Engineering Manager - Lightning Network

The Role
You'll lead the Block Lightning Team within Bitcoin Engineering, whose mission is to accelerate Bitcoin as the open money protocol for the world. The Lightning Team is entering an exciting phase of unifying Lightning development across Block's ecosystem (Cash App, Square, and Bitkey). We're evolving to build a Lightning platform that will connect millions of existing Bitcoin users across Block's products. As Engineering Manager, you'll drive our mission of connecting the world through fast, low-cost payments, while maintaining our commitment to open source development and decentralization. You'll be fully remote and report into the Head of Lightning Engineering .
Bitcoin Engineering at Block
We believe Bitcoin is the best for an open money protocol - one that can make financial access universal and borderless. Our Bitcoin Engineering team works to accelerate this future by building critical infrastructure, tools, and products that make Bitcoin more accessible, secure and useful for everyone. Through our work across Cash App, Square, and Bitkey, we're proving that Bitcoin can work at scale while staying true to bitcoin's core principles.
You Will

• Lead technical architecture and strategy for Block's unified Lightning infrastructure, including node structure, shared LSP implementation, and security models
• Guide the team through critical phases of development, from infrastructure standardization to product integration and eventual payment network expansion
• Drive open-source initiatives and maintain collaboration with Spiral and the broader Lightning Network community
• Partner with Cash App, Square, and Bitkey teams to create seamless Lightning experiences across Block's ecosystem
• Oversee development of important projects in the block lightning space
• Build and mentor a team of Bitcoin and Lightning engineers while promoting a culture of technical leadership and independent decision-making
• Maintain high reliability standards for Lightning infrastructure serving millions of users

You Have

• 8+ years of software engineering experience , with 3+ years of experience leading technical teams
• Expertise in Bitcoin protocol and Lightning Network
• Experience with shipping production Lightning implementations and maintaining high-availability infrastructure
• Experience with open-source development and community engagement in the Bitcoin/Lightning ecosystem
• Experience balancing technical excellence with pragmatic product delivery
• Understanding of non-custodial and self-custody solutions and commitment to bitcoin principles
• Experience building secure, scalable payment systems
• Passion for Bitcoin's potential as an open money protocol and commitment to accelerating its adoption

Technologies We Use and Teach

• Lightning Network Daemon (LND) and core Lightning protocols (including Bolt 12)
• Rust, Kotlin
• Docker, Kubernetes
• Monitoring and observability tools for Lightning infrastructure
• AWS infrastructure

We're working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is a proud equal opportunity employer. We work hard to evaluate all employees and job applicants consistently, based solely on the core competencies required of the role at hand, and without regard to any legally protected class. We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we're doing to build an inclusive workplace? Check out our Inclusion & Diversity page .
Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. Canada locations are categorized into one of two zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate's starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.
Zone A:
$222,900 - $334,300 CAD
Zone B:
$222,900 - $334,300 CAD
Every benefit we offer is designed with one goal: empowering you to do the best work of your career while building the life you want. Remote work, medical insurance, flexible time off, retirement savings plans, and modern family planning are just some of our offering. Check out our other benefits at Block.
Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ) builds technology to increase access to the global economy. Each of our brands unlocks different aspects of the economy for more people. Square makes commerce and financial services accessible to sellers. Cash App is the easy way to spend, send, and store money. Afterpay is transforming the way customers manage their spending over time. TIDAL is a music platform that empowers artists to thrive as entrepreneurs. Bitkey is a simple self-custody wallet built for bitcoin. Proto is a suite of bitcoin mining products and services. Together, we're helping build a financial system that is open to everyone.