Sr Software Engineer

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. 

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards.  Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade. 

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day.  We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary:

As a Senior Software Engineer on PayPal’s Experimentation Platform (ELMO), you will design and build backend services and distributed systems that power experimentation at enterprise scale. You’ll own the architecture and implementation of high-throughput, low-latency systems that process billions of experiment evaluations per day. This role is backend-focused, requiring deep expertise in distributed systems, data-intensive platforms, and service design.
This job delivers complete solutions spanning all phases of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). It involves advising management on project-level issues, guiding junior engineers, operating with little supervision, and applying knowledge of technical best practices.

Job Description:

Essential Responsibilities:

• Delivers complete solutions spanning all phases of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) (design, implementation, testing, delivery and operations), based on definitions from more senior roles.
• Advises immediate management on project-level issues
• Guides junior engineers
• Operates with little day-to-day supervision, making technical decisions based on knowledge of internal conventions and industry best practices
• Applies knowledge of technical best practices in making decisions

Expected Qualifications:

• 3+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.

Additional Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of backend services and distributed systems supporting experimentation workflows at PayPal scale.
• Build fault-tolerant, high-performance APIs and data services that integrate with BigQuery and other analytics platforms.
• Drive end-to-end ownership of backend features, from architecture and implementation to deployment and operational support.
• Partner with Product, Data Science, and ML teams to evolve experimentation methodologies, scorecarding, and analytics integrations.
• Mentor engineers, conducting design/code reviews and fostering best practices for backend and distributed system development.
• Troubleshoot complex distributed system issues and implement sustainable, long-term fixes.
• Contribute to scaling experimentation capabilities across PayPal’s ecosystem (mobile, web, backend services).
• Identify platform gaps and propose backend-focused enhancements that improve reliability, scalability, and developer experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with strong focus on backend development and distributed systems.
• Expertise in one or more backend programming languages (Java, Python, or equivalent), with experience designing high-throughput, low-latency services.
• Hands-on experience with BigQuery or other large-scale data warehouses, including SQL proficiency, data modeling, and performance tuning.
• Experience with distributed data pipelines, streaming/messaging systems (e.g., Kafka, Spark), or large-scale analytics platforms.
• Deep understanding of system design trade-offs for scalability, resiliency, and fault tolerance.
• Proficiency in cloud-native architectures, microservices, and container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with experimentation platforms, A/B testing frameworks, or measurement systems.
• Track record of mentoring engineers and driving technical improvements in backend systems.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to partner across product, engineering, and data science functions.
• Passion for building robust backend platforms that enable data-driven decision making at enterprise scale.

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

-

PayPal is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices.

Actual Compensation is based on various factors including but not limited to work location, and relevant skills and experience.

The total compensation for this practice may include an annual performance bonus (or other incentive compensation, as applicable), equity, and medical, dental, vision, and other benefits. For more information, visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com.

The US national annual pay range for this role is $123,500 to $212,850

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit https://careers.pypl.com/contact-us.

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.

We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more. To learn more about our benefits please visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com.

Who We Are:

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion 

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.  In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.  If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at [email protected].

Belonging at PayPal: 

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.