Principal Software Engineer, Architecture

Affirm; Poland; Remote; PLN 240,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

A financial technology company is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead architecture for its European expansion. This role involves driving the technical vision and mentoring senior engineers. Candidates should have extensive software engineering experience, including technical leadership, and a solid understanding of international compliance and localization requirements. The position is remote within Poland, offering flexible work options and a comprehensive benefits package.

Benefits

Health care coverage

Flexible Spending Wallets

Competitive vacation

Employee stock purchase plan

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, with prior technical leadership roles.
• Proven success driving technical architecture for large-scale consumer or fintech systems.
• Strong experience with compliance and localization.

Responsibilities

• Drive the technical vision for Affirm’s international expansion.
• Lead architectural strategy and roadmap definition for Europe.
• Mentor and support senior ICs in Europe.

Skills

Software engineering experience

Technical leadership

Experience in multi-market contexts

Strong communication skills

Mentoring senior engineers

Distributed systems design

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

Principal Software Engineer, Architecture

Remote Poland

Affirm is reinventing credit to make it more honest and friendly, giving consumers the flexibility to buy now and pay later without any hidden fees or compounding interest.

In this role, you will be a senior member of Affirm’s Architecture Group, reporting directly to the Head of Architecture with a dotted line to Affirm’s EU leadership. You will own the architecture, technical roadmap, and delivery outcomes that enable Affirm’s international expansion, with particular focus on compliance and localization, cross-border trade, and country-specific payments and KYC requirements. You will also play a critical role in building Affirm’s technical leadership bench in Europe, mentoring senior ICs and formally establishing a strong EU-based tech leads group.

You will serve as the accountable technical leader for Affirm’s European expansion, ensuring that our platform and systems are built to operate reliably, securely, and compliantly across diverse markets.

What You'll Do

• Drive the long-term technical vision for Affirm’s international expansion, with emphasis on compliance, localization, payments, and cross-border trade.
• Lead architectural strategy and roadmap definition for Europe in collaboration with domain tech leads, the broader Architecture Group, and EU leadership.
• Ensure Affirm’s systems are adaptable to country-specific requirements, including payments infrastructure, KYC/AML regulations, and localization needs.
• Define and uphold standards for design and code quality through reviews, mentoring, and hands-on architectural guidance.
• Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to influence international product direction and align business goals with robust system architecture.
• Guide cross-functional teams to deliver end-to-end solutions that integrate seamlessly with global Affirm platforms.
• Mentor and support senior ICs in Europe, building and sustaining a high-performing EU tech leads group.
• Foster a culture of technical excellence, inclusivity, and rigor across Affirm’s European engineering teams.

What We Look For

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, with prior technical leadership roles.
• Proven success driving technical architecture for large-scale consumer or fintech systems, ideally in international or multi-market contexts.
• Deep experience guiding engineering strategy and delivery in complex, regulated environments.
• Expertise in the European payments landscape, cross-border trade, KYC/AML compliance, and localization at scale.
• Ability to distill complex technical trade-offs into clear decisions that shape product and platform evolution.
• Strong communication skills, capable of engaging both engineers and executives to drive alignment and clarity.
• Track record of mentoring senior engineers and building technical leadership communities.
• Extensive experience designing and operating highly available, secure, and scalable distributed systems.
• Experience in fintech or consumer-facing retail systems is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with international compliance regimes and European regulatory frameworks is a plus.
• JVM experience at scale is a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Base Pay Grade - T
Equity Grade - 7

Employees new to Affirm typically come in at the start of the pay range. Affirm focuses on providing a simple and transparent pay structure which is based on a variety of factors, including location, experience and job-related skills.

Base pay is part of a total compensation package that may include monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents). In addition, the employees may be eligible for equity rewards offered by Affirm Holdings, Inc. (parent company).

Additional benefits include:

• Type of employment: Contract of Employment
• Flexible Spending Wallets for tech, food and lifestyle
• Away Days - wellness days to take off work and recharge
• Learning & Development programs
• Parental leave
• Employee Resource & Community Groups
• This role is eligible for creative tax benefits, subject to applicable law and company policy

Location - Remote Poland

We are proud to be a remote-first company! The majority of our roles are remote and you can work almost anywhere within the country of employment. Affirmers in proximal roles have the flexibility to work remotely, but will occasionally be required to work out of their assigned Affirm office. A limited number of roles remain office-based due to the nature of their job responsibilities.

We’re extremely proud to offer competitive benefits that are anchored to our core value of people come first. Some key highlights of our benefits package include:

• 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

We believe It’s On Us to provide an inclusive interview experience for all, including people with disabilities. We are happy to provide reasonable accommodations to candidates in need of individualized support during the hiring process.

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