Head of Exchange Infrastructure

About the role

Kraken is looking for a senior product leader to own the exchange infrastructure that powers all of its crypto products. You will shape the vision and roadmap for the matching engine, core infrastructure, third‑party custody, algo engine and API engine, while working closely with engineering, risk and compliance teams.

Key responsibilities

• Own product vision and roadmap for the exchange layer, including 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 high standards for product craft.
• Consolidate multiple matching engines into a single stack, starting with US derivatives, then international derivatives, then spot.
• Build an interface‑agnostic platform so every product team and interface can share the same infrastructure.
• Define success metrics such as p99 latency, throughput, uptime and resiliency, and hold teams accountable.
• Partner with engineering leaders to sequence migrations without disrupting live markets.
• Collaborate with Risk and Credit Infrastructure to enable a single account for trading across all products.
• Anticipate industry shifts and align cross‑functional teams around the exchange strategy.

Required profile

• Senior product leader with experience in exchange, trading or high‑performance platforms.
• Proven track record managing and developing product managers who can operate independently.
• Player‑coach mindset: comfortable owning roadmaps and writing specs as needed.
• Strong understanding of matching engine and market data architecture, including low‑latency trade‑offs.
• Experience building platforms for internal customers and distinguishing platform solutions from bespoke builds.
• Excellent communication skills to influence both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Passion for crypto markets, market structure and next‑generation infrastructure.

Required skills

• Low latency
• API engine
• Third‑party custody
• Matching engine
• Market data architecture
• Algo engine
• Core infrastructure