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Principal Software Engineer – New Product
Location
United States
Posted
149 days ago
Salary
$186.1K - $257.5K / year
Seniority
Lead
Job Description
Principal Software Engineer – New Product
Upstart
• Set technical direction and lead architectural design for core backend systems that power a new consumer credit product. • Build distributed, event-driven services that are reliable, observable, and scalable—designed for long-term evolution. • Drive zero-to-one product development in collaboration with cross-functional partners, translating ambiguous product goals into high-impact solutions. • Champion engineering velocity and quality by shaping patterns, practices, and tooling across the stack. • Lead with an AI-native mindset—leveraging and integrating AI tools to improve development workflows, reduce friction, and accelerate impact. • Serve as a technical mentor and thought leader within a high-performing, fast-moving team. • Influence product direction through technical insights, customer empathy, and an ability to balance tradeoffs between speed, scale, and quality.
Job Requirements
- 8+ years of experience designing and building backend systems in production, with a focus on consumer-scale applications.
- Deep expertise in distributed systems and event-driven architectures (Kafka, Kinesis, SQS, etc.), including experience with idempotency, retries, and fault tolerance.
- Strong command of an object-oriented programming language (e.g., Java, Kotlin, C#, Python, Ruby), along with experience working with APIs, databases, and caching systems.
- Proven success leading complex, zero-to-one product development in ambiguous or fast-changing environments.
- Demonstrated ability to influence product strategy through technical leadership and user-centric thinking.
- Track record of building with observability and operational excellence in mind (metrics, logs, traces, alerting, etc.).
- Active use of AI tools in engineering, with a forward-looking perspective on how AI is reshaping software development.
- Exceptional communication and collaboration skills; able to align teams and advocate for high-impact solutions across functions.
Benefits
- Competitive Compensation (base + bonus & equity)
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart
- Generous 401(k) plan with Upstart matching $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 per year
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
- Life and disability insurance
- Generous holiday, vacation, sick and safety leave
- Supportive parental, family care, and military leave programs
- Annual wellness, technology & ergonomic reimbursement programs
- Social activities including team events and onsites, all-company updates, employee resource groups (ERGs), and other interest groups such as book clubs, fitness, investing, and volunteering
- Catered lunches + snacks & drinks when working in offices
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