Senior Software Engineer, Marketplace Optimization

Upstart

2d•$166,900 - $230,900•Remote

About The Position

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: Marketplace Optimization builds the intelligent systems that power Upstart's AI lending marketplace. Our teams make real-time decisions about how borrowers are matched with capital, how offers are constructed, and how the marketplace evolves through experimentation. We solve complex optimization problems at scale, balancing borrower experience, investor objectives, profitability, and operational efficiency while operating some of the most critical services at Upstart. Within Marketplace Optimization, engineers join one of two closely related teams: Monetization builds the marketplace services that optimize marketplace economics through origination fees, offer construction, and experimentation capabilities that allow the business to rapidly evolve monetization strategies. Matching & Offer Selection builds the real-time decision engine that intelligently matches borrowers with capital providers while balancing borrower outcomes, investor commitments, marketplace efficiency, and business objectives. As a Senior Software Engineer, you'll partner closely with Product, Machine Learning, Pricing, Capital Markets, Lending Partnerships, and Analytics to build highly reliable distributed systems that power millions of lending decisions. You'll work on systems at the heart of Upstart's lending marketplace. The software your team builds determines how borrowers are matched with capital, how offers are constructed, and how marketplace decisions are executed in real time. It's an opportunity to solve challenging distributed systems problems while building software with direct, measurable impact on borrowers, investors, and the business.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)
5+ years of professional software engineering experience building backend or distributed systems
Experience developing production services using one or more of Ruby on Rails, Python, or Kotlin
Experience designing APIs and building scalable distributed systems
Experience operating business-critical production services with an emphasis on reliability, monitoring, testing, and operational excellence
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and modern cloud-native application development
Experience collaborating across engineering, product, and business stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Experience building marketplaces, recommendation systems, optimization engines, financial systems
Experience with event-driven architectures, Kafka, workflow orchestration, or real-time data processing
Experience partnering with Machine Learning or Data Science teams
Experience improving platform scalability and evolving distributed system architecture
Interest in solving complex optimization problems that combine technical and business tradeoffs

Responsibilities

Design, build, and operate highly available backend services that power Upstart's real-time lending marketplace.
Develop scalable systems that enable rapid experimentation while maintaining the reliability of business-critical production services.
Partner with Product, Machine Learning, Capital Markets, and Analytics to translate complex business problems into elegant technical solutions.
Build flexible platform capabilities that enable new marketplace optimization and monetization strategies.
Improve the scalability, observability, and operational excellence of systems responsible for real-time marketplace decisions.
Participate in architecture discussions, code reviews, testing, and operational ownership of critical production systems.

Benefits

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!)