Staff Software Engineer
About The Position
This job acts as a project leader, coordinating the activities of other engineers, determining technical tasks, and improving existing structures and processes. It involves making technical decisions, collaborating with management to set standards, and representing the company to external partners. The role involves providing thought leadership in platform engineering, identifying emerging technologies, defining best practices, and influencing technical direction. It requires leading architecture, design, and execution of complex platform initiatives, driving technical decisions from inception to delivery. The engineer will design, develop, and maintain platform services using Java and Python, setting standards for code quality, scalability, and performance. They will also build and optimize data pipelines and storage solutions leveraging GCP services, work with Kubernetes-based deployments, and own low-level and high-level designs. A portion of the role (~20%) will involve contributing to frontend development using React. The engineer will partner with cross-functional teams, leverage AI-powered development tools, demonstrate intellectual curiosity, and mentor other engineers. They will also troubleshoot critical production issues and drive systemic improvements to platform reliability.
Requirements
- 5+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with Java and Python
- Experience with GCP services including BigQuery, BigTable, and GKE
- Experience with Kubernetes-based deployments
- Experience with React
- Familiarity with AI-powered development tools (Copilot, Claude, etc.)
Responsibilities
- Acts as a project or system leader, coordinating the activities of other engineers on the project or within the system
- Determines the technical tasks that other engineers will follow
- Actions result in the achievement of customer, operational, program or service objectives
- Proactively improves existing structures & processes
- Exercises judgement in reconciling diverse and competing priorities (time, quality, complexity risk) to identify optimal solutions to problems
- Notices patterns and condenses repetition into densely meaningful generalized solutions
- Collaborates with management to set/improve standards for engineering rigor
- Trusted to represent PayPal, Inc to the outside world via interactions with partners, customers, or industry organizations
- Provide thought leadership in platform engineering—identify emerging technologies, define best practices, and influence technical direction across the organization
- Lead architecture, design, and execution of multiple complex platform initiatives, driving technical decisions from inception to delivery
- Design, develop, and maintain platform services using Java and Python, setting standards for code quality, scalability, and performance
- Build and optimize data pipelines and storage solutions leveraging GCP services including BigQuery, BigTable, and GKE
- Work with Kubernetes-based deployments, demonstrating a solid understanding of container orchestration, scaling strategies, and cluster operations
- Own low-level and high-level designs, ensuring technical specifications align with long-term platform strategy and architectural vision
- Drive end-to-end delivery across multiple workstreams with full ownership and accountability
- Contribute to frontend development (~20% of role) using React, supporting UI components and user-facing features as needed
- Partner with cross-functional teams (product, data science, operations) to shape roadmaps and deliver integrated solutions
- Leverage AI-powered development tools (Copilot, Claude, etc.) to accelerate development workflows and promote adoption across the team
- Demonstrate intellectual curiosity in problem-solving—proactively investigate root causes, explore innovative solutions, and continuously seek to understand the "why" behind technical challenges
- Mentor and guide senior and junior engineers, develop best practices for the team, and elevate overall engineering capabilities
- Troubleshoot critical production issues and drive systemic improvements to platform reliability
Benefits
- Generous paid time off
- Healthcare coverage for you and your family
- Resources to create financial security
- Support your mental health
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
