Head of Exchange Infrastructure
Lead the consolidation of Kraken's exchange infrastructure, overseeing product vision and team development.
Posted by employer 17 hours ago
First seen on Joblaze 6 hours ago
Last verified on the company career page 6 hours ago
Skills & Technologies
What you'll build
- Own the product vision and roadmap for the exchange layer
- Lead and grow a team of product managers
- Consolidate multiple matching engines into one
- Define success metrics and hold teams accountable
- Align cross-functional teams around the exchange strategy
Must have
- Senior product leader with experience in exchange or trading
- Experience managing and developing product managers
- Proven ability to set product vision and translate it into a long-term roadmap
- Strong understanding of matching engine and market data architecture
- Excellent communication skills
Nice to have
- Engineering background before moving into product
- Experience across both spot and derivatives venues
- Time at a crypto exchange operating at comparable scale
- Track record building platform roadmaps
Not disclosed in this posting: compensation, years of experience, work arrangement, visa sponsorship.
Joblaze summary
The Head of Exchange Infrastructure at Kraken is responsible for overseeing the core components that support all Kraken products, including the matching engine and API systems. This role requires a strong background in high-performance trading platforms and the ability to lead a team of product managers while actively contributing to product roadmaps and specifications. Ideal candidates will have experience in both spot and derivatives markets, along with a solid understanding of market data architecture. The position is situated within a senior, independent team that emphasizes collaboration across various functions.
Joblaze insights
- Listed today — first seen on Joblaze September 18, 2026. Last confirmed on Kraken's careers page September 18, 2026.
- This exact title is also open at 1 other location at Kraken: United States.
- infrastructure appears in 2.9% of 34 comparable director management roles in United Kingdom.
Quick facts
- What's the tech stack?
- Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: API, crypto, infrastructure, matching engine.
- What seniority level is this role?
- Kraken targets director candidates for this position.
- Is this full-time or contract?
- Full-time for this Head of Exchange Infrastructure role at Kraken.
From the original posting
We're looking for a Head of Exchange Infrastructure to own the layer every Kraken product is built on: the matching engine, core infrastructure, third-party custody, the algo engine and the API engine. Kraken grew up as a set of vertically integrated products, each with its own engine and its own APIs. This role consolidates them into a single exchange stack that serves every product and every interface. You will lead a team of four to five product managers, partnered with an engineering manager. It is a senior, independent team, which means you get leverage quickly and you are expected to stay close to the work.
The opportunity
Own the product vision and roadmap for the exchange layer: matching engine, core infrastructure, third-party custody, algo engine and API engine
Lead and grow a team of four to five product managers, and set the bar for product craft across the layer
Lead the consolidation of multiple matching engines into one, starting with US derivatives, then international derivatives, then spot
Build interface-agnostic, so every product team and every interface can build on the same platform rather than their own
Define success metrics (p99 latency, throughput, uptime, resiliency) and hold teams accountable to them
Partner with engineering leaders across exchange and core infrastructure to sequence the migration without disrupting live markets
Partner with Risk and Credit Infrastructure so a client can hold one account and trade every product against it
Anticipate industry shifts and shape our platform to stay ahead
Align cross-functional teams (product, engineering, risk, compliance) around the exchange strategy
What you bring
Senior product leader with experience in exchange, trading, or high-performance platforms
Experience managing and developing product managers, on a team senior enough to run without you in the room
Happy to be a player-coach. This team is independent, so you will own roadmaps and write specs yourself at times, not only review them
Proven ability to set product vision and translate it into a long-term roadmap
Strong understanding of matching engine and market data architecture, and the tradeoffs low latency forces
Experience building platforms for internal customers, with the judgment to tell a platform from a series of bespoke builds
Excellent communication skills — can influence technical and non-technical stakeholders
A passion for crypto markets, market structure, and building the next generation of infrastructure
Nice to haves
Engineering background before moving into product, so you've built or operated high-performance systems yourself and not just specced them
Experience across both spot and derivatives venues, with the market structure differences that come with each
Time at a crypto exchange operating at comparable scale, volume and uptime expectations
Track record building platform roadmaps that interlock with adjacent product orgs rather than running in isolation
Stay connected
Standard company text repeated across Kraken's postings is omitted here.