Technical Lead / CTO - Crypto Exchange

Location United Arab Emirates
Discipline: Blockchain & Fintech Services
Job type: Permanent
Salary: AED 20,000 - 30,000 per month
Contact name: Talent Team

Contact email: jane@awconnect-me.com
Job ref: 32307
Published: 2 days ago

We are seeking an experienced Technical Lead / Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead the technology function of a newly launched crypto exchange venture, backed by a well-established UAE-based investment group with a diversified portfolio across retail, real estate, hospitality, and financial services.

This is a foundational leadership role, responsible for building and scaling a high-performance, compliant trading platform and contributing directly to the VARA Exchange License application.

Key Responsibilities

  • Own the full CEX technology stack end-to-end

  • Design and oversee:

    • Order book & high-performance matching engine

    • Trade execution, clearing & settlement systems

  • Lead custody and wallet architecture, including integrations with:

    • Fireblocks, Copper, BitGo (or equivalent)

  • Architect real-time trading systems (WebSockets, low-latency, fault-tolerant)

  • Define and manage trading pairs, listing processes, and product rollouts

  • Implement and oversee market surveillance & manipulation detection tools

    • Solidus Labs, Chainalysis, or equivalent

  • Author and review technical sections of the VARA Exchange License application

  • Work closely with Compliance, Risk, Legal, Product, and Operations teams

  • Build and lead the engineering organization, setting standards for security, scalability, and resilience

Must-Have Requirements

  • 5+ years building trading systems (CEX, DEX, or traditional exchanges)

  • Hands-on experience with high-performance order matching engines

  • Strong understanding of market surveillance and abuse detection

  • Proven experience with custody and wallet infrastructure

  • Deep knowledge of real-time systems (WebSockets, low-latency architectures)

  • Exposure to crypto regulatory frameworks (VARA, MAS, FCA, or equivalent)

  • Ability to operate at both strategic and hands-on technical levels

Nice-to-Have

  • Built a crypto exchange from 0 → production

  • Operated platforms handling $100M+ daily trading volume

  • Experience with liquidity aggregation and smart order routing

  • Knowledge of market making and algorithmic trading

  • Prior leadership role in a licensed crypto exchange