Software Engineer II, Verifications Decisioning

Upstart

9h•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: Upstart’s Verifications Decisioning Engineering team builds the backend platform that powers automated verification, fraud detection, and approval decisions across all lending products. The team owns verification logic, risk signal generation, document automation, bank account integrations, and rule-based decisioning systems that enable near-instant funding experiences. Our north-star goal is to achieve fully automated decisioning while maintaining risk correctness and compliance integrity. As a Software Engineer II you will build and scale backend services that power automated approval decisions, verification workflows, and fraud detection systems. You will work on distributed systems that integrate with third-party data providers, machine learning models, and internal rule engines to power accurate, compliant, and highly automated lending decisions, while collaborating cross-functionally to optimize the verifications journey, and contributing to the development of our next-generation decisioning and automation platform.

Requirements

4+ years of professional software engineering experience.
Experience designing and building scalable backend systems in languages such as Java, Kotlin, Go, or Python.
Experience developing and operating distributed systems, including service-to-service APIs and event-driven architectures.
Experience contributing to a decision engine that integrates with machine learning models to evaluate signals..
Experience writing production-quality code with testing and monitoring.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience building rule engines, decisioning systems, or risk evaluation platforms.
Experience working with financial services, lending, fraud detection, or identity verification systems.
Experience integrating third-party APIs and external data providers.
Familiarity with workflow orchestration systems (e.g., Temporal).
Experience working with Kafka or event-driven systems.
Exposure to ML model integration in production systems.

Responsibilities

Design and build backend services that power verification orchestration, risk evaluation, and automated approval decisions.
Develop and evolve rule engines and decisioning systems to increase automation coverage across products.
Integrate external data providers (e.g., Plaid) into resilient, scalable workflows.
Improve document automation pipelines including classification, extraction, and fraud detection systems.
Build and maintain APIs, Kafka events, and service contracts that enable product teams to consume verification capabilities.
Partner with ML engineers to productionize risk models and ensure decision correctness at scale.
Contribute to platformization efforts to standardize Verifications stages and enable cross-product reuse.
Strengthen compliance, data integrity, and observability across verification systems.

Benefits

Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
Generous 401(k) plan with Upstart matching $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 per year
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees
Affordable medical, dental, and vision coverage, with multiple plan options - Upstart covers 90% to 100% of the cost depending on the plans you choose
Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans
Income protection benefits, including company-paid Basic Life, AD&D, and Short- and Long-Term Disability coverage, with options to purchase supplemental coverage
Paid time off, sick and safe time, and company holidays
Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments
Family-centered benefits through Carrot and Cleo, supporting fertility, parenthood, and caregiving
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
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 and onsites, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our four offices, located in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City (opening Summer 2026!).