Affirm

Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Identity Decisioning)

Affirm • $181K — $241K *
US-AnywhereRemote in Canada
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of backend system design and development experience using Python or Kotlin.
  • Proficient in building highly available distributed systems with AWS, MySQL, Spark, and Kubernetes.
  • Experience in delivering significant features and managing technical execution plans.
  • Ability to navigate complex system architectures and low-level programming idioms effectively.
  • Proven track record of incorporating feedback from peers to enhance growth and impact.
  • Strong communication skills to collaborate with a global engineering team.
  • Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

  • Set and align technical strategy for the team over a year-long timeline.
  • Collaborate across teams to ensure technical sustainability and risk management.
  • Advocate for technical solutions and operational processes within your team.
  • Oversee team operations and availability with proper monitoring and support setups.
  • Foster a team culture emphasizing quality through established standards and advocacy.
  • Develop team talent through regular feedback, guidance, and leading by example.

Benefits

  • 100% of health coverage premiums paid for employees and dependents.
  • Monthly stipends for tech setup and personalized health/wellness options.
  • Flexible time off and generous holiday allocations.
  • Employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) offering shares at a discount.
Full Job Description
Affirm's Identity team is mission-critical to the customer checkout experience. When a customer chooses Affirm, one of the first steps is an identity check, and our ability to make the right decision directly impacts conversion, revenue, fraud exposure, and regulatory compliance. Our team owns Identity for all markets outside North America, playing a key role in Affirm's international expansion. We are responsible for KYC, user lifecycle management, and identity decisioning across multiple regulatory environments. This work is about shaping how Affirm adapts its core Identity platform to new market dynamics, customer expectations, and compliance requirements.

What you'll do
  • You will be responsible for setting technical strategy for your team on a year-long time scale, and help your team tie it together with critical, business-impacting projects.
  • You will collaborate across teams in the product development lifecycle by collaborating with product management, design & analytics to ensure technical sustainability, risks and trade-offs are well understood and managed.
  • You will act as a force-multiplier for your team through your definition and advocacy of technical solutions and operational processes.
  • You take ownership of your team's operations and availability by ensuring you have the right monitoring, triage rotations, playbooks, polcities, testing and alerting in place to support "keep the lights on" & on-call efforts.
  • You will foster a culture of quality and ownership on your team by setting code review and design standards for your team, 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, and leading by example.
What we look for
  • You have 8+ years of experience designing, developing and launching backend systems at scale using languages like Python or Kotlin.
  • You have an extensive track record of developing highly available distributed systems using technologies like AWS, MySQL, Spark and Kubernetes.
  • You have experience delivering major features, system components or deprecating existing functionality in a system through the definition of a technical and execution plan. You write high quality code that is easily understood and used by others.
  • You thrive in ambiguity, and are comfortable moving from low level language idioms all the way to the architecture of large systems to understand how they work.
  • Your growth and impact trajectory demonstrates that you have mastered gathering and iterating on feedback from your engineering and cross-functional peers.
  • You have strong verbal and written communication skills that support effective collaboration with our global engineering team.
  • This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor's degree in a related field.


Base Pay Grade - P

Equity Grade - 7

Employees 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 monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents). In addition, the employees may be eligible for equity rewards offered by Affirm Holdings, Inc. (parent company).

CAN base pay range per year: CAD $181,000 - $241,000

Location - Remote CanadaThis 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.

#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.

We're committed to providing an inclusive interview process, including accommodations for candidates with disabilities. If you need support, we're happy to help.

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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