Senior Software Engineer, Unsecured Installments

Upstart; Oregon; Hybrid; USD 167,000 - 231,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation package

401(k) with company match

Equity grants

Remote-friendly & flexible work

Paid time off

Job summary

Upstart seeks a Senior Software Engineer to lead the Unsecured Installments frontend and backend interfaces, owning large-scale projects from end-to-end. You will shape architecture, APIs, and data models while partnering with product, design, and backend teams to deliver high-quality borrower experiences.

You will mentor engineers, drive testing and observability, and contribute to AI-enabled improvements in development workflows, aiming to expand access to credit with reliable, scalable

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field with 6+ years of experience.
• Strong backend API design, service architecture, and data modeling skills.
• Experience leading design and delivery of large backend/full-stack projects in production.
• Proven ability to operate in ambiguous, dynamic environments.

Responsibilities

• Own design and delivery of large backend and full-stack initiatives from planning to launch and maintenance.
• Set technical direction for APIs, data models, and system integrations with a 3-6 month roadmap.
• Collaborate across product, frontend, design, platform, and backend teams to translate roadmaps into scalable systems.
• Improve engineering quality through testing, observability, security, and operations.
• Lead through ambiguity with clear, testable plans and data-informed tradeoffs.
• Mentor engineers through code/design reviews and technical guidance.
• Contribute to AI-enabled improvements in development workflows and product capabilities.

Skills

Frontend & full-stack ownership

Backend APIs

Service architecture

Distributed systems

Code reviews & mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

Tools

React

TypeScript

Python

Java

Go

APIs & databases

Job description

About Upstart

At Upstart, we're united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 3,000 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress.We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City, you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.If you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you.

The Team:

Unsecured Installments is one of Upstart's core lending products, helping borrowers access credit through a seamless, digitally native experience. The team owns critical parts of the borrower journey across offer generation, pricing, underwriting, funding, and borrower experience, while working closely with the broader lending platform that powers Upstart at scale. Recent work has focused on improving borrower flows, repricing and rate flexibility, partnership experiences, and the overall quality of the customer-facing experience.As a Senior Software Engineer on the Unsecured Installments team, you'll be a technical leader for the frontend and full-stack experiences that borrowers interact with directly. Working primarily in React and TypeScript, you'll own the delivery of large, multi-month projects, shape the architecture of the team's mobile-web and full-stack surfaces, and set a high bar for quality across the borrower experience. You'll partner closely with product, design, and backend engineers to turn ambiguous problems into durable, well-architected solutions, and you'll mentor other engineers along the way.

How you’ll make an impact

• Own the design and delivery of large, complex backend and full-stack initiatives, from planning and sequencing through launch and long-term maintenance.
• Set technical direction for the team's service architecture, APIs, data models, and system integrations, owning a 3-6 month roadmap and proactively addressing systemic gaps that threaten reliability or team effectiveness.
• Partner closely with product, frontend, design, platform, and other backend engineers to translate roadmap priorities and borrower needs into scalable, high-quality systems.
• Raise the bar for engineering excellence through thoughtful service and API design, data integrity, testing, observability, security, and operational rigor across business-critical lending workflows.
• Lead through ambiguity by breaking down loosely defined problems into clear, testable plans and using data to inform tradeoffs involving scope, scalability, performance, reliability, and customer experience.
• Mentor and grow other engineers through code reviews, design reviews, and technical guidance, and serve as a trusted collaborator across the team.
• Contribute to how the team uses AI in development workflows and product capabilities, with a pragmatic view of where it can create meaningful leverage.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience, and 6+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Deep proficiency designing and building backend services and APIs in a language such as Python, Java, Kotlin, Go, Ruby, or Node.js.
• Strong experience with service architecture, API design, data modeling, relational or non-relational databases, and distributed systems.
• Track record of independently leading the design and delivery of large, business-critical backend or full-stack projects in production.
• Experience building reliable production systems, including testing, monitoring, incident response, performance optimization, and long-term operational ownership.
• Ability to work effectively in ambiguous environments where product requirements, constraints, and system boundaries evolve over time.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to explain technical tradeoffs and align product and engineering partners.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience serving as the backend or full-stack technical lead for a product team or business-critical system.
• Experience building consumer-facing products or high-volume transactional systems with strong requirements around reliability, scalability, correctness, and security.
• Background in fintech, lending, payments, or other regulated financial products involving complex workflows and high quality expectations.
• Experience with distributed systems, asynchronous processing, event-driven architectures, or service-oriented architectures.
• Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, relational and non-relational data stores, messaging systems, and CI/CD workflows.
• Experience with experimentation, feature flagging, or platform capabilities that support iterative product improvements in production.
• Hands-on experience leveraging generative AI in product features or internal engineering workflows.
• Passion for building products that expand access to credit and improve financial outcomes for consumers.

Position location

This role is available in the following locations:RemoteTravel requirementsAs a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range

$166,900-$230,900 USD

Canada | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range

$153,000-$218,500 CAD

What you'll love

• Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
• Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada)
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)
• Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.
• Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)
• Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security
• Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements
• Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country)
• Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
• Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only)
• Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you
• Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from
• Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
• Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City
• For roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec.

Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Just as we are dedicated to improving access to affordable credit for all, we are committed to inclusive and fair hiring practices.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email candidate_privacy_policy