Staff Real-Time Fraud Systems Engineer

Plaid; Washington; On-site; USD 208,000 - 274,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

401(k)

Job summary

Plaid is hiring a Staff Software Engineer for the Protect Core team to steer real-time Trust Index scores and fraud attributes. You will work hands-on across architecture, production code, and data investigations while collaborating with DSML, product, and fraud researchers.

This role emphasizes fast feedback, principled tradeoffs between rapid experimentation and durable systems, and strong ownership in a high-agency team.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience, typically 8+ years, building and operating backend or distributed systems at scale.
• Must be comfortable working hands‑on directly in the codebase; builder archetype.
• Strong product judgment: translate customer problems into deliverables and durable architecture.
• Nice to have: experience with data and/or API products; fraud domain knowledge; agentic systems.

Responsibilities

• Care deeply about the product and the value for customers.
• Learn how customers use the product and address fraud challenges.
• Identify new fraud detection frontiers and prototype riskiest ideas.
• Collaborate with DS/ML teams; navigate data landscape and run notebooks/ETL tasks.
• Lead by example, write quality code, and push for architectural improvements.
• Mentor peers and raise the technical bar through reviews and leadership.

Skills

Backend development

Distributed systems

Hands-on coding

Product judgment

Leadership

Job description

Plaid is hiring a Staff Software Engineer for the Protect Core team to steer real-time Trust Index scores and fraud attributes. You will work hands-on across architecture, production code, and data investigations while collaborating with DSML, product, and fraud researchers.

This role emphasizes fast feedback, principled tradeoffs between rapid experimentation and durable systems, and strong ownership in a high-agency team.