This role is ideal for a mid-level backend engineer with at least 1.5 years of experience who is ready to move beyond simple features and into complex distribut
Work type: remote
Location: Remote US
Salary: $160,000 – $210,000/yr
Type: Full-time
This role is ideal for a mid-level backend engineer with at least 1.5 years of experience who is ready to move beyond simple features and into complex distributed systems. You should be proficient in either **Python or Kotlin** and have a solid grasp of AWS, MySQL, and Kubernetes. The position sits within the Identity Decisioning team, meaning you’ll work on high-stakes systems like consumer onboarding and authentication where low latency and high availability are critical. The compensation is highly competitive, with a base salary ranging from **$142,000 to $210,000** depending on your location, plus equity. As a "remote-first" company, this role offers true geographic flexibility across the US. Standout perks include **100% employer-paid medical premiums** for you and your dependents, along with "Flexible Spending Wallets" for tech, lifestyle, and food expenses. **You might be a good fit if you:** * Want to work on "critical path" infrastructure that impacts every single customer transaction. * Enjoy navigating large, complex codebases and participating in rigorous peer code reviews. * Prefer a collaborative environment where you partner closely with Product and Design, not just other engineers. * Are looking for a remote-first culture that still prioritizes mentorship and professional growth.
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.
Identity Engineering owns the systems responsible for onboarding all consumers and managing their authentication and verification journeys across Affirm’s product surfaces. In this role, you will need to gain a deep understanding of the business, product and engineering context, and utilize that context to own and deliver high-availability and low-latency systems on the critical paths for all of our products.
What you'll do
· With the support of your team’s tech lead and manager, you will break down larger projects into individual tasks, deliver them in multiple phases, and collaborate with others to ensure timely delivery of your work.
· You will support your peers and stakeholders in the product development lifecycle by collaborating with product management, design & analytics by participating in ideation, articulating technical constraints, and partnering on decisions that properly consider risks and trade-offs.
· You will support the operations and availability of your team’s artifacts by creating and monitoring metrics, escalating when needed, and supporting “keep the lights on” & on-call efforts.
· You will contribute to a sense of community on your team by engaging in growth and development activities such as participation in the interview process.
What we look for
· You have a total of 1.5+ years of experience as a software engineer.
· You have experience designing, developing and launching backend systems and are proficient in one of Python or Kotlin.
· You are familiar with the building blocks of distributed systems, and the technologies like AWS, MySQL and Kubernetes.
· You have mastered taking a simple problem or business scenario into a solution that interacts with multiple software components, and executing on it by writing clear, easily understood, well tested and extensible code.
· You are comfortable navigating a large code base, debugging others' code, and providing feedback to other engineers through code reviews.
· Your experience demonstrates that you take ownership of your growth, proactively seeking feedback from your team, your manager, and your stakeholders.
· 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 - LEquity Grade - 6
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 equity rewards, monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents.)
USA base pay range (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT) per year: $160,000 - $210,000
USA base pay range (all other U.S. states) per year: $142,000 - $192,000
#LI-Remote
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:
[For U.S. positions that could be performed in Los Angeles or San Francisco] Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, Affirm will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
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