Role Details
Position: Product CTO / Head of Engineering – CEX (Crypto Exchange)
Location: Dubai, UAE. Remote candidates may be considered as a second priority
Budget: AED 45,000 + Benefits
The Client
A fully regulated centralized cryptocurrency exchange for the UAE market. Built on ChainUp white-label infrastructure, offering spot trading, fiat on/off ramps, and institutional-grade custody. The platform operates under VARA regulations with full AML/KYC compliance.
- VARA-regulated exchange with institutional-grade infrastructure
- ChainUp white-label with customization layer on top
- Bybit liquidity pool integration for deep order books
- Full compliance stack: Sumsub KYC/KYB/Travel Rule, Elliptic KYT monitoring,
- ChainUp MPC custody solutions
- Opportunity to evolve from white-label to proprietary matching engine over time
Key Responsibilities
- Own CEX technical architecture end-to-end
- Order book, matching engine, settlement system design
- Custody integration (Fireblocks, Copper, BitGo)
- VARA Exchange License application (technical sections)
- Trading pairs management and listing process
- Market surveillance tools (Solidus Labs, Chainalysis)
Key Must-Have Criteria
- 5+ years of experience building trading systems within CEX, DEX, or traditional exchange environments
- High-performance order matching engine and order book architecture experience
- Custody and wallet infrastructure experience, such as Fireblocks, Copper, BitGo, MPC or equivalent
- Market surveillance and manipulation detection
- Real-time systems, WebSockets, and low-latency architecture
- Experience with VARA, ADGM, MAS, FCA, or equivalent regulatory environments
- KYC/AML tooling, KYT/Travel Rule, and compliance integrations
- Smart contract security awareness
- English C1+ – mandatory, particularly given the requirement for regulator and stakeholder communication
- Proven engineering team leadership and management experience
Regulatory Accountability - Particular Priority
Looking for candidates who have personally interacted with VARA, ADGM, or an equivalent regulator and carried technical/regulatory responsibility during licensing, regulatory submissions, audits, or similar processes.
Best-Fit Profile
Our ideal candidate is a CTO-level engineer with substantial CEX infrastructure experience who also has an understanding of RWA (Real World Asset) tokenization, at minimum demonstrating a strong understanding of tokenization architecture and blockchain infrastructure.