Affirm

Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Consumer Authentication Platform)

Affirm • $153K — $213K *
US-AnywhereRemote in Canada
Consumer Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 4+ years experience in backend system design and development using Python, Kotlin, Java, or similar language.
  • Proven track record in developing distributed systems with technologies like AWS, MySQL, Kubernetes, and event-driven architectures.
  • Experience in defining technical plans to deliver secure, elegant, and extensible system components.
  • Skilled at managing significant changes in large codebases with a focus on safety and quality.
  • Strong communication skills for collaboration with global teams and stakeholders.
  • Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent practical experience.
  • Familiarity with security standards like OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and PCI DSS.

Responsibilities

  • Own the technical design and delivery of major authentication platform capabilities from conception to operation.
  • Build secure, high-availability systems for consumer authentication and session management.
  • Collaborate across teams to navigate product development lifecycle and articulate technical constraints.
  • Translate complex requirements into technical designs balancing various risks and challenges.
  • Proactively identify and address issues related to projects, processes, and technologies.
  • Support operational metrics and availability for team artifacts, participating in on-call efforts.
  • Foster a culture of quality and ownership within the team through improved standards and mentorship.

Benefits

  • 100% subsidized health coverage for employees and dependents.
  • Monthly stipends for tech setup and personalized health/wellness options.
  • Flexible time off and generous holiday policies for relaxation.
  • Employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) offering discounts on Affirm stock.
Full Job Description
The Consumer Authentication Platform team is looking for a passionate Senior Software Engineer to help build the secure, reliable, and seamless authentication experiences that connect millions of consumers with Affirm's financial products.

Authentication is the front door to Affirm. Our systems power critical consumer journeys (including sign-up, sign-in, account recovery, checkout authentication, step-up challenges, session management, and connected merchant experiences) across thousands of merchants and multiple countries. We build foundational capabilities such as authentication factors, identity federation, session and authorization services, and risk-based authentication that protect consumers while minimizing unnecessary friction. We work closely with Product, Security, Fraud, Identity, Analytics, Compliance, Data Science, and a wide range of engineering teams to both leverage existing systems and build new systems. This role requires a high level of technical capability, strong cross-functional communication, and a creative mindset. Our work needs to be secure, reliable, correct, scalable, and extensible. Our job is to build an authentication platform that balances security, regulatory requirements, fraud prevention, customer experience, and business growth.

As a senior engineer, you will lead significant technical initiatives, influence the architecture and evolution of the platform, and help the team deliver secure authentication capabilities that can be reused across products, merchants, and geographies.

What You'll Do
  • You will own the technical design and delivery of significant authentication platform capabilities, leading projects from early requirements and architecture through implementation, rollout, and ongoing operation.
  • You will build secure, highly available systems that support consumer sign-in, authentication factors, account recovery, step-up authentication, session management, authorization, and identity federation.
  • You will support your peers and stakeholders in the product development lifecycle by collaborating with product management, Security, Fraud, Compliance, design, and analytics; participating in ideation; articulating technical constraints; and partnering on decisions that properly consider risks and trade-offs.
  • You will translate security, regulatory, fraud, and customer-experience requirements into pragmatic technical designs that appropriately balance risk, friction, complexity, and delivery speed.
  • You will proactively identify project, process, technology, security, reliability, or business issues, advocate for them, and lead in solving them.
  • You will support the operations and availability of your team's artifacts by creating and monitoring metrics, escalating when needed, and supporting "keep the lights on," and on-call efforts.
  • You will foster a culture of quality, security, and ownership on your team by setting or improving code review and design standards and advocating for them beyond your team through your writing and tech talks.
  • You will help develop talent on your team by providing feedback and guidance, mentoring other engineers through design reviews and hands-on collaboration, and leading by example.
  • You will clearly communicate technical decisions, constraints, risks, and trade-offs to engineering and non-engineering audiences through design documents, reviews, and technical discussions. You will lead the investigation and resolution of complex production issues and identify systemic improvements that prevent recurrence.

