Senior Staff Software Engineer, Backend

Summary

Join Affirm, a company reinventing credit, as a Senior Staff Software Engineer to define the technical direction and foster innovation within the Checkout engineering organization. Collaborate with engineering leaders and cross-functional teams to build scalable and reliable solutions. Shape best practices, guide architectural choices, and deliver critical initiatives. This role demands strong technical abilities, leadership, communication, and creativity. You will define the multi-year technical strategy, architect next-generation purchasing services, and mentor engineers. Success requires deep understanding of business, product, and engineering contexts, and the ability to navigate ambiguity and collaborate effectively across teams. Affirm offers a competitive compensation package including equity, stipends, and comprehensive benefits.

Requirements

• 12+ years relevant Software Engineering experience
• Proven experience delivering multi-year, high-impact projects with broad cross-functional collaboration
• Passionate about Affirm's Mission: "Deliver Honest Financial Products that improve lives"
• Enjoys cross team collaboration especially with product managers and designers
• Cares about the details in the user experience
• Excellent written and verbal communication, especially in asynchronous formats (RFCs, design docs, project plans)
• This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor’s degree in a related field

Responsibilities

• Define the multi-year, multi-team technical strategy and deliver it through direct implementation and broad technical leadership
• Architect and build next-generation Purchasing services, ensuring high availability and low latency to support Affirm’s financial products
• Influence and align with cross-functional leaders across the organization, guided by deep domain context and engineering expertise
• Mentor engineers and advocate for engineering excellence, influencing best practices across teams
• Navigate ambiguity, bringing clarity to complex engineering, product, and business discussions

Preferred Qualifications

Kotlin development experience is a plus, Python or Kotlin expertise preferred

Benefits

• Health care coverage - Affirm covers all premiums for all levels of coverage for you and your dependents
• Flexible Spending Wallets - generous stipends for spending on Technology, Food, various Lifestyle needs, and family forming expenses
• Time off - competitive vacation and holiday schedules allowing you to take time off to rest and recharge
• ESPP - An employee stock purchase plan enabling you to buy shares of Affirm at a discount
• Affirm is proud to be a remote-first company!