Upstart

Senior Software Engineer, Foundations

Upstart$166K — $230K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Enterprise Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience with 4 years in the industry
  • 5+ years experience with backend distributed systems or large-scale data platforms
  • Proficiency in data processing systems and production databases
  • Experience with implementing fault tolerance and monitoring for backend systems
  • Collaborative experience with engineering, product, or business stakeholders

Responsibilities

  • Build and maintain scalable backend systems for audience segmentation and marketing attribution
  • Collaborate with product managers and engineers on data solutions for customer acquisition
  • Extend data infrastructure for increased data volumes and new integrations
  • Implement monitoring and validation measures for data quality
  • Engage in discussions about architecture and platform scalability

Benefits

  • Competitive compensation including bonuses and equity grants
  • Robust retirement benefits with a generous company match
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan offering discounted stock options
  • Comprehensive health insurance for employees and families
  • Income protection with life insurance and disability coverage
  • Paid time off and family leave to support life events
  • Annual wellness and productivity allowances
  • Community engagement through team events and employee resource groups
Full Job Description
The Team:

Upstart's Foundations team builds and maintains the large-scale data platforms that support Growth marketing initiatives across the business. The team powers audience segmentation, marketing campaign enablement, and user session attribution systems that directly influence customer acquisition and loan conversion outcomes.

As a Senior Software Engineer at Upstart, you will help scale and extend backend data systems that enable high-quality, reliable marketing data workflows. You will partner closely with engineering, product, and marketing stakeholders to improve data availability, maintainability, and observability while supporting business-critical marketing operations.

How you'll make an impact
  • Build and maintain scalable backend systems and data pipelines that support audience segmentation and marketing attribution workflows
  • Partner with product managers, marketers, and engineers to deliver data solutions that support customer acquisition and conversion goals
  • Extend existing data infrastructure to support increasing data volumes, evolving business requirements, and new integrations
  • Contribute to data quality initiatives by implementing monitoring, validation, and guardrail mechanisms across critical datasets
  • Participate in technical discussions around architecture, access patterns, and platform scalability to support long-term platform growth

Minimum Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or Mathematics, or a related field (or its equivalent) + 4 years of experience
  • 5+ years of experience building and maintaining backend distributed systems or large-scale data platforms
  • Experience working with data processing systems, databases, or data pipelines in production environments
  • Experience implementing fault tolerance, monitoring, and observability practices for backend systems
  • Experience collaborating cross-functionally with engineering, product, or business stakeholders to deliver technical solutions

Preferred Qualifications
  • Knowledge of data modeling and schema design best practices for large-scale data systems
  • Experience supporting marketing technology, attribution, or customer segmentation platforms
  • Familiarity with data governance, privacy, and PII security considerations
  • Ability to balance short-term feature delivery with long-term platform maintainability and scalability
  • Experience contributing to architectural discussions and improving engineering best practices across teams

Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote

Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions' cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

#LI-REMOTE

#LI-MidSenior

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location-with our "digital first" philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).

United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range

$166,900-$230,900 USD

What you'll love

At Upstart, our benefits are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here's what you can expect:
  • Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
  • Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada)
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)
  • Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.
  • Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)
  • Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security
  • Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements
  • Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country)
  • Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
  • Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only)
  • Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you
  • Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from
  • Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
  • Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City (opening Summer 2026!)

For roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec.

About Upstart

Upstart is a lending platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the borrowing process. The company was founded in 2012 by ex-Googlers and has since originated over $10 billion in loans. Upstart's platform uses non-traditional variables such as education and employment history to determine creditworthiness, which allows for more accurate risk assessment and better loan terms for borrowers. The company went public in December 2020 and is listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol UPST.
Learn more about Upstart
Size
100 employees
Market Cap
$1 billion
Industry
Net Income
$11 million
Founded
2012
Revenue
$205.3 million
NASDAQ

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