Senior Software Engineer - Tax Platform

Rippling; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Rippling is seeking a Senior Software Engineer in Bengaluru to own and design scalable systems for real-time tax calculations at scale. You will work on a global tax engine with a focus on reliability, performance, and compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

The role emphasizes end-to-end ownership, strong system design, and collaboration with product and compliance teams to deliver high-quality tax solutions.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering experience.
• Strong system design skills for distributed, high-reliability systems.
• Proficiency in Python; Django or MVC frameworks.
• Track record of delivering impactful projects autonomously.
• Rigorous approach to correctness and testing.
• Clear communication and ability to influence technical decisions.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable, reliable systems for billions of tax calculations.
• Own features end-to-end - from design through production.
• Maintain code quality, testing practices, and documentation.
• Ensure accuracy across multiple jurisdictions and tax rules.
• Collaborate with compliance, product, and platform teams.

Skills

Python

Django

Go

Distributed systems

APIs

Testing

System design

Tools

MongoDB

MongoEngine

Redis

PostGre

AWS

Kubernetes

Temporal

Job description

About the Team

Rippling's Tax Platform is one of only ~5 companies globally that owns the full tax calculation and filing stack. We process over $30 billion in annual payroll for 1 million+ employees - growing 50% year-over-year. Our systems handle millions of payroll transactions across multiple countries, ensuring tax correctness across 4,000+ jurisdictions while staying compliant with constantly changing tax regulations.

We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer who takes ownership of complex problems, designs robust systems, and delivers high-quality solutions that directly impact millions of tax calculations.

Why This Role

Rare Opportunity

You'd be joining one of only ~5 companies in the world that owns the full tax stack. ADP took 70+ years, Paychex 50+ years, Paycom 25+ years - Rippling built it in 10. Everyone else licenses from vendors. At Rippling, you own the engine.

Uniquely Hard Technical Challenges

• Real-time at scale: Sub-second tax calculations for payroll preview, batch processing of millions of records at month-end, with perfect consistency across retries


• Integration complexity: Filing to thousands of agencies via PDF, XML, fixed-width files, SFTP, web portals, APIs- and yes, some still require paper mail


• Testing without ground truth: No \"tax oracle\" exists; you'll build validation systems for millions of edge cases across 50 states x 12 months x multiple entity types


• Historical accuracy: Must calculate taxes using rules from any past date as regulations constantly change

The Big Bets You'll Contribute To

• Building an AI-Driven Global Tax Engine with explainable AI for full audit defensibility


• Massive System Scaling to support 100x current volume and enterprise-grade companies


• Expanding International Support to 20+ countries, each with unique tax systems


• Building Distributed Transactional Systems handling $100B+ in tax payments


• Automating Tax Filing to minimize manual intervention at scale

What You'll Build

• FQL (Filing Query Language): Our proprietary DSL encoding tax rules across 4,000+ jurisdictions


• Real-time Tax Calculation: Sub-second calculations at scale with perfect consistency

AI-Powered Compliance Engine

Multi-model validation with human-in-the-loop

What You Will Do

• System Design: Architect scalable, reliable systems that handle billions of dollars in tax calculations with zero tolerance for error


• Ownership & Impact: Own features end-to-end - from design through production with direct visibility into business outcomes


• Engineering Excellence: Set the bar for code quality, testing practices, and technical documentation within your team


• Reliability & Correctness: Build systems where accuracy is non-negotiable; a single bug can mean compliance failures across thousands of companies


• Global Scale: Solve challenges unique to processing millions of payroll transactions across multiple countries with 4,000+ jurisdictions and evolving regulations


• Collaboration: Partner with compliance, product, and platform teams to translate complex tax requirements into elegant technical solutions

What You Will Have

• 5+ years of software engineering experience


• Strong system design skills with experience building distributed, high-reliability systems


• Proficiency in Python; experience with Django or similar frameworks that follow the MVC pattern (layered architecture).


• Track record of owning and delivering impactful projects autonomously


• Rigorous approach to correctness—you write tests, handle edge cases, and think about failure modes


• Ability to navigate ambiguity and drive clarity in complex problem spaces


• Clear communication and ability to influence technical decisions

Nice to Have

• Experience in fintech, payroll, or tax domains


• Background in compliance-critical systems where correctness is paramount


• Experience with domain-specific languages or rule engines


• Familiarity with MongoDB, Temporal, or event-driven architectures

Tech Stack

• Languages: Python, FQL (proprietary tax DSL), Go


• Framework: Django, MongoEngine


• Database: MongoDB, Redis, PostGre


• Infrastructure: AWS, Kubernetes, Temporal

Observability: Buildkite, Datadog, Sentry