Software Engineer - Backend

Cardless is looking for an experienced backend engineer to join our exceptional team! You’ll play a key role in designing, building, and scaling the systems that power our co-branded credit card platform spanning domains like applications, accounts, transactions, fraud, risk, and rewards.

As a software engineer, your responsibilities will include but not be limited to the following:

Responsibilities

Design and build scalable, secure, and high-performance backend systems and services that support Cardless’s core financial products

Contribute to architectural discussions and decisions to evolve our platform as we grow

Take ownership of projects from design through production — including requirements gathering, implementation, testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance

Collaborate cross-functionally with product managers, designers, other engineers, and stakeholders (external partners, risk, compliance) to deliver high-quality features quickly and reliably

Identify and drive improvements in system reliability, observability, performance, and developer experience

Provide technical guidance and thought partnership to peers across the engineering organization

What we look for

Strong experience designing and implementing backend systems and services that operate at scale (typically 5+ years of industry experience)

Solid understanding of distributed systems, APIs, databases, and infrastructure fundamentals

Proficiency with a modern backend language (e.g. Java, Python) and ecosystem

Track record of delivering complex technical projects end-to-end, collaborating effectively with cross-functional partners

Deep, low-level expertise in one or more backend domains (e.g., databases, scaling systems, distributed systems)

Passion for building robust, maintainable systems that have real-world impact for customers

Nice to have

Experience building and maintaining external, public-facing APIs

Familiarity with financial systems, reconciliation workflows, or data integrity challenges

Exposure to ML pipelines or feature stores

Why Cardless

You’ll join a collaborative, fast-moving team that values craftsmanship, curiosity, and impact. We’re building products that enable leading brands to offer credit in new ways — and we’re just getting started.

Compensation

Note: This role is open to experienced engineers only

This role has an annual starting salary range of $165,000-$260,000 + equity + benefits (see below). Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skills, experience, and specific work location.

Benefits

We're headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with a beautiful office in the Financial District. We're proud to offer our team excellent benefits:

💸 Meaningful Start-up equity

🏥 100% health, vision & dental primary coverage

➕ 75% health, vision & dental dependent coverage

🍱 Catered lunches

🚎 $250/month Commuter benefit

👶 Parental leave

✈️ Team building events & happy hours

🌴 Flexible PTO with a minimum of 15 days off per year

🖥️ Apple equipment

💸 401k plan

Location

San Francisco, CA — our office is in the Jackson Square district. This role is 5 days a week in office.