Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Upstart is hiring a Senior Software Engineer for its Unsecured Installments team, which builds and operates its digital lending product. The role leads backend and full-stack initiatives, sets technical direction for services and systems, and partners across teams to deliver reliable borrower experiences while mentoring engineers.

Responsibilities

• Own the design and delivery of large, complex backend and full-stack initiatives, from planning and sequencing through launch and long-term maintenance
• Set technical direction for the team's service architecture, APIs, data models, and system integrations, owning a 3–6 month roadmap and proactively addressing systemic gaps that threaten reliability or team effectiveness
• Partner closely with product, frontend, design, platform, and other backend engineers to translate roadmap priorities and borrower needs into scalable, high-quality systems
• Raise the bar for engineering excellence through thoughtful service and API design, data integrity, testing, observability, security, and operational rigor across business-critical lending workflows
• Lead through ambiguity by breaking down loosely defined problems into clear, testable plans and using data to inform tradeoffs involving scope, scalability, performance, reliability, and customer experience
• Mentor and grow other engineers through code reviews, design reviews, and technical guidance, and serve as a trusted collaborator across the team
• Contribute to how the team uses AI in development workflows and product capabilities, with a pragmatic view of where it can create meaningful leverage

Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience, and 6+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Deep proficiency designing and building backend services and APIs in a language such as Python, Java, Kotlin, Go, Ruby, or Node.js
• Strong experience with service architecture, API design, data modeling, relational or non-relational databases, and distributed systems
• Track record of independently leading the design and delivery of large, business-critical backend or full-stack projects in production
• Experience building reliable production systems, including testing, monitoring, incident response, performance optimization, and long-term operational ownership
• Ability to work effectively in ambiguous environments where product requirements, constraints, and system boundaries evolve over time
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to explain technical tradeoffs and align product and engineering partners
• Experience serving as the backend or full-stack technical lead for a product team or business-critical system
• Experience building consumer-facing products or high-volume transactional systems with strong requirements around reliability, scalability, correctness, and security
• Background in fintech, lending, payments, or other regulated financial products involving complex workflows and high quality expectations
• Experience with distributed systems, asynchronous processing, event-driven architectures, or service-oriented architectures
• Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, relational and non-relational data stores, messaging systems, and CI/CD workflows
• Experience with experimentation, feature flagging, or platform capabilities that support iterative product improvements in production
• Hands-on experience leveraging generative AI in product features or internal engineering workflows
• Passion for building products that expand access to credit and improve financial outcomes for consumers

Benefits

• Digital-first work, with flexibility to work remotely or from an office; most employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S. Regular in-person onsites are encouraged; cadence varies by team and role, with most teams meeting once or twice per quarter for 2–4 consecutive days.
• Target bonuses
• Equity compensation and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
• Retirement benefits: a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada)
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)
• Comprehensive health coverage, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US employees; supplemental health coverage for Canada employees
• Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)
• Life insurance and disability coverage
• Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements
• Paid family and parental leave (duration varies by country)
• Family-centered benefits supporting fertility, parenthood, and caregiving
• Employee Assistance Program offering mental health support and life-centered resources
• Financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US only)
• Annual wellness allowance supporting physical and emotional well-being and personal development
• Annual productivity allowance for relevant work tools and resources
• Team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
• Catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City

Company Overview

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