Software Engineer, Lending

Chime; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 133,000 - 184,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

In-office 4 days/week, Fridays remote

Health and wellbeing benefits

Vacation & parental leave

Commuter benefits

Equity & bonus

Job summary

Chime is seeking a Software Engineer in Lending to own backend systems and drive cross‑team initiatives that power credit and liquidity platforms for millions of members. You’ll design, build, test, and scale resilient APIs, collaborating with Product, Risk, Data Science, and Ops to translate ambiguous opportunities into durable solutions.

You’ll work across Lending to raise the bar for reliability, performance, and technical excellence while growing into broader components of the system over

Qualifications

• 3+ years building and operating production software at scale.
• Experience with Ruby on Rails (or comparable frameworks) designing and running APIs.
• Strong grasp of relational databases and caching, including safe schema changes/migrations.
• Familiarity with distributed systems fundamentals (async processing, idempotency, retries, backfills) and exposure to high-scale architectural patterns.
• Commitment to maintainable, well-tested code — including improving existing systems, not just shipping new ones.
• Excellent cross-functional communication: clarifying requirements, weighing tradeoffs, delivering incrementally.
• Curiosity about how things work, with a product mindset geared toward experimentation and measuring impact.
• Interest in data-driven systems and third-party data integration (fintech/risk experience a plus).
• Start-up experience a plus

Responsibilities

• Independently own and deliver features end-to-end.
• Design, develop, test, refactor and scale backend implementations of new and existing consumer product features.
• Work with the mobile team to design and build strong, resilient APIs that power the member facing mobile app.
• Collaborate with cross functional teams to understand member pain points and come up with solutions.
• Proactively identify opportunities for improving the reliability and scalability of our systems.
• Work across the engineering team to improve and uphold high technical standards.
• Grow into owning larger components of the system over time.

Skills

Production software

Ruby on Rails

Relational databases

Distributed systems

Maintainable code

Cross-functional communication

Data integration

Startup experience

Job description

About The Role

Chime’s Lending org builds the products and platforms that give members access to fair, transparent credit and liquidity when they need it most, from Earned Wage Access through MyPay, to flexible overdraft with SpotMe, to longer-term Instant Loans, and the platforms that power credit decisions, funding, repayments, and servicing behind the scenes.

We operate some of Chime’s most consequential systems. Our teams build real-time money movement and decisioning infrastructure at scale, including underwriting and eligibility, ledgering and reconciliation, capital markets workflows, repayment systems, and financial transactions that must be correct, resilient, and auditable. As a Software Engineer in Lending, you’ll work at the seam between member-facing products and the platforms that make them possible. This is a role for engineers who want to own more than a single service or feature area. You’ll lead technical initiatives that cut across products, platforms, and partner teams, helping shape how Lending evolves as a system, not just how one team ships. You’ll design and build backend systems where correctness, reliability, speed, and operational rigor matter deeply. You’ll partner closely with Product, Design, Risk, Data Science, Analytics, Finance, and Operations to turn ambiguous opportunities into durable solutions, influence technical direction across team boundaries, and help raise the bar for how Lending engineers build together.

The base salary offered for this role and level of experience will begin at $133,000 and up to $184,000. Full-time employees are also eligible for a bonus, competitive equity package, and benefits. The actual base salary offered may be higher, depending on your location, skills, qualifications, and experience.

Why join Lending?

Work on systems that matter

The products and platforms we build directly impact millions of members and sit at the center of Chime’s mission to help everyday people unlock financial progress. The problems are complex, the stakes are real, and the work matters.

Own a bigger surface area

This role is designed for engineers who want broader scope. You won’t be limited to a narrow feature lane. You’ll work across product experiences and shared infrastructure, helping connect strategy, systems, and execution across Lending.

Build where product and platform meet

Some of the most interesting engineering work happens in the seams: where member experience depends on credit strategy, where product velocity depends on platform leverage, and where financial correctness meets business speed. This role sits in the middle of those seams and gives you meaningful influence over how they scale.

Operate in a fast-moving, high-accountability environment

Lending is a fast-paced fintech environment where we care about moving quickly and building well. We value thoughtful design, strong engineering judgment, high-quality code, and operational excellence. We also actively use AI where it can improve quality, speed, and leverage.

