The Team

Upstart’s Small Dollar Loan team aims to put an end to payday lending by using superior AI and automation to drive down the cost of lending small dollar amounts over short periods of time. Did you know that 49% of Americans don’t have the cash reserves to cover a $400 emergency and traditional payday lenders can charge up to 400% APRs? At Upstart we took a first principles approach to providing borrowers small loan amounts, $250-$2,500, over short periods of time, 3-18 months, with an affordable APR, up to 36%. The Small Dollar Loan team is looking for an engineer passionate about making a difference in the lives of millions of Americans every day!

As the Principal Engineer at Upstart, you will  collaborate with all  parts of the Small Dollar business and Upstart engineering teams, including Machine Learning, Data Engineering, Product Management, Product Design, Platform, Servicing, Lending Partnerships, and Capital Markets. The role will report directly to a Director of Engineering and work closely with the Small Dollar Loan engineer team, focusing on driving down operational and servicing costs.

Position Location - This role is available in the following locations: Remote, San Mateo, Columbus, Austin 

Time Zone Requirements - This team operates on the East/West Coast time zones.

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 encouraged to 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. Upstart will cover all travel related expenses.

How you’ll make an impact:

• Create Northstar architectures for Small Dollar Loan post originations flow
• Align with the servicing vertical team’s technical vision
• Build core high leverage components and patterns to unlock high quality execution from engineering teams
• Collaborate with cross functional stakeholders to solve business problems.
• Mentor engineers.
• Move the Upstart technology platform forward

What we’re looking for: 

• Minimum requirements:
  • 10+ years software engineering experience 
  • Strong technical and software engineering fundamentals including a demonstrated ability to build and own large-scale, highly available consumer products
  • Ability to explain complex business and technical concepts to all audiences
  • Experience leading large cross-team initiatives at companies that have gone through periods of rapid business or organizational growth
  • Track record of successfully mentoring and developing technical leaders
• Preferred qualifications:
  • Defined and executed on longer term (multi-quarter +) technological visions or strategies for multi-team organizations
  • Driven initiatives of significant depth or breadth with demonstrated results in engineering process, technology platforms, or overall productivity of others
  • Ability to identify gaps in organizational knowledge, tools, and practices and produce and execute on plans to address those gaps
  • Ability to influence and lead without direct authority
  • Strong product and analytical mindset that allows you to think in terms of ROI, risk, and trade offs
  • Excellent written and verbal communication
  • Highly autonomous and proactively finds the most impactful projects to work on

What you'll love: 

• Competitive Compensation (base + bonus & equity)
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart 
• 401(k) with 100% company match up to $4,500 and immediate vesting and after-tax savings
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Life and disability insurance
• Generous holiday, vacation, sick and safety leave  
• Supportive parental, family care, and military leave programs
• Annual wellness, technology & ergonomic reimbursement programs
• Social activities including team events and onsites, all-company updates, employee resource groups (ERGs), and other interest groups such as book clubs, fitness, investing, and volunteering
• Catered lunches + snacks & drinks when working in offices

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