and represents the base salary only.

• Health insurance coverage including medical, dental, and vision

• Competitive salary

• Stock options

• Company paid life insurance

• 20 paid vacation days a year, as well as paid holidays

• Flexible work schedule

• Matching 401k

• FSA/DCA accounts

• Generous family leave policies

• Annual bonuses

Lightspark is building open payments for the Internet—always-on payment solutions powered by Bitcoin, the only open, neutral network for moving value. With enterprise tools like Connect, UMA, and Spark, businesses can send and receive money instantly, securely, and at a fraction of the cost, anytime, anywhere. Lightspark is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, but serves the world.

Spark (spark.money) is a Bitcoin-native Layer 2 for payments and settlement that delivers the fastest, simplest, and cheapest rails in crypto while enabling native, scalable, self-custodial assets like BTC and stablecoins. This is a rare opportunity to join a brand-new L2 for Bitcoin, work on the infrastructure behind our fastest-growing product with top-tier customers, and help build the future of scalable Bitcoin payments.

The Spark SO (Spark Operator) team is at the core of our protocol, responsible for writing the code serving as the backbone to the Spark network. We’re seeking a highly adaptable, hands-on Senior Staff Engineer who can work across domains to define architecture from the ground up, dive into unfamiliar territory, and design, build, and scale a next-generation open payments network. In this role, you’ll work directly with our CTO and an early team to influence protocol evolution and deliver the infrastructure for the Bitcoin Layer 2 that is reshaping global payments.

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING:

• Design, build, and scale the distributed backend services that power Spark

• Own system architecture for highly available, low-latency services processing real-time Bitcoin transactions globally

• Work across multiple domains and layers of the stack, from core protocol logic to service orchestration to data infrastructure

• Build internal frameworks and tooling for monitoring, performance optimization, and operational reliability

• Extend and enhance protocol capabilities to support new markets, assets, and payment flows

• Collaborate with engineers, product, TPMs, and cross-functional partners to drive long-term technical direction

• Mentor and guide senior engineers, raising the bar for technical excellence across the team

• Adapt quickly to new challenges, whether designing new systems, debugging complex distributed behaviors, or scaling production infrastructure under load

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• 10+ years of engineering experience, including significant time in distributed systems, backend infrastructure, or protocol-level development

• Proven ability to design and scale large, complex systems with high reliability and low latency

• Strong track record of technical leadership driving architecture decisions, influencing roadmaps, and delivering mission-critical systems

• Comfortable operating across different languages, frameworks, and problem domains; primary stack includes Go, with additional work in Python, Rust, C++, and Kotlin

• Experience with modern deployment and infrastructure tooling (Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, etc.)

• Data-driven approach to problem solving, with experience building metrics-driven feedback loops

• Ability to thrive in high-intensity, high-ownership environments

• CS degree, or equivalent is ideal but not required. We appreciate and acknowledge that some of the best talent comes from non-traditional backgrounds.

Lightspark is on a mission to build an open payment protocol for the Internet at scale and therefore we’re committed to creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace to reflect the customers we serve. We welcome interest from individuals of all backgrounds and levels of experience who share our mission. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the State of California Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.

Compensation Range: $280K – $310K