Head of Exchange Infrastructure

Job description

**This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Head of Exchange Infrastructure based in Canada.** Join a global financial technology organization at the forefront of cryptocurrency trading and digital asset infrastructure. As Head of Exchange Infrastructure, you will define the product vision and long-term strategy for the core systems powering a comprehensive suite of trading products. You will lead the consolidation of multiple matching engines and APIs into a unified, scalable platform that supports spot and derivatives markets. Managing a team of four to five Product Managers, you will combine strategic leadership with hands-on product ownership and technical decision-making. You will collaborate closely with engineering, risk, credit, and compliance teams to deliver reliable, high-performance infrastructure without disrupting live markets. Your work will directly influence critical exchange capabilities, including latency, throughput, uptime, resilience, and cross-product account functionality. This is an opportunity to shape the future of digital asset trading through platform innovation, strong product leadership, and a long-term infrastructure vision. ### Accountabilities - **Define product vision and strategy:** Own the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for the exchange infrastructure layer, covering the matching engine, core infrastructure, third-party custody, algorithmic trading engine, and API engine. - **Lead product team development:** Manage and develop a team of four to five Product Managers, establish high standards for product management, and foster a culture of accountability, autonomy, and continuous improvement. - **Consolidate exchange infrastructure:** Lead the migration from multiple independent matching engines toward a unified exchange stack, beginning with US derivatives, followed by international derivatives and spot trading. - **Build a unified, reusable platform:** Develop interface-agnostic infrastructure that enables product teams and customer interfaces to share common capabilities rather than maintaining separate systems and bespoke integrations. - **Establish performance standards:** Define and monitor key infrastructure metrics, including p99 latency, throughput, uptime, and resilience, ensuring teams deliver against measurable performance and reliability objectives. - **Coordinate complex migrations:** Partner with engineering and infrastructure leaders to sequence technical changes, manage dependencies, mitigate risks, and maintain uninterrupted operations across live trading markets. - **Enable integrated account functionality:** Collaborate with Risk and Credit Infrastructure teams to support a unified account experience that allows clients to trade across multiple products using a shared account. - **Drive cross-functional alignment:** Bring together product, engineering, risk, and compliance stakeholders around a common infrastructure strategy, ensuring consistent priorities and coordinated execution. - **Remain hands-on in product delivery:** Personally contribute to roadmaps, product specifications, and strategic decisions when needed, balancing team leadership with direct involvement in critical initiatives. - **Anticipate industry developments:** Monitor changes in digital asset markets, trading infrastructure, and market structure to identify opportunities and ensure the platform remains competitive and adaptable. ## Requirements - **Senior product leadership experience:** Significant experience leading product strategy for exchanges, trading platforms, or other high-performance financial or technology infrastructure. - **People management:** Proven ability to manage, mentor, and develop Product Managers, including leading experienced teams that can operate independently while maintaining alignment with broader organizational objectives. - **Strategic roadmap ownership:** Demonstrated success defining product vision, translating business and technical objectives into long-term roadmaps, and delivering complex initiatives across multiple teams. - **Matching engine expertise:** Strong understanding of matching engine architecture, market data systems, exchange infrastructure, and the technical trade-offs associated with low-latency, high-throughput environments. - **Platform product management:** Experience building platforms for internal customers and distinguishing reusable infrastructure capabilities from isolated, customized solutions. - **Technical and analytical judgment:** Ability to evaluate architectural decisions, prioritize competing requirements, understand infrastructure performance constraints, and make informed product trade-offs. - **Hands-on leadership approach:** Willingness to contribute directly to product discovery, roadmap planning, specifications, and execution while empowering team members to own their areas. - **Cross-functional communication:** Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence technical and non-technical audiences and build alignment across organizational boundaries. - **Industry knowledge and motivation:** Strong interest in cryptocurrency markets, exchange operations, market structure, and the development of next-generation trading infrastructure. - **Preferred qualifications:** An engineering background involving the development or operation of high-performance systems; experience across both spot and derivatives markets; experience at a cryptocurrency exchange with comparable scale, trading volumes, and uptime requirements; and a track record of coordinating platform roadmaps across interconnected product organizations. ## Benefits - **Remote work:** Fully remote opportunity for candidates based in Canada. - **Competitive compensation:** Salary and detailed compensation arrangements are not specified in the original job description. - **Senior leadership opportunity:** Lead an experienced product team and shape the strategic direction of mission-critical exchange infrastructure. - **Technical and strategic ownership:** Influence platform architecture, product roadmaps, infrastructure consolidation, and long-term engineering priorities. - **Global collaboration:** Work with cross-functional teams in product, engineering, risk, credit, and compliance across an international organization. - **High-impact initiatives:** Contribute to the development of scalable, resilient, and high-performance infrastructure supporting cryptocurrency trading products. - **Professional development:** Expand your leadership and product strategy expertise while working on complex infrastructure challenges in a rapidly evolving industry. - **Inclusive workplace:** Join an organization that values diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and professional experiences and makes employment decisions based on relevant skills and qualifications. - **Structured hiring assessments:** Job-related skills or work-style assessments may be included in the selection process and considered alongside professional experience and interviews.