Software Engineer II, Marketplace Optimization

OpenKrill; United States; Remote; USD 142,000 - 197,000; Full time

Job summary

Upstart is seeking a Software Engineer II to design and build real-time marketplace decisioning and monetization systems. You’ll collaborate with Product, ML, Data Science, and Capital Markets to deliver scalable, observable backend services that impact revenue and borrower experience.

You’ll work in a digital-first environment with the flexibility to work remotely from the US or Canada, contributing to a high-availability platform that processes millions of predictions daily.

Qualifications

• Design, build, and operate scalable backend or distributed systems in production.
• Experience with one or more modern backend programming languages.
• Experience building and operating business-critical systems with testing, monitoring, incident response, and root cause analysis.
• Experience designing production systems where reliability, availability, observability, and correctness are critical.
• Experience with marketplaces, financial systems, or optimization/matching engines is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate scalable backend systems powering real-time marketplace decisioning, matching, offer selection, and monetization.
• Develop flexible platform capabilities for experimentation and monetization while ensuring reliability and scalability.
• Create reliable, observable services balancing availability, latency, and correctness across distributed systems.
• Collaborate with Product, ML, Data Science, and Capital Markets to translate marketplace needs into technical solutions.
• Make architectural decisions that simplify systems and enable reuse across marketplaces and adjacent platforms.
• Use Generative AI tools to accelerate development while maintaining ownership, security, and code quality.

Skills

Backend systems

Production services

Distributed systems

Modern backend languages

Reliability & observability

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Ruby

Ruby on Rails

Python

Kotlin

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

Upstart’s Marketplace Optimization team is part of Capital Marketplace Engineering and is responsible for optimizing Upstart’s two-sided capital marketplace. Across Matching & Offer Selection and Monetization, the team builds the real-time decisioning systems, experimentation capabilities, and marketplace services that help match borrowers with sources of capital while improving marketplace efficiency, investor utilization, and business outcomes.

As a Software Engineer II, you will help design and build systems that enable faster experimentation, more sophisticated marketplace decisioning, and new monetization capabilities. You’ll work on business-critical systems where engineering decisions can directly influence revenue, profitability, capital utilization, borrower experience, and the scalability of Upstart’s marketplace.

How you’ll make an impact

• Design, build, and operate scalable backend systems that power real-time marketplace decisioning, matching, offer selection, and monetization.
• Build flexible platform capabilities that enable experimentation with allocation strategies, marketplace economics, and new monetization approaches while maintaining reliability and scalability.
• Develop reliable, observable services that balance availability, latency, correctness, and operational simplicity across complex distributed systems.
• Partner with Product, Machine Learning, Pricing Engineering, Data Science, Capital Markets, and Lending Partnerships to translate marketplace needs into effective technical solutions.
• Make architectural decisions that simplify systems, reduce coupling across marketplace and adjacent platforms, and create reusable capabilities that support future marketplace innovation.
• Use Generative AI tools thoughtfully throughout the development lifecycle to accelerate implementation, testing, debugging, documentation, and learning while maintaining ownership of technical decisions, security, code quality, and correctness.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field (or its equivalent) and 2 years of software engineering experience.
• Experience designing, building, and operating scalable backend or distributed systems in production.
• Experience developing production services using one or more modern backend programming languages.
• Experience building and operating business-critical systems with demonstrated use of testing, monitoring, incident response, and root cause analysis.
• Experience designing production systems where reliability, availability, observability, and correctness are critical.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with marketplaces, financial systems, recommendation or matching engines, optimization systems, or experimentation platforms.
• Knowledge of low-latency, high-throughput distributed system design and architecture.
• Experience partnering with machine learning or data science teams to integrate models or data-driven decisioning into production systems.
• Experience with Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Python, or Kotlin.
• Ability to navigate ambiguous technical and business problems, evaluate tradeoffs, and collaborate across engineering, product, and business teams.

Position location

This role is available in the following locations: Remote from USA or Canada (except Quebec).

Travel requirements

As 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.

Position location

This role is available in the following locations: Remote

Travel requirements

As 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.

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).

United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range$142,000-$196,600 USD

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).

Canada | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range$136,000-$184,000 CAD

What you'll love

At Upstart, our benefits for full-time employees are designed to support your health, financial well‑being, family, and personal growth. Here’s what you can expect:

• 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 annual