Software Engineer, Verifications Platform

About Upstart

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 3,000 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, 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 workflows, financial data integrations, fraud detection, and approval decisioning across our lending products. The team develops the shared services and infrastructure that enable accurate, scalable, and reusable verification capabilities, helping improve automation, accelerate funding, and maintain risk correctness and compliance across the platform.

As a Software Engineer II (L4) on the Verifications Decisioning team, you will design and build backend services that power verification workflows and financial data platforms used across multiple lending products. You'll work on distributed systems that integrate third-party financial data providers, machine learning models, and internal decisioning services while partnering closely with Product, Machine Learning, Risk, Fraud, and other engineering teams to improve automation and platform scalability.

How you’ll make an impact

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services that power automated verification workflows, financial data integrations, and approval decisioning.

• Develop distributed systems, APIs, and event-driven services that improve the scalability, reliability, and reuse of verification capabilities across multiple lending products.

• Build platform capabilities that enable reusable financial data connections, streamline connection lifecycle management, and reduce operational overhead for internal engineering teams.

• Partner with Machine Learning, Product, Risk, Fraud, and Compliance teams to integrate data, decisioning logic, and risk models into production systems while maintaining correctness and auditability.

• Improve system reliability through comprehensive testing, monitoring, observability, and operational best practices for business-critical services.

• Contribute to the evolution of the verification platform by improving architecture, engineering standards, and shared infrastructure that accelerates product development across Upstart.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience) and 3+ years of professional software engineering experience.

• 3+ years of experience developing backend applications using Kotlin, Java, or another object-oriented programming language.

• Experience designing, building, and operating distributed systems, including service-to-service APIs and event-driven architectures.

• Experience building and maintaining scalable backend services that process business-critical or financial data in production environments.

• Experience contributing to decision engines that integrate with machine learning models to evaluate signals..

• Experience writing production-quality code supported by automated testing, monitoring, and observability practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of financial services, lending, fraud prevention, identity verification, or other risk-sensitive systems.

• Experience integrating third-party financial data providers or APIs such as Plaid or similar platforms.

• Experience building rule engines, workflow orchestration platforms, or automated decisioning systems.

• Knowledge of how machine learning models are integrated, monitored, and evaluated within production systems.

• Experience building reusable platform services or shared infrastructure supporting multiple engineering teams..

Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote

Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are expected to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

#LI-REMOTE

#LI-Associate

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).

United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range

$142,000—$196,600 USD

What you'll love

At Upstart, our benefits for full-time employees are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here’s what you can expect:

• 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

For roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec.

Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Just as we are dedicated to improving access to affordable credit for all, we are committed to inclusive and fair hiring practices.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email candidate_accommodations@upstart.com

https://www.upstart.com/candidate_privacy_policy