Principal Software Engineer

Relay Payments; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in company

401K match

Health insurance

Be Reasonable PTO

Job summary

Relay Payments is hiring a Principal Software Engineer in Atlanta to build the next generation payments network for an industry with little prior innovation. You will own complex projects, drive measurable improvements, and mentor engineers while solving challenging technical problems across Relay’s platform.

You’ll design resilient systems, write production code with emphasis on Golang, and collaborate with product managers, designers, and engineers to deliver practical, maintainable solutions.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience in payments, FinTech, logistics, or complex transactional domains.
• Strong backend engineering experience with service-oriented architectures, APIs, data modeling, and distributed design.
• Proven track record delivering complex software projects end-to-end.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and deliver high-quality systems, services, APIs, libraries, and infrastructure.
• Own complex project work: break down requirements, identify risks, sequence execution, drive completion.
• Write production code across the stack with a focus on Golang.
• Lead through engineering execution, design, communication, and reliable delivery.
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and engineers to translate business needs into technical solutions.
• Mentor engineers through design discussions, code reviews, and guidance.
• Address technical debt, architectural risks, and production issues to improve productivity.

Skills

Golang

PostgreSQL

SOA

API Design

DI/IoC

Distributed Systems

CI/CD

Observability

React

Tools

PostgreSQL

CI/CD

Job description

Relay Payments is a modern, digital payment network for the trucking and logistics industries. Trusted by more than 500,000 drivers, 100,000 carriers, and 3,000 truck stops nationwide, Relay has brought efficiency and automation to an industry historically reliant on cash, checks, and cards. Relay has joined forces with industry leaders like Pilot, Love’s, Maverik, Schneider, Old Dominion, Lineage Logistics, and others to provide secure, reliable over‑the‑road transactions. Founded in 2019, our Atlanta‑based fintech includes more than 150 team members and has won awards for product innovation, customer service, and organizational culture. For more information about Relay, visit relaypayments.com.

About The Role

As a Principal Software Engineer at Relay, you’ll be responsible for building the next generation payments network for an industry that has seen little innovation in the last 50 years. You’ll help drivers save hours each week by making transactions painless. You’ll help everyone in the transaction chain get visibility into spending, perform accurate accounting, and save money. You’ll build fast and reliable payment products for an industry that keeps America running.

You will play a critical role in designing resilient systems, driving complex projects to completion, mentoring engineers, and solving some of the most challenging technical problems across Relay’s platform. This role is ideal for an engineer who combines deep technical expertise with strong ownership, sound judgment, and the ability to influence technical direction.

• Design, implement, and deliver high‑quality systems, services, APIs, libraries, and infrastructure.
• Take direct ownership of complex project work, including breaking down ambiguous requirements, identifying risks, sequencing technical execution, and driving work through completion.
• Write production code and contribute hands‑on across the stack, with a strong focus on Golang.
• Lead by example through strong engineering execution, thoughtful design, clear communication, and reliable delivery.
• Partner with product managers, designers, engineering managers, and other engineers to translate business needs into practical, maintainable technical solutions.
• Mentor and coach other developers through design discussions, code reviews, technical guidance, pairing, and feedback.
• Identify and proactively address technical debt, architectural risks, operational issues, and opportunities to improve developer productivity.
• This role works a hybrid schedule and is in‑office at Cobb Galleria Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

What Makes You a Great Fit

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with preference for candidates who have worked in payments, FinTech, logistics, financial systems, or other complex transactional domains.
• A proven track record of personally delivering complex software projects, not just designing or advising on them.
• Strong hands‑on backend engineering experience, especially with service‑oriented systems, APIs, data modeling, and distributed system design.
• Ability to take ambiguous or complex problems, clarify the path forward, and execute through delivery.
• Deep experience analyzing and resolving difficult technical problems across systems, services, data flows, and integrations.
• Strong ownership mindset with the ability to drive projects forward across uncertainty, dependencies, and changing priorities.
• Detail‑oriented systems thinker who can work independently, collaborate effectively, and bring clarity to complex situations.
• Strong judgment in balancing business needs, technical quality, delivery timelines, reliability, and long‑term maintainability.
• Experience architecting solutions thoughtfully by limiting unnecessary complexity, justifying decisions, and clearly articulating tradeoffs.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical topics to technical and non‑technical audiences.
• A strong understanding of software testing strategies, observability, incident prevention, and production support practices.

Systems and Frameworks

As part of this role, you will be working with several systems and frameworks at Relay. We are looking for engineers who have deep experience in the following areas:

• Golang
• PostgreSQL or equivalent relational database
• Service‑oriented architectures
• API design and integration patterns
• Dependency Injection and Inversion of Control
• Distributed systems, reliability, scalability, and performance optimization
• Automated testing, CI/CD, and production observability
• Preferred: React front‑end web application knowledge

About Our Team

• We work in small, cross‑functional teams that include product managers, designers, and QA.
• We value continuous learning in our everyday work.
• We rely heavily on automated testing and CI.
• We use agile development and lean startup principles and practices to deliver products.

Our Core Values

• Invent the Future – We embrace the spirit of invention, the idea that there’s always a better way. Together we dream big, fail fast, drive forward, and find creative solutions where others see roadblocks. We prize grit, resilience and speed as we work to transform our industry and to move it into the future.
• Own the Work – Our work is a source of personal pride and fulfillment. We’re here because we relish a challenge and enjoy the exercise of proactively identifying and solving problems. We understand the power of accountability and are in constant pursuit of “more and better” for our customers, our partners and ourselves.
• We’re in it Together – We’re all in, committed to, and driven by our shared ambition and vision; we understand that alignment and collaboration are imperative. We set aside our ego to actively sync with one another, becoming greater than the sum of our parts. We are consistently open and generous with information, clear, concise and direct in our communication.

Why Relay Payments

• This is a game‑changing chance to join one of Atlanta’s best‑funded, most well‑positioned fintech start‑ups.
• We are generously sharing equity in the company – everyone’s an owner!
• We invest in your future with our 401K match program and dedicated personal/professional development funds.
• Do what’s best for your mental, physical and emotional health with our “Be Reasonable” PTO policy.
• We offer competitive benefits including medical, dental and vision insurance.
• And lots, lots more!