San Francisco Government Hiring a Technologist to Assist in CBDC Development

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has started calling for a software engineer candidate to assist in developing and implementing systems related to central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The technologist will be expected to perform CBDC research and developments with a better understanding of the cost and benefits of the emerging field. This job post has shown interest from applicants wanting to join the federal government to build an in-house CBDC.

On February 18 2023, the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank posted a job vacancy on LinkedIn requesting a senior application developer – digital currency. According to the job post, the applicant is anticipated to aid the Federal Reserve in designing and implementing systems critical to CBDC research.

The job posting noted, “Given the dollar’s important role, the Federal Reserve System seeks to understand further the cost and benefits of the prospective technologies for CBDC, and how the system better understands this emerging field.”

Key responsibilities for this role

The successful Senior Application Developer must be able to work independently with the job location in San Francisco, California and a salary base ranging from $110,300 to $176,300. A successful candidate’s responsibilities include the following:

• Assist in developing novel systems related to Central Bank Digital Currency.
• Point out ideas to improve existing systems and workflows for accuracy, speed, scale and performance.
• Advance and drive best practices related to the state-of-the-art Central Bank Digital Currency technology.
• Implement suitable modern development and security standards, principles, and usability design standards.
• Distribute training, direction and support for product/platform operations.
• Determine, communicate and mitigate issues, risks, decisions and assumptions in detail.
• Must be prepared to work closely with partners with cross-functional teams and management.
• Represent, encourage and investigate various options based on feasibility and impact, and offer solutions and plans with a balanced strategy.

The job post states, “We offer a wonderful benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Pre-tax Flexible Spending Account, Backup Child Care Program, Pre-tax Day Care Flexible Spending Account, Vacation Days, Sick Days, Paid Holidays, Pet Insurance, Matching 401(k), and a Retirement / Pension.”

Requirements for the post

• A candidate must have a Bachelor’s degree with a concentration in computer science, management information systems or comparable technical discipline, or an equivalent experience.
• Background in maintaining and designing digital payments, cryptocurrencies or BDCs.
• Have experience in programming.
• Candidates must understand distributed systems design and cryptographic protocols, including consensus algorithms, security and zero-knowledge proofs.
• Comfortable with cross-functional initiatives and cooperating with stakeholders, engineering teams and UX designers.
• Must have a basic understanding of money, finance, payments, banking and other related concepts.
• Good social and presentation skills
• Must be a team player with high intrinsic motivation and resourcefulness.
• Must balance long-term and short-term objectives efficiently, successfully, and on time.
• Must be a United States national
• Good problem-solving skills
• Excellent managerial and time management skills
• Excellent written and oral interpersonal skills

“Final salary and offer will be determined by the applicant’s background, experience, skills, internal equity, and alignment with market data,” the job posting states. According to the job post, they will provide individuals with disabilities with reasonable accommodation to take part in the job application or interview process, execute essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

Countries rolling out CBDC.

In January 2023, the United Kingdom Treasury posted a job vacancy requesting a team lead for its central bank digital currency team behind efforts towards a digital pound. The job post had 135 applicants who had applied for the CBDC role.

India recently launched digital rupee CBDC and boarded 50 000 users and 5 000 merchants for the test. According to the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Rabi Sankar highlighted that the government intends to proceed with CBDC testing in the smoothest way possible.

Sankar noted, “We want the process to happen, but we want the process to happen gradually and slowly. We are in no hurry to make something happen so quickly.” The Indians CBDC project is presently active across five cities, with nine more cities possibly gradually joining the pilot soon. 

The Bank of Russia is getting ready to roll out the first user pilot for the nation’s CBDC on April 1 2023. In an interview on this Bitcode Method review, they mentioned that the rollout will involve 13 local banks and several merchants.

The Deputy Governor of Russia, Olga Skorobogatova, said: “We plan to launch the digital ruble project with transactions involving individual transfers as well as payments in trade and service enterprises.” She added that the general customers would not participate in the pilot’s first stage.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco noted, “We believe in the diversity of our people, ideas, and experiences and are committed to building an inclusive culture representative of the communities we serve.” At the time of publication, 51 candidates have shown curiosity in joining the federal government to build an in-house CBDC.