Staff Software Engineer, Credit Underwriting

Block, Inc; Kitchener; Remote; CAD 222,000 - 335,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial technology company is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to design and build underwriting services leveraging data and machine learning. The ideal candidate will have 12+ years of backend engineering experience and expertise in Go, Ruby, or Kotlin. This role involves solving complex underwriting challenges, guiding technical strategy, and mentoring junior engineers. The company offers competitive compensation and various benefits, including remote work and flexible time off.

Benefits

Remote work

Medical insurance

Flexible time off

Retirement savings plans

Modern family planning

Qualifications

• 12+ years of backend engineering experience with proven organizational impact.
• Expertise in Go, Ruby, or Kotlin, openness to learning others.
• Proven track record of architecting and scaling high-reliability financial systems.

Responsibilities

• Solve ambiguous underwriting challenges and implement solutions.
• Guide the long-term technical strategy for underwriting services.
• Partner with engineering, product, risk, and data teams.

Skills

Backend engineering

Mentorship

Technical communication

Tools

Ruby on Rails

Kafka

Terraform

ES6

TypeScript

React

Job description

Overview

Since we opened our doors in 2009, Square has evolved to offer integrated, omnichannel solutions for sellers. We help merchants sell online, manage inventory, offer buy now, pay later, book appointments, engage loyal buyers, and hire and pay staff. Square Banking provides funding options with quick access to capital and repayment tied to daily card sales. We are looking to grow access to credit for Square sellers and build a robust underwriting platform.

The Role

As a Staff Software Engineer on the Credit Underwriting Team, you will design, build, and own underwriting services that leverage data and machine learning to originate and approve a variety of lending products. You will work with internal teams iterating on existing loan products and experimenting with new loan structures. Our backend powers loan origination, while the frontend enables product teams to customize and manage credit policies. You will primarily work on backend systems.

You Will

• Solve ambiguous, high-risk, cross-team underwriting challenges by implementing solutions in code and guiding them from implementation to resolution across the lending stack
• Guide the long-term technical strategy for underwriting services while contributing hands-on to critical lending platform capabilities
• Partner with engineering, product, risk, and data science teams to shape and develop novel lending capabilities
• Raise the technical bar through design reviews and architectural guidance, creating designs for underwriting systems and providing feedback across lending teams to ensure reliability, maintainability, and extensibility
• Mentor engineers to grow technical depth and leadership in underwriting/domain knowledge and platform development
• Develop a best-in-class underwriting platform with robust APIs, clear documentation, and responsive support for policy teams to move quickly and safely

You Have

• 12+ years of backend engineering experience with proven organizational impact
• Expertise in Go, Ruby, or Kotlin with openness to learning others
• Proven track record of architecting and scaling high-reliability financial systems with fault tolerance and data integrity
• Strong mentorship, cross-team collaboration, and technical communication skills
• Ability to decompose complex problems into maintainable solutions
• Domain experience in lending, credit underwriting, or consumer credit systems is optional

Technologies We Use and Teach

• Ruby on Rails
• Kafka
• Terraform
• ES6 & TypeScript
• React

Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary by location. Canada locations are categorized into zones based on a cost of labor index. Starting pay is determined by skills, experience, location, and market conditions. These ranges may change in the future.

Compensation Zones

Zone A: 222,900 - 334,300 CAD

Zone B: 222,900 - 334,300 CAD

Use of AI in Our Hiring Process

We may use automated AI tools to evaluate job applications for efficiency and consistency. Tools comply with local regulations and bias audits; we handle all personal data in accordance with applicable privacy laws.

Contact us at [e-mail] with hiring practice or data usage questions.

Benefits

Remote work, medical insurance, flexible time off, retirement savings plans, and modern family planning are among the benefits offered. See Block for other benefits.

About Block

Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ) builds technology to increase access to the global economy. Our brands — Square, Cash App, Afterpay, TIDAL, Bitkey, and Proto — unlock different aspects of the economy and empower people to participate more fully.