Experience building calculation-heavy, real-time decisioning, pricing, marketplace, risk, fraud, payments, trading, auction, or advertising systems
Experience partnering with machine-learning teams or productionizing models at scale, including clear boundaries between modeling workflows and production services
Experience modernizing a mature or tightly coupled platform through staged migration while continuing to deliver customer and business value
Experience with AWS, Kubernetes, microservices, event-driven systems, and production observability
Additional production experience with Rust or another performance-oriented language
Background or applied exposure in statistics, mathematics, economics, econometrics, financial systems, or other quantitative domains
Experience in a rapidly scaling or changing organization where architecture had to evolve alongside the business
Position location 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
In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k)
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
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field - or equivalent practical experience - plus 8 or more years of software engineering experience
A track record of setting architecture and technical direction for large, complex distributed systems used across multiple teams or products
Deep backend engineering experience and production proficiency in at least one of Python, Kotlin, or Java; willingness and ability to work effectively in a predominantly Python environment
Experience designing or operating Tier 0/Tier 1 services with demanding latency, throughput, availability, and correctness requirements
Strong understanding of APIs, service-oriented or modular architectures, containerization, cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS), and maintainable software design
Hands-on technical judgment: you can move from strategy and architecture into concrete designs, prototypes, debugging, and critical implementation decisions
Strong communication skills and the ability to explain complex systems, constraints, and trade-offs to technical and nontechnical audiences
Demonstrated success leading cross-organization technical decisions — balancing the needs of engineering, machine learning, and product teams — and influencing without direct authority
Experience mentoring senior engineers and expanding the effectiveness and scope of other technical leaders
Strong product and business judgment, including the ability to balance delivery, reliability, technical debt, risk, and long-term investment