Marqeta is seeking an experienced Staff Software Engineer to independently drive the identification and delivery of complex software solutions on our Banking and Money Movement Team. In this role, you will lead end-to-end delivery across multi-component systems and multi-milestone initiatives, taking full ownership of projects aligned to quarterly team goals. You will navigate ambiguous, open-ended technical challenges with autonomy, defining the path forward where problems are not yet well-scoped. You will serve as a technical leader and trusted collaborator — partnering closely with your team and cross-functional stakeholders to align on priorities and deliver high-impact outcomes.

The Banking and Money Movement engineering team develops and optimizes financial services, including account creation, transaction processing, payment systems, banking integrations, reporting, and reconciliation. We work collaboratively to ensure secure, efficient, and innovative solutions that meet regulatory standards and enhance user experiences in moving the money.

We work Flexible First. This role can be performed remotely in the United States, only in one of our National locations, which you can review here.

Learn more about our Product and Engineering team

The Impact You'll Have

• Lead the design and architecture of large-scale, complex systems and components, making decisions that impact both short-term and long-term product strategy.
• Take ownership of major technical initiatives, providing direction to teams while ensuring alignment with customer needs and business goals.
• Drive architectural improvements, optimizing for scalability, performance, and maintainability, while addressing both current and future system requirements.
• Mentor and guide other engineers, providing technical leadership and fostering an environment of growth, learning, and excellence across the team.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional stakeholders, including product, design, and other engineering teams, to define and deliver high-impact solutions.
• Develop and maintain a deep understanding of the product, business needs, and user experience, ensuring that engineering decisions align with company goals.
• Independently drive the design and implementation of high-impact features and systems, ensuring high-quality deliverables with minimal supervision.
• Drive innovation and champion the adoption of best practices across the engineering team, while challenging the status quo to continuously improve processes.
• Be an advocate for software craftsmanship, ensuring code is clean, efficient, and aligned with the organization's architectural vision.
• Participate in setting the technical vision and long-term roadmap for your area of the product and ensure that the team is aligned with these goals.
• Participate in on-call coverage. 

Who You Are

• 8+ years of experience in backend engineering, with a strong foundation in system design and architecture.
• 3+ Experience with payments or the FinTech space.
• Proven experience leading technical projects and teams, with the ability to make decisions that drive the overall success of the product.
• Deep expertise in one or more backend technologies (e.g., Java, Python), relational databases (MySQL, Postgres, MS SQL Server, Oracle, etc.)., and significant experience with web services, microservices, and distributed systems.
• Experience working with large-scale, high-performance, and reliable systems.
• Ability to break down complex business problems into elegant, scalable technical solutions, working with multiple interacting components.
• A strong track record of designing, building, and scaling maintainable, robust systems, ensuring high availability and minimal technical debt.
• Experience in creating and maintaining technical roadmaps, and providing leadership to ensure successful delivery of projects.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• A strong focus on quality and a commitment to meeting deadlines, while maintaining a high level of accountability.
• Experience in mentoring and guiding less-experienced engineers, fostering technical growth and fostering high-performing teams.

Nice to haves

• Production experience with AWS, Kubernetes, or other cloud platforms.
• Experience with building scalable software platforms.
• Experience leading teams through significant technical challenges and driving organizational change.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration tools like Docker/Kubernetes.
• Experience with Python or other modern programming languages.
• Experience in developing cloud infrastructure on AWS using Terraform.

Our (typical) process:

1. Application submission
2. Recruiter video call
3. Coding interview and Hiring Manager Interview
4. Virtual “Onsite” consisting of four 45-60 minute rounds
5. Offer!

Compensation and Benefits

Marqeta is a Flex First company which allows you to choose your best working environment, whether that be from home or at a company office. To support Flex First, we calibrate pay to a competitive value according to working location. Compensation is aligned according to three tiers within the United States:

• National: A baseline tier that applies to most of the geographic territory of the United States.
• Premium: Slightly elevated from the National tier, and oriented toward a narrower set of higher cost-of-living areas, such as Los Angeles CA and Seattle WA
• Premium Plus: A tier for the most expensive working areas, like the San Francisco Bay area and New York City.

Visit this page or consult with a Recruiter to determine which tier would be applicable to you.

When determining salaries, we consider several factors including, but not limited to, skills, prior experience, and work location. The new-hire base salary range for this position is:

• National: $174,700 - $218,400

We also believe in recognizing the contributions of our people. That's why we award annual bonuses to eligible employees, rewarding both individual performance and the success of the entire company.

Along with monetary compensation, Marqeta offers

• Multiple health insurance options
• Flexible time off – take what you need
• Retirement savings program with company contribution and after tax contributions
• Equity in a publicly-traded company and an Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Family-forming benefits, fertility support, and up to 20 weeks of Parental Leave
• Free therapy sessions, financial and professional coaching, and legal advice
• Monthly stipend to support our remote work model
• Annual “development dollars” to support our people growth and development
• Through Flex First, the freedom to live and work wherever you and your family thrive