About Upstart
At Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.
As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 1,800 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress.
We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City (opening Summer 2026), you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.
If you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you.
Unsecured Installments is one of Upstart’s core lending products, helping borrowers access credit through a seamless, digitally native experience. The team owns critical parts of the borrower journey across offer generation, pricing, underwriting, funding, and borrower experience, while working closely with the broader lending platform that powers Upstart at scale.
We operate in a high-ownership environment where engineering plays a direct role in shaping product strategy, credit outcomes, and platform evolution. This team works on complex, high-leverage problems at the intersection of software, machine learning, economics, and compliance. Recent work has focused on improving borrower flows, repricing and rate flexibility, partnership experiences, and the technical health of the platform.
As a Principal Software Engineer, you’ll help define the technical direction for a broad and business-critical surface area. You’ll partner closely with product, machine learning, analytics, compliance, and other engineering teams to build systems that are reliable, scalable, and adaptable as the product continues to evolve.
How you’ll make an impact:Design and evolve the core backend systems that power Upstart’s unsecured installment lending product.
Lead architecture and technical direction across complex domains such as underwriting, pricing, offer generation, funding, servicing, and borrower lifecycle workflows.
Translate product, economic, and operational requirements into scalable technical systems that balance speed, reliability, and long-term maintainability.
Partner closely with machine learning engineers and data teams to productionize models and integrate decisioning systems into real-time borrower experiences.
Improve the systems and services behind key borrower and partner flows, including experimentation, repricing, and moments of borrower friction.
Influence architectural decisions across team boundaries, helping connect the Unsecured Installments roadmap with Upstart’s broader lending platform and shared infrastructure.
Raise the bar for engineering quality through strong API design, thoughtful domain modeling, observability, testing, and operational excellence.
Mentor other engineers and serve as a technical leader who can bring clarity, drive alignment, and help teams execute through ambiguity.
Contribute to how the team uses AI in development workflows and product capabilities, with a pragmatic view of where it can create meaningful leverage.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience) and 8+ years of software engineering experience.
Strong experience designing distributed systems and event-driven architectures, including real-world handling of retries, idempotency, fault tolerance, and failure modes.
Proficiency in an object-oriented language such as Python, Java, Kotlin, C#, or Ruby, with deep experience building APIs and service-oriented backend systems.
Track record of leading technical design and delivery for large-scope, business-critical systems.
Ability to work effectively in ambiguous environments where product requirements, operating constraints, and system boundaries evolve over time.
Strong cross-functional collaboration skills and comfort working closely with product, analytics, compliance, risk, and other business stakeholders.
Experience influencing technical direction beyond a single team, including driving alignment across engineers with different priorities and constraints.
Active use of AI tools in engineering workflows, with a thoughtful perspective on how AI is reshaping software development.
Exceptional communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to explain complex tradeoffs and advocate for high-impact solutions.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in fintech, lending, payments, or other regulated financial systems.
Familiarity with unsecured installment lending, offer and pricing systems, borrower acquisition flows, funding, or servicing platforms.
Experience building systems that support experimentation, repricing, or other dynamic product and decisioning workflows.
Background working with machine learning-driven underwriting, pricing, or risk systems.
Experience operating as a technical leader on small or midsized teams with broad product ownership.
Hands-on experience leveraging generative AI in product features or internal engineering workflows.
Passion for building products that expand access to credit and improve financial outcomes for consumers.
Position Location - This role is available in the following locations: Remote, Burlingame, Columbus, Austin, New York
Time Zone Requirements - This team operates across all U.S. time zones.
Travel Requirements - This team has regular on-site collaboration sessions. These occur 3 days per quarter at an Upstart office. If you need to travel to make these meetups, Upstart will cover all travel related expenses.
#LI-REMOTE
#LI-MidSenior --> use for L5, L6
At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).
At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).
What you'll love
At Upstart, our benefits are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here’s what you can expect:
- Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
- Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada)
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)
- Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.
- Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)
- Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security
- Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements
- Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country)
- Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
- Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only)
- Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you
- Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from
- Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
- Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City (opening Summer 2026!)
For roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec.
Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Just as we are dedicated to improving access to affordable credit for all, we are committed to inclusive and fair hiring practices.
If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email [email protected]
https://www.upstart.com/candidate_privacy_policy
Skills Required
- 8+ years of experience designing and building backend systems in production, focused on consumer-scale applications
- Deep expertise in distributed systems and event-driven architectures like Kafka, Kinesis, SQS
- Strong command of an object-oriented programming language (e.g. Java, Kotlin, C#, Python, Ruby)
- Experience working with APIs, databases, and caching systems
- Proven success leading zero-to-one product development in fast-changing environments
- Ability to influence product strategy through technical leadership
- Track record of building with observability and operational excellence
- Active use of AI tools in engineering
- Exceptional communication and collaboration skills
What the Team is Saying
What We Do
Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace, connecting millions of consumers to more than 100 banks and credit unions that leverage Upstart’s AI models and cloud applications to deliver superior credit products. With Upstart's AI, lenders can approve more borrowers at lower rates across races, ages, and genders, while delivering the exceptional digital-first experience customers demand. More than 80% of borrowers are approved instantly, with zero documentation to upload. Founded in 2012, Upstart’s platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small-dollar “relief” loans. If you are energized by the impact you think you could make at Upstart, we'd love to hear from you!
Why Work With Us
Connection to our mission creates a special environment where people feel passionately about the impact they make in the world. Upstart is fast-paced, and we encourage ownership at all levels of the organization. As a result, culture at Upstart is driven by Upstarters. Upstarters are proactive, talented, multi-dimensional and collaborative.
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Upstart Offices
Remote Workspace
Employees work remotely.
Upstart has a digital-first model enabling most Upstarters can live and work anywhere in the U.S. We also offer in-person options from our office locations in San Mateo, California; Columbus, Ohio; Austin, Texas; and New York City, NY.
