Principal Software Engineer

Summary

Join Marqeta's Banking and Money Movement Team as a Principal Software Engineer to design and deliver software solutions. You will own and deliver projects, solve complex problems, and serve as a technical advisor. This role requires strong leadership, collaboration, and technical expertise across multiple technology stacks. You will mentor engineers, influence architectural decisions, and drive innovation. The position offers flexible work arrangements and is based remotely in Ontario or British Columbia. Marqeta provides competitive compensation and benefits, including multiple health insurance options, flexible time off, retirement savings, equity, parental leave, and more.

Requirements

• 10+ years of hands-on software engineering experience, with a track record of designing and delivering complex distributed systems at scale
• 3+ Experience with payments or the FinTech space
• Strong experience across multiple technology stacks (e.g., Java, Python, Go) and proficiency in designing scalable APIs, microservices, and cloud-native applications
• Demonstrated ability to drive architectural decisions that balance short-term trade-offs with long-term goals
• Proven leadership in complex initiatives spanning infrastructure, product development, and platform evolution
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical audiences
• Experience shaping technical strategy and mentoring senior staff and principal engineers across multiple domains and teams
• Adept at solving ambiguous problems, balancing innovation with execution, and leading teams through change and complexity
• A passion for system reliability, observability, and building secure, maintainable systems

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the architecture of mission-critical systems, setting long-term technical direction and ensuring scalability, security, and sustainability across the platform
• Lead large-scale, cross-functional initiatives that span multiple teams and domains, ensuring alignment with business priorities and delivering high-impact outcomes
• Serve as a technical advisor to senior leadership, providing insight on technical risks, trade-offs, and innovation opportunities that shape product and business strategy
• Raise the technical bar across the organization by mentoring engineers at all levels, fostering a culture of technical rigor, collaboration, and continuous learning
• Partner with engineering managers and product leaders to ensure roadmap decisions align with architectural goals and long-term scalability
• Actively influence and contribute to the creation and evolution of the company’s engineering principles, tooling, and standards
• Conduct technical deep-dives into system architecture, identifying opportunities for performance improvements, technical simplification, and operational efficiency
• Represent engineering in key cross-functional forums, helping the organization navigate complex decisions around infrastructure, platform capabilities, and product development
• Act as a steward of engineering quality—promoting clean code, reliable systems, robust testing, and sustainable development practices
• Drive innovation across teams, leading explorations of emerging technologies and ensuring Marqeta remains on the forefront of industry standards and capabilities

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong understanding of regulatory and security requirements in the financial domain is a plus
• Hands-on experience with AWS, Kubernetes, and other modern cloud platforms
• Experience with Terraform and infrastructure-as-code practices
• Expertise in containerization and orchestration tools
• Track record of influencing technical direction across a large engineering org or multiple product lines
• Contributions to open source or industry thought leadership

Benefits

• Multiple health insurance options
• Flexible time off – take what you need
• Retirement savings program with company contribution and after tax contributions
• Equity in a publicly-traded company and an Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Family-forming benefits, fertility support, and up to 20 weeks of Parental Leave
• Free therapy sessions, financial and professional coaching, and legal advice
• Monthly stipend to support our remote work model
• Annual “development dollars” to support our people growth and development