Backend engineer at Affirm building merchant lifecycle orchestration services. Focus on distributed systems, API design, and scaling infrastructure for hundreds of thousands of merchants using AWS, Kotlin, and Python.
Affirm is reinventing credit to make it more honest and friendly, giving consumers the flexibility to buy now and pay later without any hidden fees or compounding interest.
The Merchant & Partner Lifecycle (M&PL) team is at the forefront of Affirm’s architectural transformation. We are addressing critical architectural risks by consolidating merchant lifecycle orchestration into a newly cohesive domain.
You will act as a technical leader building out the brand new lifecycle-orchestrator service that’s at the heart of multiple connected systems. Your work will deliver immediate availability improvements through system simplification and isolation, and modernize older parts of the codebase.
What You'll Do
Design & expand the backbone of our platform to scale to hundreds of thousands of merchants from all around the world
Design and align the scope of work with other teams to deliver cross-team projects
Partner with Engineering Manager and Team Lead to execute the long-term vision of the team
Execute technical strategy for broad or complex requirements with insightful and forward-looking approaches that go beyond the direct team and solve large open-ended problems
Utilize agentic development tools like Claude Code to automate parts of the development process
Improve engineering standards, tooling, and processes throughout the organization
What We Look For
3+ years of experience as a backend software engineer
Familiarity with Domain-Driven Design, distributed systems, and how architectural decisions affect performance and maintainability
Experience with concepts such as data models, API design (http and RPC), state machines, event-driven architecture, and database design
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. Must be proficient in asynchronous communication–written tech specs, ADRs, project plans, etc.
Experience designing, developing, and launching backend systems (our stack: AWS, gRPC, Snowflake, Kotlin, Python, MySQL, Kubernetes). Java and Kotlin experience are especially helpful.
Prior experience with monitoring and alerting systems (sentry.io, rollbar, chronosphere, kibana)
This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
Pay Grade - L
Equity Grade - 5
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: $125,000 - $175,000.
This posting is for an existing vacancy.
Affirm is proud to be a remote-first company! The majority of our roles are remote and you can work almost anywhere within the country of employment. Affirmers in proximal roles have the flexibility to work remotely, but will occasionally be required to work out of their assigned Affirm office. A limited number of roles remain office-based due to the nature of their job responsibilities.
We’re extremely proud to offer competitive benefits that are anchored to our core value of people come first. Some key highlights of our benefits package include:
We believe It’s On Us to provide an inclusive interview experience for all, including people with disabilities. We are happy to provide reasonable accommodations to candidates in need of individualized support during the hiring process.
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