Senior Software Engineer, Distribution Platform

About Upstart

Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart’s AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates across races, ages, and genders, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than 80% of borrowers are approved instantly, with zero documentation to upload.

Upstart’s Distribution Platform team is developing innovative solutions and strategies that drive efficient and scalable marketing outreach, empowering us to effectively engage with our users while having a direct impact on Upstart’s mission and growth. The team is responsible for some of our highest value distribution channels including digital ads, direct mail, and partner integrations. Our goal is to build an intelligent, unified system that learns, automates, and scales how Upstart engages with our customers on these channels.

As a Senior Software Engineer on the Distribution Platform team, you will play a key role in designing and building the systems that intelligently connect our marketing efforts to the right users at the right time. You’ll drive development of scalable, resilient platform capabilities that power Upstart’s owned marketing channels including digital ads, direct mail, and partner integrations. Collaborating closely with cross-functional partners in Analytics, Marketing, Machine Learning, and Product, you’ll help shape the technical strategy and execution that enables more personalized, data-driven outreach and directly advances Upstart’s growth and mission.

• Lead the design and development of scalable systems that deliver marketing content across key outbound channels.
• Partner with machine learning, analytics, and marketing stakeholders to optimize targeting and improve customer engagement.
• Own projects from ideation to launch guiding architecture, implementation, and operational readiness.
• Drive platform reliability and evolve internal tools that enable experimentation, automation, and performance insights.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to growing a culture of technical excellence and cross-functional collaboration.

• 7+ years of professional software development experience
• Strong proficiency in one or more programming languages such as Ruby, Java, Kotlin, Python, or Java Script
• Experience building scalable APIs and microservices in a cloud-based environment (e.g., AWS, GCP)
• Proven ability to lead projects involving multiple engineers or stakeholders over extended timelines
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work in a distributed team

• Experience building systems that integrate with 3rd parties or manage large scale data flows
• Experience with SQL, data warehouses, or other database technologies
• Professional experience with digital advertising platforms like Google Ads or Meta Ads
• Professional experience working with Ruby on Rails and/or Kotlin
• Experience or interest in working with React, Type Script, or front-end technologies
• Experience working with marketing technology or growth engineering

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

Time Zone Requirements - This team operates across all U.S. time zones.

Travel Requirements - This team has regular on-site collaboration sessions. These occur 3 days per quarter at an Upstart office. If you need to travel to make these meetups, Upstart will cover all travel related expenses.

• 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…