Staff Software Engineer, Card Network & Issuing Systems

Cash App; Seattle (WA); Remote; USD 264,000 - 395,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Medical insurance

Retirement savings

Flexible time off

Family planning

Job summary

Block, Inc. seeks a Staff Software Engineer for the Issuing server team to own network‑level engineering across card issuance, activation, and processing. You will work with networks to influence certification, conformance, and production behavior while delivering durable engineering capabilities for Cash App and other brands.

You will write production code, build tooling, and lead complex network initiatives, including on‑call ownership and collaboration with cross‑functional partners.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise with at least one major card network including ISO 8583, authorization and clearing flows.
• Built or operated a live direct network connection with a processor.
• Experience working with card networks to land concrete outcomes.
• Hands-on software engineering for reliable financial/payments systems at scale.
• Led complex work across teams and influenced technical direction.
• Created durable technical leverage — frameworks, tooling, or standards.
• Broad understanding of card lifecycle: issuance, provisioning, authorization, settlement, disputes.
• Knowledge of Mastercard and AmEx; depth in at least one network.
• Fluency with AI-assisted engineering workflows.
• Willingness for on-call rotations.

Responsibilities

• Interpret network specifications, message flows, and certification requirements; influence network outcomes.
• Lead ambiguous engineering problems at the network boundary across teams and domains.
• Collaborate with technical leads and stakeholders to shape network‑related solutions.
• Stay hands-on: write production code, build conformance tooling, analyze network messages.
• Drive network certification and release cycles end to end.
• Establish frameworks and practices that enable teams to operate independently.
• Mentor peers, provide design guidance, and document technical judgments.
• Apply AI-powered tooling to improve velocity and quality across lifecycle.
• Share on-call ownership for critical financial systems.

Skills

Card network expertise

Direct network connection

Software engineering

Network certification

On-call experience

AI tools familiarity

Leadership influence

Tools

ISO 8583

Card networks APIs

Certification tooling

Job description

Block, Inc. seeks a Staff Software Engineer for the Issuing server team to own network‑level engineering across card issuance, activation, and processing. You will work with networks to influence certification, conformance, and production behavior while delivering durable engineering capabilities for Cash App and other brands.

You will write production code, build tooling, and lead complex network initiatives, including on‑call ownership and collaboration with cross‑functional partners.