Senior Software Engineer, Foundations
Job summary
Work model
About Upstart
At Upstart, we're united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.
As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that's both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 1,800 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers.
We're proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive. Whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City, you'll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.
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
Compensation and Benefits
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 range of $166,900 - $230,900 USD. Individual pay is determined by geographic location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:
- Competitive compensation with annual equity grants
- Robust retirement benefits with company match
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
- Paid time off, parental leave, and family-centered benefits
- Annual wellness and productivity allowances
- Financial wellness resources and mental health support
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