Software Engineer V

Lead; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 223,888 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Cash bonus

Health benefits

401k matching

Flexible PTO

Parental leave

Job summary

Lead Bank is building a modern, API-first banking platform powering fintech products. The Engineering team delivers secure, scalable systems for payments, lending, card issuing, and accounts in a world‑class environment.

The role focuses on technical ownership, mentoring peers, and delivering high‑quality services in AWS production. The candidate will influence coding practices, design systems, and drive multi‑team features from conception to maturation while maintaining a strong, autonomous

Qualifications

• Passionate about changing the banking system for a digital economy.
• 15+ years of production software development for large-scale consumer mobile apps.
• Experience as a Principal Engineer or higher.
• Advanced degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.
• Experience leading large feature releases across departments.
• Experience architecting scalable backend systems in Java, Go, or Ruby.
• Experience with AWS or other cloud platforms.
• Experience partnering with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience leading teams mentoring others.
• Experience maintaining high-quality code, delivering challenging, maintainable projects on schedule.
• Ability to collaborate and compromise.
• Curious, humble and eager to learn.
• Familiarity with relational databases.

Responsibilities

• Design, code, review, test, fix, research, deploy and maintain services in AWS production environments.
• Mentor peers and uphold high coding standards across the team.
• Prioritize work effectively and navigate ambiguous problem domains.
• Collaborate with product and compliance to deliver scalable banking features.

Skills

Backend engineering

AWS experience

Leadership & mentorship

Cross-functional collaboration

Relational databases

Education

Advanced degree in Computer Science

Bachelor's degree in CS or equivalent

Tools

Java

Go

Ruby

AWS

Job description

About Lead Bank

Lead is a banking infrastructure platform trusted by the most innovative companies to power complex financial products. We enable fintechs to offer compliant, programmable services like payments, lending, and digital assets at scale. Banking has moved beyond traditional institutions and is now embedded directly into everyday experiences, meaning companies need modern infrastructure that is safe, secure, and operationally sound. Today, Lead is one of the only API-first, developer-focused partner banks with the financial, regulatory, and legal expertise required to help fintechs succeed. We operate offices in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, and New York City, and an FDIC-insured bank in Kansas City.

Engineering Team at Lead

The Engineering team builds and maintains the technology that powers Lead's modern banking platform. Partnering with the Product, Finance, and Compliance teams, they architect secure, scalable financial systems that power money movement, credit and lending, card issuing, and account products for fintechs. Success requires technical excellence, a passion for solving complex infrastructure challenges, and the ability to collaborate effectively with a diverse set of stakeholders. The team is made up of ambitious builders and pragmatic problem solvers who are genuinely excited to see their work reach millions of end users across the globe.

Role Description

This candidate will have technical ownership of designs and services, while influencing good coding practices amongst peers. Responsibilities include designing, coding, reviewing, testing, fixing, researching, deploying and maintaining services and code in AWS production environments. Candidates are technical leaders in their domain who can prioritize well, develop at a high standard, mentor and navigate ambiguous problem domains, and have a consistent track record of high performance and delivery autonomously. This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties. Team members will also perform all other duties assigned based on business needs.

Basic Qualifications

• You are passionate about changing the banking system to meet the needs of a digital economy
• 15+ years of experience developing production software for large scale consumer facing mobile applications.
• Experience as a Principal Engineer level or above either presently or in the past
• Advanced Degree in Computer Science or Equivalent experience in lieu of degree
• Experience leading large feature releases; usually multi-person projects that cross engineering team boundaries within multiple departments
• Experience architecting scalable backend systems in Java, Go, or Ruby
• Experience with AWS or other cloud platforms.
• Experience partnering with cross functional stakeholders on technical approaches to deliver a product from infancy into maturation
• Experience with leadership/mentorship amongst team members
• Experience maintaining a high quality code base, consistently delivering challenging, stable, and maintainable projects on schedule.
• Ability to collaborate/compromise to get to the best, most efficient outcome
• You are curious, have humility and are open to learning
• Familiarity with relational databases

Preferred Qualifications

• Fintech experience is a plus
• Ability to perform in a fluid environment with high autonomy

What We Offer

• At Lead, we design our benefits to support company culture and principles, to foster an efficient and inspiring work environment, and to create the conditions for our team to give their best in both work and life
• Competitive compensation, including opportunities for equity grants and cash bonus, based on experience, geographic location, and role
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, 401k Matching, and other wellness benefits, including FSA, HSA and HRA
• Paid parental leave
• Flexible vacation policy, including PTO and paid holidays
• A fun and challenging team environment in a dynamic industry with ample opportunities for career growth
• Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. Pay is based on a number of factors and may vary depending on geographical market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Lead Bank is proud to have an inclusive culture committed to ensuring equal employment opportunity in all employment decisions regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, veteran status or any other legally protected status.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Zone 1: $223,888 - $280,000 (SF/Bay Area, NYC)