Staff Software Engineer, Payments

About Quizlet:

Inspired by our belief that anyone can learn anything and powered by our own curiosity, we build the smartest tools we can imagine to help students learn.

Quizlet is the popular, global learning platform and app that millions of students, teachers and everyday people use to study any subject imaginable for school, work or as part of their personal interests -- including two-thirds of high school students and half of all college students in the US. Combining cognitive science and machine learning, Quizlet guides students through adaptive study activities to confidently reach their learning goals. We’re on track to become the undisputed leader in user-generated learning content and engagement, at the scale of YouTube.

Valued at $1 billion, Quizlet has raised over $60 million in venture capital from investors including Icon Ventures, Union Square Ventures, General Atlantic, Costanoa Ventures, Owl Ventures, and Altos Ventures.

To serve our global community of learners, our teams tackle lofty technical challenges and design for use cases across cultures and languages. We work hard, act like owners, and collaborate every chance we get. We’re energized by the potential to power more learners through multiple approaches and various tools.

About the Team:

Quizlet’s Payments team plays a critical role in ensuring seamless financial transactions, subscription lifecycles, and payment flows for our users globally. With millions of users interacting with our platform, we focus on building reliable, scalable, and secure infrastructure that supports our high volume of payments and subscription services. This is a high-impact area, with a lot of opportunities to innovate, optimize, and expand the scope of payments at Quizlet. We are at the intersection of engineering, business, and compliance, which means you’ll have the chance to shape the future of payments and drive key business outcomes.

About the Role:

As a Staff Software Engineer on the Payments team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and executing the technical vision for Quizlet’s payments infrastructure. This role offers a unique opportunity to drive innovation across both backend systems and user-facing payment flows. You will be instrumental in defining the overall payments strategy, working closely with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment with business goals. With significant opportunities for growth and innovation in the payments space, your contributions will have a direct impact on the expansion of Quizlet’s subscription business.

While primarily focused on backend development, you will also contribute to building and optimizing user-facing features related to payment flows and subscription management, ensuring seamless, intuitive, and performant experiences. You will lead technical projects, mentor engineers, and ensure that our services are reliable, scalable, and performant.

This is a hybrid role based out of our San Francisco office hub.

In this role, you will:

• Design, build, and maintain large-scale backend services that handle payments and subscriptions for millions of users
• Play an active role in defining Quizlet’s overall payments strategy, driving innovation and ensuring scalability
• Develop user-facing components and UI features that provide intuitive payment and subscription experiences, using modern front-end technologies such as React
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product managers, UX/UI designers, and frontend engineers, to ensure a seamless user experience in all payment flows
• Build reusable UI components and abstractions to improve development speed and consistency in payment-related user interfaces
• Ensure the system's reliability and uptime through robust architecture, system design, and incident response
• Provide mentorship to junior and mid-level engineers and contribute to the technical growth of the team
• Implement monitoring and alerting solutions to ensure operational excellence and resiliency
• Stay ahead of industry trends in payments technology and incorporate new solutions to improve efficiency and reduce costs

What you bring to the table:

• 8+ years of experience in backend development with a strong emphasis on building large-scale distributed systems
• Familiarity with modern front-end technologies (e.g., React, NextJS) and the ability to build and maintain user-facing components, though deep UI expertise is not required
• Experience with modern backend frameworks (e.g., Go, Node.js, Python) and relational databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL)
• Expertise in building and scaling APIs, especially in the payments and subscription space
• Strong system architecture and design skills with a focus on scalability, reliability, and performance optimization
• Proven ability to lead technical projects from inception to completion and mentor other engineers
• Strong interest in solving complex engineering problems, with a focus on payments, financial systems, and transactional workflows

Bonus points if you have:

• Experience in working with global payment providers and handling multi-currency, multi-jurisdictional payments
• Experience in both backend and frontend development, with a particular emphasis on seamless integration between the two
• Familiarity with tax engines, financial reconciliation processes, or billing systems
• Strong DevOps skills, including experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP) and containerization tools like Kubernetes
• Experience working in a subscription-based or SaaS company
• Passion for learning and growing in the fintech/payments space

Compensation, Benefits & Perks:

• Quizlet is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Total compensation for this role is market competitive, including a starting base salary of $185,000 - $215,000, depending on location and experience, as well as company stock options
• Collaborate with your manager and team to create a healthy work-life balance
• 20 vacation days (and we expect you to take them!)
• Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance (100% employee and 75% dependent PPO, HMO, VSP Choice)
• Employer-sponsored 401k plan with company match
• Access to LinkedIn Learning and other resources to support professional growth
• Paid Family Leave, FSA, HSA, Commuter benefits, Wellness benefits
• 40 hours of annual paid time off to participate in volunteer programs of your choice

We strive to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome! 

We work to create a holistic interview process, where both Quizlet and candidates have an opportunity to view what it would be like to work together, in exploring a mutually beneficial partnership.

We provide a transparent setting, that gives a comprehensive view of who we are!

In Closing:

We hope you are excited about everything you read so far. We highly encourage you to apply for this position, even if you feel you do not meet all the requirements. Quizlet is always looking for amazing folks that believe in our mission and can contribute to our team in various ways - not merely candidates that fit a certain mold.

We have a bias for action, take initiative, and take pride in delivering results. We make informed decisions whenever possible but are unafraid to take calculated risks on great ideas to promote learning. We embrace challenges and see effort as the path to mastery. We’re constantly seeking opportunities to learn and we embrace curiosity. Quality matters at Quizlet, and we hold the bar high on everything we do.

We treat each other with honesty and respect, encourage vigorous debate, and seek critical feedback. We value diversity, humility, transparency, and collaboration as the best paths to our success — as individuals, as a team, and as a company.

Quizlet’s success as an online learning community depends on a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are actively working to build a team that is representative of the diverse communities we serve, and an open, inclusive work environment where all employees can thrive. As an equal opportunity employer and a tech company committed to societal change, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. Women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. Come join us!

To All Recruiters and Placement Agencies:

At this time Quizlet does not accept unsolicited agency resumes and/or profiles. 

Please do not forward unsolicited agency resumes to our website or to any Quizlet employee. Quizlet will not pay fees to any third-party agency or firm nor will it be responsible for any agency fees associated with unsolicited resumes. All unsolicited resumes received will be considered the property of Quizlet.