Tech Lead Manager, Lending

Socket.dev; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 199,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

In-office 4 days/week & Fridary from-?

Backup child, elder, and pet care

Wellness stipend

Commuter benefits

Generous vacation & paid days off

Parental leave for birthing and non-b‑

Job summary

Chime seeks an experienced engineering manager to lead a lending squad, owning technical direction, architecture, and code quality. You will drive design discussions, code reviews, and quarterly planning with the team and Tech Leads.

You will provide full people management for 3–5 direct reports, including 1:1s, coaching, and promotion decisions, while partnering with Product and Design to deliver impactful work.

Qualifications

• Experience leading managers and engineering teams in financial/regulated tech.
• Proven track record shipping production-grade software with quality reviews.
• Experience collaborating with Product, Design, and Data teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the squad's technical direction, architecture, and code quality.
• Lead technical design discussions, code reviews, and planning with the team and Tech Leads.
• Provide full people management for 3–5 direct reports, including 1:1s and performance feedback.
• Drive hiring and staffing for the squad and shape its culture as it scales.
• Mentor engineers on technical and product growth and collaborate with Product/Design.

Skills

Lending/Payments experience

People management

Technical leadership

Code reviews

AI tooling in coding

Tools

AI coding tools

Job description

About the role

Chime serves millions of members on a mission to help them unlock financial progress. Chime’s Lending org builds the products and platforms that give members access to fair, transparent credit and liquidity when they need it most, from Earned Wage Access through MyPay, to flexible overdraft with SpotMe, to longer-term Instant Loans, and the platforms that power credit decisions, funding, repayments, and servicing behind the scenes.

We operate some of Chime’s most consequential systems. Our teams build real-time money movement and decisioning infrastructure at scale, including underwriting and eligibility, ledgering and reconciliation, capital markets workflows, repayment systems, and financial transactions that must be correct, resilient, and auditable.

Why this role

• A meaningful problem. Helping engaged members get more value over time is one of the highest-leverage things we can do for members and for the business.
• Real ownership. This is a newer team with clear executive support and meaningful surface area. You'll have room to shape both the technical direction and the team itself.
• Strong cross-functional partners. You'll work day-to-day with senior Product, Analytics, Marketing, Design, and Data leaders who are deep in the problem.
• A team to build. You'll hire, coach, and grow a group of engineers, and define the culture as it scales.

The base salary offered for this role and level of experience will begin at $199,000.00 and up to $275,000.00 Full-time employees are also eligible for a bonus, competitive equity package, and benefits. The actual base salary offered may be higher, depending on your location, skills, qualifications, and experience.

In this role, you can expect to

• Author and ship scoped, incremental features hands-on
• Own the squad's technical direction, architecture, and code quality - leading technical design discussions, code reviews, and technical planning, with support from the team and Tech Leads
• Identify technical debt and advocate for sustainable engineering practices as an active, ongoing codebase contributor
• Provide full people management for 3-5 direct reports, including 1:1s, career coaching, performance feedback, and promotion decisions
• Drive hiring and staffing for the squad, building an inclusive, high-performing team and owning its health and engagement, with support from the Director of the area
• Mentor product engineers on technical and product growth, modeling ownership and craft
• Build a path for engineers on the squad toward Staff Engineer or a future TLM role
• Partner with Product and Design on sprint scope and delivery commitments, surfacing technical dependencies and capacity needs into quarterly planning

To thrive in this role, you

• Have direct experience in lending, payments, or other regulated financial/transactional systems
• Have managed engineers directly with full people-management ownership (1:1s, career coaching, performance feedback, promotion decisions, hiring) for a small team, while staying hands-on technically yourself
• Use AI coding tools and workflows as a core part of how you build and lead, with a track record of introducing AI-driven practices that measurably improved a team's velocity
• Can tie-break technical disagreements and make speed-vs-durability calls under real delivery pressure, while partnering closely with a PM and Design on scope, dependencies, and quarterly planning
• Have a bias toward ownership and action over process, and are comfortable being the one person accountable for both what ships and how the team is doing
• You hold a high quality bar through design and code review rather than delegating it entirely

#LI-Onsite #LI-AC2

A little about us

At Chime, we believe that everyone can achieve financial progress. We created Chime—a financial technology company, not a bank*—on the premise that core banking services should be helpful, easy, and free. Through our user-friendly tools and intuitive platforms, we empower our members to take control of their finances and work towards their goals. Whether it's starting a savings account, purchasing a first car or home, launching a business, or pursuing higher education, we're proud to have helped millions unlock their financial potential.

We're a team of problem solvers, dreamers, and builders with one shared obsession: our members. From day one, Chimers have worked tirelessly to out-hustle and out-execute competitors to bring our mission to life. Their grit and determination inspire us to work harder every day to deliver the very best experience possible. We each bring an owner's mindset to our work, refusing to be outdone and holding ourselves accountable to meet and exceed the highest bars for our teams, our company, and our members.

We believe in being bold, dreaming big, and taking risks, while also working together, embracing our diverse perspectives, and giving each other honest feedback. Our culture remains deeply entrepreneurial, encouraging every Chimer to see themselves as stewards of our mission to help everyday Americans unlock their financial progress.

We know that to achieve our mission, we must earn and keep people's trust - so we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in everything we do. These aren't just words on a wall - our values are embedded in every aspect of our business, serving as a north star that guides us as we work to help millions achieve their financial potential.

Because if we don't - who will?

*Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.

What we offer for our full-time, regular employees

• Our in-office work policy is designed to keep you connected - with four days a week in the office and Fridays from home for those near one of our offices, plus team and company-wide events depending on location. Whether you're coming in regularly or are part of our fully remote program, you'll stay engaged with your work and teammates.
• Benefits that support your work and life, including backup child, elder, and pet care and subsidized commuter benefits for eligible employees.
• Comprehensive health, financial, and wellbeing benefits designed to support you at every stage of life.
• Generous vacation policy and company-wide paid days off
• 1% of your time off to support local community organizations of your choice
• Annual wellness stipend to use towards eligible wellness related expenses
• Up to 22 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents and 12 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birthing parents
• Access to family planning reimbursement
• A challenging and fulfilling opportunity to join one of the most experienced teams in FinTech and help millions unlock financial progress

We know that great work can't be done without a diverse team and inclusive environment. That’s why we specifically look for individuals of varying strengths, skills, backgrounds, and ideas to join our team. We believe this gives us a competitive advantage to better serve our members and helps us all grow as Chimers and individuals.

Chime is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis under provincial, federal, state, and local laws, regulations, or ordinances. We will also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of state and local laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Cook County Ordinance, NYC Fair Chance Act, and the LA City Fair Chance Ordinance, and consistent with Canadian provincial and federal laws. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during any stage of the application process, please contact: [e-mail].

To learn more about how Chime collects and uses your personal information during the application process, please see the Chime Applicant Privacy Notice.