Key skills
Financial systems designDouble-entry accountingAccounting principlesLedger structuresTransaction reconciliationScalable financial applicationsMulti-currency transactionsFinancial regulatory compliance Japan FIEAFinancial regulatory compliance Japan FSAFinancial regulatory compliance Japan JSDAFinancial regulatory compliance Japan JIPFStatically typed programming languages GoStatically typed programming languages RustStatically typed programming languages JavaStatically typed programming languages KotlinStatically typed programming languages C#Statically typed programming languages ScalaStatically typed programming languages C++Financial APIsMarket data integrationsTrade settlement processesSoftware engineering architectureDomain-driven designEvent-driven designIncident troubleshootingJapanese language fluency JLPT N1English language fluencyStrategic thinkingJavaC#C++CGoKotlinRustScalagRPCBudgetingCommunication
About this role
Alpaca is a US-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure for financial services. They are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to design and maintain systems for the Japan market, focusing on delivering high-quality software solutions and collaborating with local stakeholders.
Responsibilities:
- Design highly scalable, mission-critical brokerage systems for the Japan market
- Develop and enhance the middle- and back-office systems, including gRPC microservices, REST and gRPC APIs, and third-party vendor integrations specific to the Japan market (e.g. JPX, JSCC, JASDEC, banks, identity verification vendors)
- Work closely with Alpaca's core teams to enhance and transform the core framework, enabling support for multiple languages, currencies, and markets, with a particular focus on Japan-specific requirements such as NISA, MyNumber, withholding tax, and JP-GAAP accounting
- Collaborate with tech leads in other regions both synchronously and asynchronously, primarily through Slack and meetings, to align with global teams
- Coordinate in Japanese with local regulators, vendors, partners, and business stakeholders, and translate those requirements into technical specifications for the global engineering team
- Troubleshoot incidents and reported bugs to maintain system integrity and performance
- Participate in on-call rotations and assist with timely engineering projects and production issues during Japan business hours
- Thrive in a global environment, effectively navigating regulatory requirements and building scalable solutions to support Alpaca's expansion in Japan
Requirements:
- Native or JLPT N1 level fluency in Japanese, with the ability to read, write, and communicate professionally with local regulators, vendors, and partners
- Business-level English fluency, with the ability to collaborate effectively in English-only team meetings, design discussions, code reviews, and written documentation
- Proven experience in designing and developing complex financial systems, preferably including double-entry accounting
- Strong understanding of accounting principles, ledger structures, and transaction reconciliation
- Experience in building scalable, high-availability financial applications that handle multi-currency transactions
- Familiarity with regulatory compliance requirements in financial markets, with a preference for experience in Japan (FIEA, FSA, JSDA, JIPF, or related frameworks)
- Proficiency in at least one statically typed language (e.g. Go, Rust, Java, Kotlin, C#, Scala, or C++), with expertise in designing robust and efficient system architectures
- Experience working with financial APIs, market data integrations, and trade settlement processes
- Strong communication skills to collaborate effectively with global teams, local regulators, vendors, and internal stakeholders, bridging Japanese and English contexts
- Strong computer science fundamentals and proven software engineering architecture experience
- Ability to work independently in a fully remote, globally distributed team, and under pressure in a fast-paced environment
- Strategic thinking and the ability to translate technical concepts into business strategies
- Experience with domain-driven design and event-driven design
- Strong problem-solving skills paired with a proactive mindset
- Ability to lead and troubleshoot incidents or bugs with authority during Japan business hours
- Proficiency in Go, or willingness to ramp up quickly — Go is Alpaca's primary backend language
- Experience in the Japanese financial services sector (securities firms, banks, brokerages, or fintech)
- Hands-on experience integrating with Japan market infrastructure such as JPX (TSE/OSE), JSCC, JASDEC, or major Japanese banks
- Experience with Japan-specific products such as NISA, iDeCo, tokutei-koza, or MyNumber handling
- Experience working in a startup or fast-growing technology company
- Knowledge of emerging technologies
- Experience or passion for financial markets
- Experience managing vendors and organizational budgeting
- Experience working with global, English-speaking teams across multiple time zones