Staff Engineer - Customer Onboarding

United States Digital Space LLC; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 235,000 - 317,000; Full time

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC in Chicago seeks a Staff Engineer for Customer Onboarding to lead the merchant activation journey using AI and LLMs. You will design a zero-friction onboarding experience, align Risk, Operations and Product teams, and build scalable, resilient systems.

The role emphasizes entrepreneurial autonomy in a global organization, focusing on KYC, identity verification, and high-concurrency Java APIs to accelerate activation while meeting regulatory standards.

Qualifications

• Experience building resilient distributed systems.
• Deep understanding of KYC, identity verification, and regulated data handling.
• Proficient in Java and high-concurrency API architectures.
• Experience or interest in production-grade AI interfaces powered by LLMs.

Responsibilities

• Drive Activation Velocity by architecting global onboarding systems and scalable merchant lifecycle flow.
• Bridge policy and code by designing real-time compliance conversations and risk handling.
• Shape product strategy with engineering and product teams to accelerate onboarding and resolve bottlenecks.
• Mentor engineers to standardize compliant, high-performance user journeys across regions.

Skills

Systems Architect

Compliance

Java APIs

LLM Interfaces

Autonomous Leadership

Job description

This is the company

the company provides payments, data, and financial products in a single solution for customers like Meta, Uber, H&M, and Microsoft - making us the financial technology platform of choice. At the company, everything we do is engineered for ambition.

For our teams, we create an environment with opportunities for our people to succeed, backed by the culture and support to ensure they are enabled to truly own their careers. We are motivated individuals who tackle unique technical challenges at scale and solve them as a team. Together, we deliver innovative and ethical solutions that help businesses achieve their ambitions faster.

Staff Engineer - Customer Onboarding

As a Staff Engineer for Onboarding, you will lead the evolution of the the company merchant journey into a seamless, high-velocity activation layer. You are an Applied AI Specialist who views onboarding as an Intelligent Extraction and Reasoning problem, using LLMs to interpret merchant documents and automate complex KYC/Risk mapping. You will design the architecture that turns complex regulatory and business requirements into a zero-friction activation experience for merchants.

What you'll do

• Drive Activation Velocity: Lead the architecture for our global onboarding systems. You will build the logic that orchestrates the merchant lifecycle minimizing time-to-value without compromising stability.

• Bridge Policy & Code: Act as the technical architect where business logic meets regulatory requirements. You will architect an onboarding concierge that uses real-time reasoning to ask only the necessary questions, proactively resolving compliance blockers through natural dialogue.

• Product Strategy: Proactively shape the strategic roadmap in partnership with the Director of Engineering, other Staff Engineers, and Product teams. You will move beyond simply shipping features to deliver innovative solutions that drive merchant success and accelerated activation by proactively addressing and resolving systemic bottlenecks.

• Global Standardization: Mentor engineers to drive technical standards that ensure the user journey is compliant and performant across all regions, balancing local regulatory needs with a global core architecture.

Who you are

• Systems Architect: You think in terms of merchant journeys and system bottlenecks. You have a track record of building resilient, distributed systems.

• Compliance-Minded: You have a deep understanding of security-by-design, specifically as it relates to KYC, identity verification, and regulated data handling.

• Full-Stack Powerhouse: Deeply proficient in Java and experienced in building high-concurrency API architectures.

• Applied AI Experience: You have experience (or a deep technical interest) in building production-grade interfaces powered by LLMs, including harnesses, policy enforcement, evals, RAG architectures and secure data handling.

• Entrepreneurial & Autonomous: You can navigate a large, global organization to align diverse teams (Risk, Operations, Product) on a unified technical vision for onboarding.

This role's annual base salary range is $235–$317k, plus RSUs.

Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments

Our unique approach is a product of our diverse perspectives. This diversity of backgrounds and cultures is essential in helping us maintain our momentum. Our business and technical challenges are unique, and we need as many different voices as possible to join us in solving them - voices like yours. No matter who you are or where you’re from, we welcome you to be your true self at the company.

What's next?

Ensuring a smooth and enjoyable candidate experience is critical for us. We aim to get back to you regarding your application within 5 business days. Our interview process tends to take about 4 weeks to complete, but may fluctuate depending on the role. Don't be afraid to let us know if you need more flexibility.

the company is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

You must be work authorized in the United States without the need for new visa sponsorship. The company can support visa transfers but will not sponsor individuals for H-1B CAP applications.