What We Look For
  • You have 4+ years of experience designing, developing, and launching backend systems at scale using languages like Python, Kotlin, Java, or another comparable modern programming language.
  • You have a track record of developing highly available distributed systems using technologies like AWS, MySQL, and Kubernetes, as well as relational databases, event-driven architectures, and RPC or API frameworks.
  • You have experience defining a technical plan for the delivery of a significant feature or system component with an elegant, secure, simple, and extensible design. You write high-quality code that is easily understood and used by others.
  • You are proficient at making significant changes in a large codebase and have developed a suite of tools and practices that enable you and your team to do so safely, including testing strategies, migration plans, and controlled rollouts.
  • Your experience demonstrates that you take ownership of your growth, proactively seeking feedback from your team, manager, and stakeholders, while helping other engineers grow through mentorship and technical leadership.
  • You have strong verbal and written communication skills that support effective collaboration with our global engineering team and cross-functional partners.
  • This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a bachelor's degree in a related field.
  • Familiarity with standards and protocols such as OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, WebAuthn/passkeys, FIDO2, JWTs, and public-key cryptography. Knowledge of security and assurance frameworks such as the NIST Digital Identity Guidelines or PCI DSS.
  • Experience designing session-management, token-issuance, account-recovery, or multi-factor authentication systems. Familiarity with risk-based or adaptive authentication and the interaction between identity, security, compliance, and fraud controls.

This remote role is open only to candidates residing in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, or Saskatchewan

Pay Grade - NEquity Grade - 6Employees new to Affirm typically come in at the start of the pay range. Affirm focuses on providing a simple and transparent pay structure which is based on a variety of factors, including location, experience and job-related skills.

Base pay is part of a total compensation package that may include equity rewards, monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents.)

CAN base pay range per year: $153,000 - $213,000 CAD

#LI-Remote

Remote-first with flexibility built inAffirm is proud to be a remote-first company. Most roles can be done from almost anywhere within the country of employment. Some positions may occasionally require in-person work at an Affirm office, and a few are office-based due to the nature of the work. All new hires will be invited to attend an in-person onboarding experience.

Benefits designed for youOur benefits reflect our commitment to care, transparency, and flexibility. Here are a few highlights:
  • Health coverage at no cost: We cover 100% of premiums for employees and their dependents.
  • Spending stipends: Monthly stipends support your tech setup, and the ability to choose health and wellness options that are right for you.
  • Time off to recharge: Flexible time off and generous holiday calendars help you rest when you need to.
  • Own a piece of what you build: Our employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) lets you buy Affirm stock at a discount.

About Affirm

Affirm is a publicly traded financial technology company headquartered in San Francisco, United States. Founded in 2012, the company operates as a financial lender of installment loans for consumers to use at the point of sale to finance a purchase. Affirm was founded in 2012 by Max Levchin, Nathan Gettings, Jeffrey Kaditz, and Alex Rampell as part of the initial portfolio of startup studio HVF. Levchin, who co-founded PayPal, became CEO of Affirm in 2014. In October 2017, the company launched a consumer app that allowed loans for purchases at any retailer. The company announced a partnership with Walmart in February 2019. Under the partnership, Affirm is available to customers in-store and on the Walmart website. Affirm has partnered with e-commerce platforms including Shopify, BigCommerce, and Zen-Cart. On November 18, 2020, Affirm filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in preparation for an initial public offering. On December 12, 2020, it was reported that Affirm had postponed its IPO. On January 13, 2021, Affirm became listed on NASDAQ with symbol AFRM, raising about $1.2 billion in its IPO. By the next day, the price of shares had doubled, making Levchin's stake worth about $2.5 billion. In May 2021, Affirm acquired Returnly, a financial technology service company, for $300 million.
Learn more about Affirm
Size
1,300 employees
Market Cap
$2.5 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$97.6 million
Founded
2012
Revenue
$617.1 million
NASDAQ

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