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.
The Team:
Upstart's Verifications Decisioning Engineering team builds the backend platform that powers automated verification workflows, financial data integrations, fraud detection, and approval decisioning across our lending products. The team develops the shared services and infrastructure that enable accurate, scalable, and reusable verification capabilities, helping improve automation, accelerate funding, and maintain risk correctness and compliance across the platform.
As a Software Engineer II (L4) on the Verifications Decisioning team, you will design and build backend services that power verification workflows and financial data platforms used across multiple lending products. You'll work on distributed systems that integrate third-party financial data providers, machine learning models, and internal decisioning services while partnering closely with Product, Machine Learning, Risk, Fraud, and other engineering teams to improve automation and platform scalability.
How you’ll make an impact
- Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services that power automated verification workflows, financial data integrations, and approval decisioning.
- Develop distributed systems, APIs, and event-driven services that improve the scalability, reliability, and reuse of verification capabilities across multiple lending products.
- Build platform capabilities that enable reusable financial data connections, streamline connection lifecycle management, and reduce operational overhead for internal engineering teams.
- Partner with Machine Learning, Product, Risk, Fraud, and Compliance teams to integrate data, decisioning logic, and risk models into production systems while maintaining correctness and auditability.
- Improve system reliability through comprehensive testing, monitoring, observability, and operational best practices for business-critical services.
- Contribute to the evolution of the verification platform by improving architecture, engineering standards, and shared infrastructure that accelerates product development across Upstart.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience) and 3+ years of professional software engineering experience.
- 3+ years of experience developing backend applications using Kotlin, Java, or another object-oriented programming language.
- Experience designing, building, and operating distributed systems, including service-to-service APIs and event-driven architectures.
- Experience building and maintaining scalable backend services that process business-critical or financial data in production environments.
- Experience contributing to decision engines that integrate with machine learning models to evaluate signals..
- Experience writing production-quality code supported by automated testing, monitoring, and observability practices.
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of financial services, lending, fraud prevention, identity verification, or other risk-sensitive systems.
- Experience integrating third-party financial data providers or APIs such as Plaid or similar platforms.
- Experience building rule engines, workflow orchestration platforms, or automated decisioning systems.
- Knowledge of how machine learning models are integrated, monitored, and evaluated within production systems.
- Experience building reusable platform services or shared infrastructure supporting multiple engineering teams..
Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote
Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are expected to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.
#LI-REMOTE
#LI-Associate
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
Upstart Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Upstart and has not been reviewed or approved by Upstart.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) “2:1 matching” program is prominently advertised, indicating substantial employer support for retirement savings. Retirement is clearly positioned as part of the core benefits offering.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Annual equity grants and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan expand ownership opportunities. These ownership elements are consistently highlighted alongside cash compensation.
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Flexible Benefits — A digital‑first, remote‑friendly model with flexible time off, home‑office/productivity stipends, and intentional in‑person moments supports varied work styles. Onsite meals and team events add value when working from company offices.
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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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