Distinguished Software Engineer

Affirm is reinventing credit to make it more honest and friendly, giving consumers the flexibility to buy now and pay later without any hidden fees or compounding interest.

In this role, you will be a senior member of Affirm’s Architecture Group, reporting directly to the Head of Architecture. You will own the architecture, technical roadmap, and delivery outcomes for the Decisions Foundations Engineering Group, which includes the Purchasing, Credit Underwriting, and Machine Learning domains. You will also shape Affirm’s broader technical direction through leadership within the Architecture Group, driving innovation and architectural coherence across the company.

You will serve as the accountable technical leader for three critical domains:

• Purchasing, which powers Affirm’s checkout platform and is focused on optimizing the consumer experience during checkout and prequalification.

• Credit Underwriting, which manages credit risk and drives conversion through pricing and credit levers.

• Machine Learning Infrastructure, which supports Affirm’s credit and fraud models through scalable ML systems, including model training, inference, and feature serving.

What You’ll Do

• Drive the long-term technical vision for Affirm’s Purchasing, Credit Underwriting, and ML infrastructure domains.

• Lead architectural strategy and roadmap definition in collaboration with domain tech leads and the broader Architecture Group.

• Champion scalable, performant, and user-centric solutions across Affirm’s engineering organization.

• Define and uphold standards for design and code quality through reviews, mentoring, and hands-on architectural guidance.

• Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to influence product direction and ensure strong alignment between business goals and system architecture.

• Guide cross-functional teams to deliver end-to-end solutions across service boundaries and external dependencies.

• Mentor and support a team of senior technical leaders, helping them grow as architects and stewards of Affirm’s long-term systems health.

• Foster a culture of rigor, curiosity, and technical excellence across engineering.

What We Look For

• Proven success leading technical architecture for large-scale consumer systems, ideally across multiple domains or product lines.

• Deep experience guiding engineering strategy and delivery at both high-growth startups and mature technology companies.

• Ability to distill complex technical problems and trade-offs into clear decisions that influence product and platform evolution.

• Effective communicator, capable of engaging both engineers and executives to drive alignment and clarity.

• Track record of mentoring senior engineers and developing the next generation of technical leaders.

• Extensive experience building and operating large-scale, highly available systems.

• 15+ years of software engineering experience, with prior experience in technical leadership roles.

• Experience in Fintech or retail (consumer and merchant-facing systems) is a plus.

• Experience with Machine Learning infrastructure (e.g. feature stores, training pipelines, low-latency inference) is a plus.

• JVM experience at scale is a plus.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Pay Grade - V
Equity Grade - 21

Employees new to Affirm typically come in at the start of the pay range. Affirm focuses on providing a simple and transparent pay structure which is based on a variety of factors, including location, experience and job-related skills.

Base pay is part of a total compensation package that may include equity rewards, monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents.)

USA base pay range (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT) per year: $340,000 - $375,000
USA base pay range (all other U.S. states) per year: $305,000 - $340,000

Affirm is proud to be a remote-first company! The majority of our roles are remote and you can work almost anywhere within the country of employment. Affirmers in proximal roles have the flexibility to work remotely, but will occasionally be required to work out of their assigned Affirm office. A limited number of roles remain office-based due to the nature of their job responsibilities.

We’re extremely proud to offer competitive benefits that are anchored to our core value of people come first. Some key highlights of our benefits package include: 

• Health care coverage - Affirm covers all premiums for all levels of coverage for you and your dependents 
• Flexible Spending Wallets - generous stipends for spending on Technology, Food, various Lifestyle needs, and family forming expenses
• Time off - competitive vacation and holiday schedules allowing you to take time off to rest and recharge
• ESPP - An employee stock purchase plan enabling you to buy shares of Affirm at a discount

We believe It’s On Us to provide an inclusive interview experience for all, including people with disabilities. We are happy to provide reasonable accommodations to candidates in need of individualized support during the hiring process.

[For U.S. positions that could be performed in Los Angeles or San Francisco] Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, Affirm will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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