Staff Engineer, Backend

Betterment; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 210,000 - 245,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental and vision insurance

Flexible paid time off

Professional development opportunities

Lunch from in-house chef

Job summary

Betterment in New York City is seeking a Staff Engineer to drive technical vision within our Broker Dealer organization. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of experience in at least one object-oriented language (preferably Java) and significant expertise in SQL and relational databases. This role offers a base salary range of $210,000 to $245,000 along with a competitive equity package, comprehensive health benefits, and the opportunity to work in a hybrid environment. Join us in creating innovative financial solutions that empower people to build wealth confidently.

Qualifications

• 10+ years professional experience in at least one object-oriented language, strong plus for Java experience.
• 7+ years professional experience with SQL and relational databases.
• Experience designing, building, scaling, and maintaining core backend software components.

Responsibilities

• Drive the technical vision and long-term strategy of the team.
• Build innovative trading technology that empowers people.
• Collaborate with purpose and mentor other engineers.

Skills

Java

SQL

Distributed Systems

Algorithms

Data Structures

Job description

About Betterment

Betterment is a leading, technology-driven financial services company that offers investing, savings and retirement solutions for retail investors and investment advisors as well as financial wellness solutions, including a 401(k) for small and medium-sized businesses. Our team is passionate about our mission, to empower people to build wealth with confidence and ease. We’re headquartered in NYC and offer hybrid NY-based positions (four days/ week in-office, with no required office days during the summer and winter holidays).

About the Role

Broker Dealer is the core of the Betterment platform. On a busy day, we securely move millions of dollars through the Betterment system and ensure each transaction flows through a complex series of risk checks for strict regulatory compliance. Every ounce of efficiency and intelligence we pour into this system translates into more value for our customers.

As a Staff Engineer in our Broker Dealer organization, you’ll help define our technical vision, improve system stability, drive on‑time delivery, mentor our team of amazing engineers, and help scale our systems in the next chapter of our growth.

This role is based out of our NYC office. For jobs based out of our NYC HQ, we require in office attendance Monday through Thursday, weekly.

Base salary range for this position in New York City:

• $210,000 - $245,000

We offer a competitive equity package, health, dental and vision benefits, life and AD&D, short‑term and long‑term disability insurance, EAP, commuter and parking benefits, FSA/HSA, and 401(k) with employer match as well as a flexible PTO policy. This job may also be eligible for variable compensation in the form of a company incentive bonus.

Day in the Life

• Drive the technical vision and long‑term strategy of the team.
• Build innovative trading and money‑movement technology that empowers people to make the most of their money, so they can live better.
• Solve “impossible” problems. Take your ideas to the next level right away. We experiment, iterate, learn, and repeat.
• Collaborate with purpose. Spread knowledge across the organization, leveling up engineering practices and mentoring other engineers.
• Gain trust through transparency. We believe in taking the guesswork out of investing, creating a consistent experience for our customers.
• Create efficiency. Our software helps customers save time and money. We maintain it through clean code, pragmatic programming, and lean engineering.
• Work with people who care. Half of our team is made up of engineers but we believe everyone at Betterment is an engineer with their own tools. We’re a group of talented professionals who pride ourselves on what we do. We’re smart, innovative, energetic, and lots of fun.

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years professional experience in at least one object‑oriented language, strong plus for Java experience.
• 7+ years professional experience with SQL and relational databases, including designing schemas and writing detailed SQL queries.
• A strong command of fundamental algorithms and data structures.
• Experience scaling and optimizing in large‑scale distributed systems.
• Experience designing, building, scaling, and maintaining core backend software components.
• Proven ability to lead and manage projects that span one or more teams, considering tradeoffs to ensuring on‑time delivery while maintaining high standards of quality, performance and security.
• An understanding of how to make the tradeoffs required to ship without compromising quality.
• Knowing that investments in developing solid tests pays for itself several times over.
• Appreciation for agility and pragmatism in software development.

Benefits

• Mediclaim, dental, and vision insurance; life and AD&D insurance; short‑term and long‑term disability benefits, including infertility support and World Professional Association for Transgender Health approved benefits; generous parental leave.
• Flexible paid time off (and encouragement to use it!).
• Meaningful opportunity for community building through our 7 Employee Resource Groups.
• Empowerment to own and lead change and affect the business.
• Dedicated professional development opportunities.
• Lunch from our in‑house chef at our NYC headquarters.

EEO Statement

We’re an equal‑opportunity employer and comply with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. We strictly prohibit and do not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants, or any other covered persons because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex, gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), sexual orientation, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current or prospective service in the uniformed services, predisposing genetic characteristic, domestic violence victim status, arrest records, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

Betterment participates in E‑Verify. We will provide the Social Security Administration, and if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security, with information from each new employee’s Form I‑9 to confirm work authorization. We do not use this information to pre‑screen job applicants.

We collect and store personal information for the purposes of candidate tracking (for this role and future opportunities). The information you provide in the course of completing your application will be kept for up to 24 months. We use tools provided by third‑party service providers but do not share candidate information for any purpose other than for recruiting. To access the data that is collected, request deletion or to make updates to your candidate profile, please email [e-mail].