Upstart

Software Engineer, Verifications Platform

Upstart$142K — $196K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 4+ years of professional software engineering experience.
  • Proficient in building scalable backend systems in Java, Kotlin, Go, or Python.
  • Experience with distributed systems and service-to-service APIs.
  • Background in decision engines integrating machine learning models.
  • Ability to write production-quality code with proper testing and monitoring.
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

  • Design and build backend services for verification orchestration and risk evaluation.
  • Develop rule engines to enhance product automation coverage.
  • Integrate external data providers into scalable workflows.
  • Enhance document automation and fraud detection systems.
  • Build and maintain APIs and event-driven services for product teams.
  • Collaborate with ML engineers to deploy risk models at scale.
  • Contribute to standardization efforts for verification stages.

Benefits

  • Competitive compensation with base salary, bonuses, and equity grants.
  • Generous 401(k) matching plan.
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan with discount options.
  • Affordable comprehensive health insurance with Upstart covering up to 100% of costs.
  • Income protection benefits including life and disability coverage.
  • Paid family and parental leave, plus supportive caregiving benefits.
  • Mental health resources through an Employee Assistance Program.
  • Annual wellness and productivity allowances tailored to employee needs.
Full Job Description
The Team:

Upstart's Verifications Decisioning Engineering team builds the backend platform that powers automated verification workflows, financial data integrations, fraud detection, and approval decisioning across our lending products. The team develops the shared services and infrastructure that enable accurate, scalable, and reusable verification capabilities, helping improve automation, accelerate funding, and maintain risk correctness and compliance across the platform.

As a Software Engineer II (L4) on the Verifications Decisioning team, you will design and build backend services that power verification workflows and financial data platforms used across multiple lending products. You'll work on distributed systems that integrate third-party financial data providers, machine learning models, and internal decisioning services while partnering closely with Product, Machine Learning, Risk, Fraud, and other engineering teams to improve automation and platform scalability.

How you'll make an impact
  • Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services that power automated verification workflows, financial data integrations, and approval decisioning.
  • Develop distributed systems, APIs, and event-driven services that improve the scalability, reliability, and reuse of verification capabilities across multiple lending products.
  • Build platform capabilities that enable reusable financial data connections, streamline connection lifecycle management, and reduce operational overhead for internal engineering teams.
  • Partner with Machine Learning, Product, Risk, Fraud, and Compliance teams to integrate data, decisioning logic, and risk models into production systems while maintaining correctness and auditability.
  • Improve system reliability through comprehensive testing, monitoring, observability, and operational best practices for business-critical services.
  • Contribute to the evolution of the verification platform by improving architecture, engineering standards, and shared infrastructure that accelerates product development across Upstart.

Minimum Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience) and 3+ years of professional software engineering experience.
  • 3+ years of experience developing backend applications using Kotlin, Java, or another object-oriented programming language.
  • Experience designing, building, and operating distributed systems, including service-to-service APIs and event-driven architectures.
  • Experience building and maintaining scalable backend services that process business-critical or financial data in production environments.
  • Experience contributing to decision engines that integrate with machine learning models to evaluate signals..
  • Experience writing production-quality code supported by automated testing, monitoring, and observability practices.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Knowledge of financial services, lending, fraud prevention, identity verification, or other risk-sensitive systems.
  • Experience integrating third-party financial data providers or APIs such as Plaid or similar platforms.
  • Experience building rule engines, workflow orchestration platforms, or automated decisioning systems.
  • Knowledge of how machine learning models are integrated, monitored, and evaluated within production systems.
  • Experience building reusable platform services or shared infrastructure supporting multiple engineering 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 expected 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

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

$142,000-$196,600 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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