Staff Software Engineer, Database & Caching Infrastructure

Honey; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 161,000 - 239,000; Full time

Job summary

PayPal seeks a senior backend engineer in Austin to lead architectural decisions and coordinate multi-system development. You will guide engineers, set standards, and represent PayPal externally.

The role requires 5+ years of experience, strong Java/Go/Python skills, and a track record of building scalable RESTful services in a cloud environment. A hybrid work model is offered in Austin.

Qualifications

• Backend development experience with scalable RESTful services.
• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Proficient in Java, Go, or Python and able to mentor peers.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural discussions across multiple systems and document ADRs.
• Identify gaps and coordinate development to deliver solutions.
• Drive integration efforts and lead critical work streams for strategic initiatives.
• Promote engineering excellence via reusable production-ready frameworks.
• Advance CI/CD and automation across projects.
• Troubleshoot issues, perform root-cause analysis for incidents.
• Plan and reduce technical debt with a clear strategy.

Skills

Java

Go

Python

Spring

RESTful services

Cloud platforms

Kubernetes

Docker

CI/CD

Observability

Relational & NoSQL databases

Messaging systems

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

ORM tools

Redis

Kafka

Job description

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy.

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards. Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade.

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day. We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary

This job acts as a project leader, coordinating the activities of other engineers, determining technical tasks, and improving existing structures and processes. It involves making technical decisions, collaborating with management to set standards, and representing the company to external partners.

Job Description

Essential Responsibilities

• Acts as a project or system leader, coordinating the activities of other engineers on the project or within the system
• Determines the technical tasks that other engineers will follow
• Actions result in the achievement of customer, operational, program or service objectives
• Proactively improves existing structures & processes
• Exercises judgement in reconciling diverse and competing priorities (time, quality, complexity risk) to identify optimal solutions to problems
• Notices patterns and condenses repetition into densely meaningful generalized solutions
• Collaborates with management to set/improve standards for engineering rigor
• Trusted to represent PayPal, Inc to the outside world via interactions with partners, customers, or industry organizations

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.

Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications

Additional Responsibilities

• Lead complex architectural discussions that span multiple systems, and author and present architecture decision records (ADRs).
• Identify product and functionality gaps, and collaborate with internal product and technology teams to define the development needed to deliver solutions.
• Drive integration efforts and lead critical work streams of strategic initiatives sponsored by senior executives.
• Drive engineering excellence by creating reusable, production-ready frameworks, and challenge the status quo when needed.
• Drive engineering excellence through CI/CD and automation.
• Proactively identify and troubleshoot integration and technical issues, and lead root cause analysis for production incidents.
• Reduce technical debt, with a clear plan to remove it from the system.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in at least one backend language (Java, Go, or Python).
• Experience with backend development experience, including designing and implementing scalable, reliable RESTful services. Experience with Spring or similar frameworks is a plus.
• Proven ability to mentor junior engineers and to contribute to code reviews and design discussions.
• Experience with at least one cloud platform (GCP, AWS, or Azure).
• Advanced skills with relational and NoSQL data stores, including database design and data modeling, and familiarity with ORM tools.
• Experience with caching solutions (for example, Redis, Aerospike, or Hazelcast) and messaging or queuing systems (for example, Kafka, Pulsar, RabbitMQ, or SQS).
• Experience with containers and Kubernetes.
• Experience building and operating low-latency, high-throughput systems, with strong observability practices.
• Experience leading large-scale system or data migrations.

Subsidiary

PayPal

Travel Percent

0

Base Pay

The base pay for this role will depend on where you work and the relevant experience and expertise you bring. The expected range of pay for this role by location is:

Primary Location | Pay Range

Austin, Texas: ($160,500.00 - $238,700.00 Annually)

Additional Location(s) | Pay Range

No other locations are assigned to this requisition currently.

Additional compensation for this role may include an annual performance bonus, equity, or other incentive compensation, as applicable.

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset-you. That’s why we offer comprehensive, choice-based programs, to support all aspects of personal wellbeing—physical, emotional, and financial—delivering meaningful value where it matters most. We strive to create a flexible, balanced work culture with a holistic approach to benefits, including generous paid time off, healthcare coverage for you and your family, and resources to create financial security and support your mental health.

Who We Are

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at [e-mail].

Belonging at PayPal

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates.