Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Lakehouse Infra)

Affirm; United States; Remote; USD 173,000 - 255,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage for dependents

Tech stipends

Flexible time off

ESPP

Job summary

Affim is seeking a Senior Software Engineer, Backend for Lakehouse Infra. This role focuses on building scalable data infrastructure across OLTP/OLAP, batch orchestration, streaming, and analytics tooling, with ownership of critical systems and on-call responsibilities.

The position requires 4+ years in backend design and distributed systems, with Python or Kotlin, AWS, MySQL, and Kubernetes. Remote-first with national scope in the United States, and generous benefits including health coverage,

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience designing, developing and launching backend systems at scale using Python or Kotlin.
• Track record of building highly available distributed systems with AWS, MySQL, and Kubernetes.
• Experience scaling Iceberg, Flink, Airflow, Spark, Kafka, Snowflake, and Terraform.
• Ability to define a technical plan for delivery of a significant feature or system component with an elegant, simple and extensible design.
• Experience making significant changes in a large code base and creating tools to support safe delivery.
• Demonstrates ownership, seeks feedback from team and stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills for collaboration with a global engineering team.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Own and deliver quarterly goals for your team and mentor engineers through ambiguity.
• Collaborate with product management, design and analytics on ideation and technical trade-offs.
• Proactively identify and solve project, process, technology or business issues.
• Support operations and availability of team artifacts; monitor metrics and on-call efforts.
• Set or improve code review and design standards across the team and advocate beyond it.
• Develop talent on your team by providing feedback and leading by example.

Skills

Python

Kotlin

Backend design

Distributed systems

AWS

MySQL

Kubernetes

Iceberg

Flink

Airflow

Spark

Kafka

Terraform

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

Docker

SQL

Snowflake

Iceberg

Job description

Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Lakehouse Infra)

Remote US

At Affim, we exist for the moments that matter—giving people a clear, predictable way to pay over time, with no hidden fees, no surprises, and no tradeoffs on what matters most.

The Data and Storage Services team is responsible for affirm's data infrastructure across OLTP and OLAP systems, spanning critical online checkout databases, batch orchestration, streaming infrastructure, event-driven frameworks, BI, analytics tooling, large-scale data platforms, and agentic data tools such as semantic layers and internal platform data applications. Our mission is to provide trustworthy, intuitive, and cost-efficient solutions for affirmers to secure, store, analyze, and transform data at exceptional scale.

The vision for the Lakehouse Infra team is to provide reliable, scalable, self-serve and affirm-optimized offline data access to enable ML, Product, and Financial Engineering success. Our team is responsible for hosting the data infrastructure that serves as a backbone for processing various business critical money and loan movement workloads at affirm across our batch and analytics ecosystems. affirm is growing rapidly and so is the need for reliable and high availability frameworks. If solving data lake challenges at scale excites you, come join us!

What you’ll do

• You will be responsible for owning and delivering quarterly goals for your team, leading engineers on your team through ambiguity to solve open-ended problems, and ensuring that everyone is supported throughout delivery.
• You will support your peers and stakeholders in the product development lifecycle by collaborating with product management, design & analytics by participating in ideation, articulating technical constraints, and partnering on decisions that properly consider risks and trade-offs.
• You will proactively identify project, process, technology or business issues, advocate for them, and lead in solving them.
• You will support the operations and availability of your team’s artifacts by creating and monitoring metrics, escalating when needed, and supporting “keep the lights on” & on-call efforts.
• You will foster a culture of quality and ownership on your team by setting or improving code review and design standards for your team, and advocating for them beyond your team through your writing and tech talks.
• You will help develop talent on your team by providing feedback and guidance, and leading by example.

What We Look For:

• You have 4+ years of experience designing, developing and launching backend systems at scale using languages like Python or Kotlin.
• You have a track record of developing highly available distributed systems using technologies like AWS, MySQL, and Kubernetes.
• Experience scaling relevant technologies such as Iceberg, Flink, Airflow, Spark, Kafka, Snowflake, and Terraform.
• You have experience defining a technical plan for the delivery of a significant feature or system component with an elegant, simple and extensible design. You write high quality code that is easily understood and used by others.
• You are proficient at making significant changes in a large code base, and have developed a suite of tools and practices that enable you and your team to do so safely.
• Your experience demonstrates that you take ownership of your growth, proactively seeking feedback from your team, your manager, and your stakeholders.
• You have strong verbal and written communication skills that support effective collaboration with our global engineering team.
• This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor’s degree in a related field.

Pay Grade - N

Equity Grade - 9

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 equity rewards, monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents.)

USA base pay range (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT) per year: $ 195,000 - $ 255,000

USA base pay range (all other U.S. states) per year: $173,000 - $233,000

Remote‑first with flexibility built inAffirm is proud to be a remote‑first company. Most roles can be done from almost anywhere within the country of employment. Some positions may occasionally require in-person work at an affirm office, and a few are office-based due to the nature of the work. All new hires will be invited to attend an in‑person onboarding experience.

Benefits designed for youOur benefits reflect our commitment to care, transparency, and flexibility. Here are a few highlights:

• Health coverage at no cost: We cover 100% of premiums for employees and their dependents.
• Spending stipends: Monthly stipends support your tech setup, and the ability to choose health and wellness options that are right for you.
• Time off to recharge: Flexible time off and generous holiday calendars help you rest when you need to.
• Own a piece of what you build: Our employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) lets you buy affirm stock at a discount.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive interview process, including accommodations for candidates with disabilities. If you need support, we’re happy to help.

For positions based in San Francisco or Los Angeles: Affim considers qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, as required by law.