Staff Backend Engineer, Databases Platform

Affirm; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Affirm is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead the datastore platform strategy for relational and key-value databases across multi-region deployments. You will shape architecture, drive scalability, and partner with product, SRE, and analytics teams to deliver reliable data infrastructure.

You bring 8+ years building backend systems at scale, deep database expertise (MySQL/PostgreSQL; Vitess/TiDB), and fluency with AWS, Spark, and Kubernetes. Strong communication and leadership are a must.

Qualifications

• 8+ years designing, developing, and launching backend systems at scale.
• 5+ years of hands-on database expertise with MySQL, PostgreSQL, or distributed SQL.
• Experience with AWS, Spark, and Kubernetes.
• Strong communication and cross-team collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Set technical strategy for the datastore platform on a yearly horizon.
• Collaborate with product, infrastructure, and SRE teams to align roadmap and delivery.
• Design and build scalable datastore components for relational and key-value storage.

Skills

Python

Kotlin

Distributed systems

Communication

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

AWS

MySQL

PostgreSQL

Spark

Kubernetes

ProxySQL

Vitess

TiDB

Job description

Affirm is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead the datastore platform strategy for relational and key-value databases across multi-region deployments. You will shape architecture, drive scalability, and partner with product, SRE, and analytics teams to deliver reliable data infrastructure.

You bring 8+ years building backend systems at scale, deep database expertise (MySQL/PostgreSQL; Vitess/TiDB), and fluency with AWS, Spark, and Kubernetes. Strong communication and leadership are a must.