Staff Software Engineer - Payments

PayJoy; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 310,392 - 324,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% Company-funded health insurance

Company-funded life and disability insurance

$2,000 USD annual Co-working Travel perk

$2,000 USD annual Professional Development perk

$340 Monthly Commuter benefit

401k Contribution of 3% of salary

Catered lunches

20 Paid vacation days, unlimited sick leave

Job summary

A mission-first credit provider seeks a Staff Engineer to lead its technical foundation in San Francisco. This role involves innovating with payments teams, mentoring junior engineers, and architecting scalable systems. Candidates should have 12+ years of software engineering experience, strong backend development skills particularly with Python, and a solid understanding of both relational and NoSQL databases. Employees enjoy comprehensive health insurance, generous vacation, and professional development benefits.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience as a Software Engineer in fast-paced environments.
• Solid understanding of distributed systems and system design principles.
• Desirable experience with mobile technologies or payment systems.

Responsibilities

• Identify and solve technical challenges impacting growth.
• Architect new solutions and implement frameworks for team use.
• Mentor junior engineers and foster a learning culture.
• Drive continuous improvement of platform and processes.

Skills

Backend development expertise with Python

Proficiency with relational and NoSQL databases

Strong problem-solving abilities

Collaboration and mentoring skills

Strong written and verbal communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline

Tools

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

About PayJoy: PayJoy is a mission‑first credit provider dedicated to helping under‑served customers in emerging markets to achieve financial stability and success. Our patented technology for secured credit provides an on‑ramp for new customers to enter the credit system. Through PayJoy’s point‑of‑sale financing and credit cards, customers gain access to a modern quality of life. PayJoy’s credit also allows our customers to seize opportunities as micro‑entrepreneurs, and provides safety acts as insurance for tough times. Through our cutting‑edge machine learning, data science, and anti‑fraud AI, we have served over 18 million customers as of 2025 while achieving solid profitability for sustainable growth.

This role

The Staff Engineer is responsible for leading our technical foundation, initially collaborating with the Money – Payments teams to drive innovation, with the opportunity to work with other teams as well, taking on a mentoring role, designing scalable systems, and influencing cross‑functional initiatives, in a hands‑on position where they will make key technical decisions and build critical services.

Responsibilities

• Solve Critical Problems: Identify, prioritize, and solve technical challenges impacting growth.
• Lead and Collaborate: Architect new solutions, implement newer patterns/framework that other candidates can use, identify potential system‑wide solutions, guide teams, ensuring solutions meet business goals and technical standards.
• Mentor & Develop: Foster a culture of learning, guiding junior engineers.
• Innovate & Improve: Drive continuous improvement in our platform and processes.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline such as computer science, software engineering, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience as Software Engineer, in a fast‑paced, high‑growth environment, working with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Strong expertise in backend development with proficiency in Python; as well both relational and NoSQL databases.
• Solid understanding of distributed systems, system design principles.
• A can‑do attitude and creative, flexible problem‑solving abilities, and the ability to think critically in ambiguous situations.
• Being a team player, that includes review, pair programming, collaboration in one task, mentoring or being mentored.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present technical concepts to non‑technical stakeholders.
• Desirable experience with mobile technologies or mobile payment systems with the fraud and identity aspects of fintech, as well in building and maintaining large‑scale systems used by millions of users.

Benefits

• 100% Company‑funded health insurance for employee and immediate family
• Company‑funded employee life and disability insurance
• $2,000 USD annual Co‑working Travel perk
• $2,000 USD annual Professional Development perk
• $340 Monthly Commuter benefit
• 401k Contribution of 3% of salary (up to IRS limits)
• Headphone benefit, home office equipment allowance and wellness perks
• Catered lunches
• 20 Paid vacation days, unlimited sick leave

$310,392 - $324,000 a year

PayJoy is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and we welcome and encourage people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

PayJoy Principles

Finance for the next billion

• Ownership
• Break Through Walls
• Live Communication
• Transparency & Directness
• Focus on Scale
• Work-Life Balance
• Embrace Diversity
• Speed
• Active Listening