Staff Software Engineer, Business Data

Stripe
Seattle, WA
On-site

Who this role is best for

Geared toward experienced data engineers comfortable with building scalable data pipelines, this mid-level Staff Software Engineer role at Stripe emphasizes leadership and collaboration across multiple teams in Seattle.

Best fit for

  • Experienced data engineers with leadership potential and a track record in distributed data frameworks
    — “10+ years of experience building and operating data systems, pipelines, warehouses, infrastructure
  • Candidates who thrive in ambiguous environments and can manage complex data quality challenges
    — “Thrive with high autonomy and responsibility in an ambiguous environment
  • Individuals who have worked closely with product and business teams to shape data solutions
    — “Extreme customer focus, with a commitment to partnering with product, leaders across the business

Things to consider

  • This role requires a strong foundation in backend development and SQL, not just data pipeline experience
    — “Knowledge of a backend development language (such as Scala, Java, or Go) and strong SQL experience
  • Candidates must be prepared to lead and mentor others as part of their responsibilities
    — “Lead the technical outcomes for a team of ambitious, talented engineers

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience with Kafka, Flink, and Spark in your resume and interview responses
    — “prior experience with writing and debugging data pipelines using a distributed data framework
  • Demonstrate ability to manage data pipeline SLAs and ensure data quality in your projects
    — “develop strong subject matter expertise and manage the SLAs of data pipelines
  • Showcase collaboration with cross-functional teams like product and marketing in your work history
    — “collaborate with product managers and peers across the company
  • Emphasize your ability to use AI/LLM tools for data analysis and problem-solving
    — “Leverage AI/LLM and Agents at scale to produce and analyze high-quality data
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · CompanyLevel · Mid Level

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

What success looks like

  • delivered cutting-edge data pipelines
  • created/improved canonical datasets
  • supported critical stakeholders
  • fostered innovation
Typical background
data engineerdata architectdata scientist

Skills & requirements

Required

Data PipelinesData WarehousingData QualityData Engineering AutomationOperational ExcellenceData SystemsData InfrastructureData ProductsData ScienceData AnalyticsData VisualizationData Governance

Preferred

AILLMAgentsData ScienceData Analytics

Stack & domain

Data PipelinesAirflowSparkKafkaFlinkMentorshipCollaborationCommunicationBusiness DataData ScienceData Engineering

About the role

Original posting from Stripe

Who we are

About Stripe

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies—from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups—use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone’s reach while doing the most important work of your career.

About the team

We are experts in business data, building the canonical data foundation that powers decision-making across Finance & Strategy, Business Data Science, GTM, and Marketing. We engineer scalable and efficient data pipelines and provide curated data products that give Stripe's teams a consistent, accurate, and fresh view of the business—from the top to the bottom of the funnel. We work side by side with partner teams—AI, Data Science, and Business Systems—to deliver high-quality data assets that power growth motions, product performance tracking, and go-to-market metrics reporting. We invest in data quality, data engineering automation, and operational excellence to minimize issues and maintain the trust our customers place in the products we build.

What you’ll do

We're looking for a person who could contribute to the team by solving high-impact, cutting-edge data problems. The ideal candidate will be someone that has built data pipelines for large scale volume, is deeply knowledgeable of key tools including Airflow/Spark/Kafka/Flink, is empathetic, excels at building strong relationships, and collaborates effectively with other Stripe teams to understand their use cases and unlock new capabilities.

Responsibilities

Lead the technical outcomes for a team of ambitious, talented engineers, providing mentorship, guidance, and support to ensure their success

Partner with our recruiting team to attract and hire top talent

Deliver cutting-edge data pipelines that scale to users' needs, focusing on reliability and efficiency

Develop strong subject matter expertise and manage the SLAs of data pipelines and full stack web applications that support critical stakeholders

Collaborate with product managers and peers across the company to create/improve canonical datasets and data warehouses, use golden paths, and ensure Stripes and customers are using trustworthy data

Leverage AI/LLM and Agents at scale to produce and analyze high-quality data on ambiguous problems

Have the opportunity to drive the execution of key data initiatives for Stripe, overseeing the entire development lifecycle from planning to delivery while maintaining high standards of quality and timely completion

Foster a collaborative and inclusive work environment, promoting innovation, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement within the team

Who you are

We’re looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement.

Minimum requirements

This is a Staff-level role — that typically means 10+ years of experience building and operating data systems, pipelines, warehouses, infrastructure, and leading teams to deliver exceptional solutions

A strong engineering background and passion for data as well as prior experience with writing and debugging data pipelines using a distributed data framework

An inquisitive nature in diving into data inconsistencies to pinpoint issues, and resolve deep rooted data quality issues

Knowledge of a backend development language (such as Scala, Java, or Go) and strong SQL experience

Extreme customer focus, with a commitment to partnering with product, leaders across the business, and other Stripe engineers to understand their use cases

Effective cross-functional collaboration, with the ability to think rigorously, communicate clearly, and make or coordinate difficult decisions and trade-offs

Thrive with high autonomy and responsibility in an ambiguous environment

Ability to foster and work in a healthy, inclusive, challenging, and supportive work environment

Preferred qualifications

Our stack is made up of Iceberg, Kafka, Change Data Capture, Flink, Spark, Airflow, Hive Metastore, Pinot, Trino, and AWS Cloud - experience with all or some of these tools is a huge plus

Influencing open-source contributions

Experience creating and maintaining data marts / warehouses to power business reporting needs

Experience collaborating with Product, Go-To-Market, or Sales / Marketing teams

Genuine enjoyment of innovation and a deep interest in understanding how things work, with the ability to question and direct architectural decisions

Strong written and verbal communication skills for various audiences, including leadership, users, and company-wide

Source: Stripe careers

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