Key skills
MicroservicesAPIsAWSKotlinJavaRubyPythonReverse ETLData pipeline toolingMarketing automation platformsReal-time event streamingHigh-throughput messagingThird-party API integrationAIETLAnalyticsDatabricksFivetranEvent StreamingSalesforceCommunication
About this role
Upstart is an AI lending marketplace dedicated to reducing the cost and complexity of borrowing for Americans. As a Software Engineer II, you will design and build scalable backend services for their unified communications platform while collaborating with various teams to deliver impactful, data-driven solutions.
Responsibilities:
- Design and build scalable backend services that power our unified communications platform across SMS, email, push, and future channels
- Develop systems for real-time, event-triggered messaging and self-serve marketing automation and experimentation capabilities
- Translate large, complex datasets into high-leverage marketing capabilities through APIs, streaming pipelines, and reverse ETL workflows
- Partner closely with product managers, lifecycle marketing, data insights, analytics, and data platform teams to define requirements and deliver impactful, data-driven solutions
- Lead medium-sized projects independently—proactively identifying risks, managing ambiguity, and driving execution from design through launch
- Strengthen our engineering culture by improving system reliability, accelerating iteration, and clearly communicating technical trade-offs to cross-functional stakeholders
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or Mathematics, or a related field (or its equivalent) + 3 years of experience
- Experience building and operating microservices and APIs in a cloud environment (preferably AWS)
- Proficiency in at least one backend language such as Kotlin, Java, Ruby, or Python
- Demonstrated ability to independently execute on projects, navigate ambiguity, and collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work in a distributed team
- Experience supporting Marketing, Growth, or GTM teams, particularly in environments involving CDPs, customer segmentation, or campaign orchestration
- Experience with reverse ETL tools (e.g., Hightouch, Census), data pipeline tooling (e.g., Airbyte, Fivetran, Databricks), or marketing automation platforms (e.g., Iterable, Braze, or Salesforce Marketing Cloud)
- Familiarity with real-time event streaming systems and high-throughput messaging architectures
- Experience integrating with third-party APIs and building systems that ingest, transform, and expose large volumes of data
- Track record of leading medium-to-large projects and contributing to system design decisions with long-term platform impact