In this role, you can expect to

• Independently own and deliver features end-to-end
• Design, develop, test, refactor and scale backend implementations of new and existing consumer product features
• Work with the mobile team to design and build strong, resilient APIs that power the member facing mobile app
• Collaborate with cross functional teams to understand member pain points and come up with solutions
• Proactively identify opportunities for improving the reliability and scalability of our systems
• Work across the engineering team to improve and uphold high technical standards
• Grow into owning larger components of the system over time

To thrive in this role, you have

• 3+ years building and operating production software at scale
• Experience with Ruby on Rails (or comparable frameworks) designing and running APIs
• Strong grasp of relational databases and caching, including safe schema changes/migrations
• Familiarity with distributed systems fundamentals (async processing, idempotency, retries, backfills) and exposure to high-scale architectural patterns
• Commitment to maintainable, well-tested code — including improving existing systems, not just shipping new ones
• Excellent cross-functional communication: clarifying requirements, weighing tradeoffs, delivering incrementally
• Curiosity about how things work, with a product mindset geared toward experimentation and measuring impact
• Interest in data-driven systems and third-party data integration (fintech/risk experience a plus)
• Start-up experience a plus

A Little About Us

At Chime, we believe that everyone can achieve financial progress. We created Chime—a financial technology company, not a bank*—on the premise that core banking services should be helpful, easy, and free. Through our user-friendly tools and intuitive platforms, we empower our members to take control of their finances and work towards their goals. Whether it's starting a savings account, purchasing a first car or home, launching a business, or pursuing higher education, we're proud to have helped millions unlock their financial potential.

We're a team of problem solvers, dreamers, and builders with one shared obsession: our members. From day one, Chimers have worked tirelessly to out-hustle and out-execute competitors to bring our mission to life. Their grit and determination inspire us to work harder every day to deliver the very best experience possible. We each bring an owner's mindset to our work, refusing to be outdone and holding ourselves accountable to meet and exceed the highest bars for our teams, our company, and our members.

We believe in being bold, dreaming big, and taking risks, while also working together, embracing our diverse perspectives, and giving each other honest feedback. Our culture remains deeply entrepreneurial, encouraging every Chimer to see themselves as stewards of our mission to help everyday Americans unlock their financial progress.

We know that to achieve our mission, we must earn and keep people's trust—so we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in everything we do. These aren't just words on a wall—our values are embedded in every aspect of our business, serving as a north star that guides us as we work to help millions achieve their financial potential.

Because if we don't—who will?

• Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.

What We Offer For Our Full-time, Regular Employees

• Our in-office work policy is designed to keep you connected - with four days a week in the office and Fridays from home for those near one of our offices, plus team and company-wide events depending on location. Whether you’re coming in regularly or are part of our fully remote program, you’ll stay engaged with your work and teammates.
• Benefits that support your work and life, including backup child, elder, and pet care and subsidized commuter benefits for eligible employees.
• Comprehensive health, financial, and wellbeing benefits designed to support you at every stage of life.
• Generous vacation policy and company-wide paid days off
• 1% of your time off to support local community organizations of your choice
• Annual wellness stipend to use towards eligible wellness related expenses
• Up to 22 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents and 12 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birthing parents
• Access to family planning reimbursement
• A challenging and fulfilling opportunity to join one of the most experienced teams in FinTech and help millions unlock financial progress

We know that great work can’t be done without a diverse team and inclusive environment. That’s why we specifically look for individuals of varying strengths, skills, backgrounds, and ideas to join our team. We believe this gives us a competitive advantage to better serve our members and helps us all grow as Chimers and individuals.

Chime is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis under provincial, federal, state, and local laws, regulations, or ordinances. We will also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of state and local laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Cook County Ordinance, NYC Fair Chance Act, and the LA City Fair Chance Ordinance, and consistent with Canadian provincial and federal laws. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during any stage of the application process, please contact: [e-mail].

To learn more about how Chime collects and uses your personal information during the application process, please see the Chime Applicant Privacy Notice.