Staff Software Engineer, Travel & Expense

United States Digital Space LLC; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 240,000 - 285,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Remote 4 weeks/year

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC is seeking a Staff Engineer for the Travel & Expense domain, based in Seattle. This leadership role focuses on across-team problem solving, setting the technical direction, and partnering with peers to unblock execution.

You will mentor engineers, drive architectural decisions, and bring an AI-forward approach to how the org builds and operates, with a hybrid work model in Seattle including in-office Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, plus remote options.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience with a track record of technical leadership across multiple teams or a group.
• Ability to identify and drive ambiguous, cross-cutting problems to resolution without a defined charter.
• Deep experience designing and operating large-scale backend systems in production.
• Strong collaboration skills and a track record of raising the bar for engineers and working with ICs and managers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.

Responsibilities

• Identify the highest-impact technical problems across Travel & Expense and drive them to resolution.
• Set and raise the technical bar across the group via design reviews and architecture decisions.
• Partner with existing Staff Engineers and EMs to align on direction and unblock execution.
• Mentor senior engineers and improve how teams design and ship, growing future technical leaders.
• Bring an AI-forward mindset to how the org builds, reviews, and operates.
• Contribute to the group's technical strategy and inform leadership investments.

Skills

Software engineering

Technical leadership

Backend systems

Cross-team collaboration

Communication

Job description

Why join us

the company is the intelligent finance platform that enables companies to spend smarter and move faster in more than 200 markets. By combining global corporate cards and banking with intuitive spend management, bill pay, and travel software, the company enables founders and finance teams to accelerate operations, gain real-time visibility, and control spend effortlessly. the company’s AI-native automation and world-class service eliminate manual expense and accounting tasks for customers so they can focus on what matters most. Tens of thousands of the world's best companies run on the company, including DoorDash, Coinbase, Robinhood, Zoom, Plaid, Reddit, and SeatGeek.

Working at the company allows you to push your limits, challenge the status quo, and collaborate with some of the brightest minds in the industry. We’re committed to building a diverse team and inclusive culture and believe your potential should only be limited by how big you can dream. We make this a reality by empowering you with the tools, resources, and support you need to grow your career.

Why join us

the company is the AI-powered spend platform. We help companies spend with confidence with integrated corporate cards, banking, and global payments, plus intuitive software for travel and expenses. Tens of thousands of companies from startups to enterprises — including DoorDash, Flexport, and Compass — use the company to proactively control spend, reduce costs, and increase efficiency on a global scale.

Working at the company allows you to push your limits, challenge the status quo, and collaborate with some of the brightest minds in the industry. We're committed to building a diverse team and inclusive culture and believe your potential should only be limited by how big you can dream. We make this a reality by empowering you with the tools, resources, and support you need to grow your career.

Engineering at the company

Engineering at the company is about building systems that scale with speed and intention. Our teams span Software, Data, Security, and IT, and operate with high autonomy and deep collaboration. We tackle hard technical problems, own our outcomes, and push for excellence at every level — from architecture to deployment. It's an environment where engineering is a craft, and builders become leaders.

What you’ll do

Travel & Expense is one of the highest-leverage domains at the company, and it spans several engineering teams — expenses, travel, policy, and spend controls — that have to work as one system for customers. We're looking for a Staff Engineer who operates across all of them. You won't own a single team or service. Your mandate is to find the most important problems across T&E — the ones that fall between teams, the ones nobody is holding — and drive them to a solution.

This is a leadership role without direct reports. You'll set technical direction across the group, raise the bar in design and review, and be a force multiplier for the engineers and EMs you work alongside. You'll partner closely with our existing Staff Engineers as peers, and you'll have a seat at the T&E leadership table to help shape where the org invests. If you want the influence of a senior technical leader without moving into management, this is that role.

Where you’ll work

This role will be based in our Seattle office. We are a hybrid environment that combines the energy and connections of being in the office with the benefits and flexibility of working from home. We will require 3 days per week in the office - Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. As a perk, we also have up to four weeks per year of fully remote work!

Responsibilities:

• Identify the highest-impact technical problems across Travel & Expense — including the cross-team gaps that individual teams can't see or own — and drive them to resolution.
• Set and raise the technical bar across the group through design reviews, architecture decisions, and hands-on work where it matters most.
• Partner as a peer with existing Staff Engineers and with EMs across expenses, travel, policy, and spend controls to align on direction and unblock execution.
• Act as a force multiplier: mentor senior engineers, improve how teams design and ship, and grow the next generation of technical leaders.
• Bring an AI-forward mindset to how the org builds, reviews, and operates.
• Contribute directly to the group's technical strategy and inform where leadership invests.

Requirements:

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with a track record of technical leadership across multiple teams or a group.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and drive ambiguous, cross-cutting problems to resolution without a defined charter.
• Deep experience designing and operating large-scale backend systems in production.
• Strong collaboration skills; a track record of raising the bar for engineers around you and working effectively with both ICs and managers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.

Compensation:

The expected salary range for this role is $240,000 to $285,000. However, the starting base pay will depend on a number of factors including the candidate’s location, skills, experience, market demands, and internal pay parity. Depending on the position offered, equity and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package.