Senior Software Engineer, Mesh Traffic

Affirm·Remote(Remote US)

Software Development

WFA Digital Insight

The demand for skilled software engineers in the remote job market continues to surge, with a 25% increase in job postings over the past year. As companies like Affirm prioritize scalable and secure solutions, professionals with expertise in cloud-native technologies and distributed systems are in high demand. With the rise of buy-now-pay-later services, Affirm's mission to make credit more honest and friendly is more relevant than ever. Candidates should be prepared to showcase their ability to lead teams, collaborate with stakeholders, and drive technical innovation. Before applying, it's essential to understand the company's commitment to remote work and its impact on the engineering team's culture and workflow.

Job Description

About the Role

The Senior Software Engineer, Mesh Traffic position at Affirm is a critical role that entails leading the development of scalable, secure, and observable communication systems across the company's microservices platform. As a key member of the engineering team, you will be responsible for designing, developing, and launching backend systems that power Affirm's mission. The mesh traffic team enables secure, reliable, and observable communication across Affirm's microservices platform, ensuring the reliable delivery of requests through artifacts like service meshes, proxies, and gateways.

The engineering team at Affirm takes pride in its craft, building reliable, performant, and scalable solutions that touch every part of the business. As a senior software engineer, you will be working on the core networking and compute infrastructure, leveraging cloud-native technologies like Kubernetes, Istio, and Envoy. Your expertise in distributed systems, networking, and cloud-native technologies will be essential in driving the evolution of the platform and improving its architecture.

As a leader in the mesh traffic team, you will be responsible for owning and delivering quarterly goals, leading engineers through ambiguity to solve open-ended problems, and ensuring that everyone is supported throughout delivery. You will collaborate with product management, design, and analytics teams to support the product development lifecycle, participating in ideation, articulating technical constraints, and partnering on decisions that properly consider risks and trade-offs.

What You Will Do

Own and deliver quarterly goals for the mesh traffic team, ensuring alignment with the company's overall mission and objectives
Lead engineers on the team through ambiguity to solve open-ended problems, providing guidance and support as needed
Collaborate with product management, design, and analytics teams to support the product development lifecycle
Participate in ideation, articulating technical constraints and partnering on decisions that properly consider risks and trade-offs
Proactively identify project, process, technology, or business issues, advocate for them, and lead in solving them
Support the operations and availability of the team's artifacts, creating and monitoring metrics, escalating when needed, and supporting on-call efforts
Foster a culture of quality and ownership on the team, setting or improving code review and design standards
Help develop talent on the team, providing feedback and guidance, and leading by example
Support your peers and stakeholders in the product development lifecycle, ensuring effective collaboration and communication
Define technical plans for the delivery of significant features or system components, ensuring elegant, simple, and extensible designs

What We Are Looking For

4+ years of experience designing, developing, and launching backend systems at scale using languages like Python or Kotlin
Track record of developing highly available distributed systems using technologies like AWS, MySQL, and Kubernetes
Ownership and operation of cloud-native distributed infrastructure in networking or compute
Deep expertise in Kubernetes resource management, Helm charts, and operator patterns, centered around networking workloads
Experience defining technical plans for the delivery of significant features or system components with elegant, simple, and extensible designs
High-quality code that is easily understood and used by others
Proficiency in making significant changes in a large code base, with a suite of tools and practices that enable safe changes
Strong verbal and written communication skills that support effective collaboration with the global engineering team
Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent practical experience

Nice to Have

Experience with service meshes, proxies, and gateways
Knowledge of cloud-native technologies like Istio and Envoy
Familiarity with agile development methodologies and version control systems like Git
Experience with monitoring and logging tools like Prometheus and Grafana

Benefits and Perks

Competitive salary and equity package
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
Flexible PTO policy and remote work stipend
Access to professional development opportunities and training programs
Collaborative and dynamic work environment with a talented team of engineers
Opportunity to work on complex and challenging problems that impact the company's mission
Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance and contributions
Flexible working hours and remote work options to support work-life balance

How to Stand Out

Develop a strong understanding of cloud-native technologies like Kubernetes, Istio, and Envoy to stand out in the application process
Showcase your expertise in distributed systems, networking, and scalability to demonstrate your ability to drive technical innovation
Prepare to discuss your experience with service meshes, proxies, and gateways, and how you've applied them in previous roles
Highlight your ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product management, design, and analytics
Be prepared to provide examples of your coding skills, including your ability to write high-quality, readable code
Research the company's mission and values to understand the company culture and how you can contribute to it
Prepare to discuss your experience with agile development methodologies and version control systems like Git

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