Software Engineer II, Backend (Merchant Advocacy)

Affirm
US
Remote

Who this role is best for

Aimed at mid-level backend engineers with Kotlin and distributed systems experience who thrive in architectural modernization projects. Strong fit for those comfortable with agentic development tools and cross-team collaboration in a remote-first fintech environment.

Best fit for

  • Backend engineers with domain-driven design expertise and merchant platform scaling experience
    — “Design & expand the backbone of our platform to scale to hundreds of thousands of merchants
  • Technical leaders who can modernize legacy systems through architectural consolidation
    — “addressing critical architectural risks by consolidating merchant lifecycle orchestration
  • Kotlin/Java developers comfortable with event-driven architectures and state machines
    — “Experience with concepts such as data models, API design, state machines, event-driven architecture

Things to consider

  • Position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor's degree
    — “This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor’s degree
  • Compensation varies significantly by geographic location within the US
    — “USA base pay range (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT) per year: $160,000 - $210,000

How to stand out

  • Showcase experience with agentic development tools in your technical workflow
    — “Utilize agentic development tools like Claude Code to automate parts of the development process
  • Demonstrate cross-team project delivery through specific architectural decisions
    — “Design and align the scope of work with other teams to deliver cross-team projects
  • Highlight production monitoring experience with modern observability tools
    — “Prior experience with monitoring and alerting systems (sentry.io, rollbar, chronosphere, kibana)
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · TeamLevel · Mid

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • deliver immediate availability improvements
  • modernize older parts of the codebase
  • execute technical strategy for broad or complex requirements
Typical background
3+ years of experience as a backend software engineer

Skills & requirements

Required

Backend Software EngineeringDomain-driven DesignDistributed SystemsAPI DesignAgentic Development ToolsMonitoring And Alerting Systems

Preferred

KotlinPythonJava

Stack & domain

Domain-driven DesignDistributed SystemsData ModelsApi DesignState MachinesEvent-driven ArchitectureDatabase DesignAWSGrpcSnowflakeKotlinPythonMySQLKubernetesJavaMonitoring And Alerting SystemsCommunicationFinance

About the role

Original posting from Affirm via Greenhouse

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.

 

Base Pay Grade - L

Equity 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: 

Health care coverage - Affirm covers all premiums for all levels of coverage for you and your dependents 

Flexible Spending Wallets - generous stipends for spending on Technology, Food, various Lifestyle needs, and family forming expenses

Time off - competitive vacation and holiday schedules allowing you to take time off to rest and recharge

ESPP - An employee stock purchase plan enabling you to buy shares of Affirm at a discount

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.

[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.

By clicking "Submit Application," you acknowledge that you have read Affirm's Global Candidate Privacy Notice and hereby freely and unambiguously give informed consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of your personal information as described therein.

Source: Affirm careers (Greenhouse)

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