Hybrid Senior Backend Controls Engineer

at Uphold Inc.

• Job title: Senior Backend Controls Engineer
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Senior
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: Distributed Systems, JavaScript, Node.js, Postgres, Redis, SDLC, TypeScript
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Braga, Portugal

About the role

• Controls Engineer responsible for building and evolving consumer and business APIs at Uphold. Collaborating across teams to ensure maintainable, performant, and secure services.

Responsibilities

• Owning and driving the development of the most powerful, easy-to-use payment platform in the world.
• Leading the delivery of complex features and platform enhancements from design through production.
• Making and influencing architectural decisions across digital and crypto services and microservice boundaries.
• Collaborating with product managers, designers, engineers, and other stakeholders throughout the full software development life cycle.
• Acting as a technical reference point for the team, helping to raise the bar on code quality, system design, and engineering practices.
• Proactively identifying risks related to performance, scalability, reliability, and security — and driving mitigation.
• Staying current with the evolving tech stack and blockchain ecosystem, and helping guide adoption decisions.
• Writing high-quality, production-ready code with a strong focus on scalability and long-term maintainability.
• Building and evolving a microservice architecture with a strong emphasis on security, observability, and resilience.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• 6+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong backend engineering experience with Node.js , JavaScript, TypeScript, etc.
• Deep understanding of programming language ecosystems, including performance characteristics and operational trade-offs.
• Strong understanding of relational databases (preferably PostgreSQL) and non-relational databases (e.g. Redis).
• Strong understanding of web semantics, APIs, and distributed systems concepts.
• Experience working with version control systems and modern development workflows.
• Working knowledge of standard development pipelines, including build, test, and deployment automation.
• Working knowledge and experience with AI tools, such as claude.ai , etc.
• Fluent written and oral English skills, with the ability to communicate technical decisions clearly.

Benefits

• Annual bonus program based on individual, team and company performance.
• Home office stipend for a productive setup.
• Generous PTO, healthcare, and employee assistance programs.
• Engaging events and celebrations.
• Well-stocked office kitchen with a foodie culture.