Staff Software Engineer

Lower, LLC; Kentucky; Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Parental leave

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Paid holidays & PTO

401K with company match

Mortgage refinance/purchase discount

Job summary

Lower, a mission-driven fintech, is hiring a Staff Software Engineer for the LowerOS team to lead the design and evolution of core services powering the digital mortgage platform end to end.

The role is hybrid, based in Columbus, OH (preferred) or Austin, TX or Denver, CO, with full-time W2 employment. Visa sponsorship is not available at this time.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience in enterprise-grade web apps and distributed systems.
• Full-stack capability with backend and frontend delivery.
• Proficiency in TypeScript, React, AWS, Next.js, Node.js, and Postgres; quick to learn new tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and evolution of scalable, reliable distributed systems.
• Drive architectural decisions across teams to balance performance, cost, and long-term scalability.
• Ensure high code quality with unit, integration, and end-to-end testing.

Skills

8+ years exp

Full-stack

TypeScript

React

AWS

Next.js

Node.js

Postgres

AI-assisted tools

System design

Mentoring

Communication

Fintech experience a plus

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Tools

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Job Summary

Lower is a mission‑driven fintech that simplifies the home‑buying process through technology. As a Staff Software Engineer on the LowerOS team, you will lead the design and evolution of the core services, systems, and architectural patterns that power Lower’s digital mortgage platform end to end.

Work Location

Hybrid in either Columbus, OH (preferred); Austin, TX; or Denver, CO.

Work Type

Full‑time W2 employment. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position at this time.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and evolution of scalable, reliable, and maintainable distributed systems.
• Drive architectural decisions across teams, balancing performance, cost, complexity, and long‑term platform scalability.
• Ensure high code quality with unit, integration, end‑to‑end testing, and test automation frameworks.
• Profile, debug, and optimize application performance.
• Build and maintain deployment pipelines, monitoring, observability, and release management.
• Apply secure coding practices, threat modeling, and compliance requirements.
• Design and consume APIs, work with databases, and handle data modelling.
• Improve developer workflows through automation (build systems, config management, test infrastructure) and AI‑assisted engineering tools.
• Partner with engineering, product, and business leaders to translate strategic initiatives into scalable technical solutions, clearly communicating trade‑offs, risks, and architectural considerations.
• Coach junior and mid‑level engineers, provide guidance on coding practices, system design, and career development.
• Conduct code reviews and promote best practices in readability, maintainability, and scalability.
• Lead technical program ownership for large, ambiguous, or cross‑functional initiatives from architecture through delivery.
• Identify technical risks early, propose mitigations, and negotiate trade‑offs.
• Produce and maintain high‑quality technical documentation for systems, processes, and decisions.
• Proactively remove technical or operational blockers to improve delivery velocity and cross‑team effectiveness.
• Drive initiatives that improve developer productivity, platform reliability, and organizational scalability.
• Shape long‑term technical direction, architecture, and platform strategy across multiple teams.
• Advocate for engineering excellence while balancing speed and maintainability.
• Develop deep expertise in Lower’s systems, infrastructure, and domain workflows.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including designing and scaling enterprise‑grade web applications and distributed systems.
• Full‑stack expertise with proven ability to deliver high‑quality backend and frontend solutions.
• Proficiency in TypeScript, React, AWS, Next.js, Node.js, and Postgres, or ability to learn new languages and frameworks quickly.
• Experience with AI‑assisted software development tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, or similar.
• Strong computer science foundations: algorithms, data structures, concurrency, parallelism, asynchronous programming, networking, and system design.
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction across teams, lead architectural initiatives, and operate effectively in ambiguous or rapidly evolving environments.
• Track record of mentoring engineers, scaling best practices, and improving decision‑making within growing organizations.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a collaborative debate style and constructive feedback.
• Prior experience in fintech, lending, or consumer financial products is a plus.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Parental leave, life insurance, short‑ and long‑term disability.
• Paid holidays and paid time off.
• 401K with company match.
• Discount on mortgage refinances or purchases.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Lower provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.