Staff Software Engineer, Back-end (Identity Engineering) at Affirm

✨ The Stack take on this Affirm job

• 🏢 Affirm has 38 jobs here, 25 with visa sponsorship see all
• 🛂 Visa: Highly Qualified Professional permit. Education: Higher education degree guide
• 💡 No salary shown. Ask Affirm if it is above the minimum.

Updated 2026-11-05, from our data and official sources.

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About the role

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. Identity at Affirm is mission-critical; it is the very first step of the customer journey and the foundation of global expansion. The International Expansion Unit (IEU) owns Identity for every market outside North America, placing our team at the center of Affirm’s global strategy. We are responsible for ensuring Affirm can enter and scale in new markets while operating compliantly across diverse regulatory environments. Our scope includes building and expanding Identity Data Management, KYC Verification, and Decisioning capabilities, while driving architectural changes that impact Identity services globally. We don’t just execute; we influence the core platform’s evolution to support new risk models and market dynamics. Operating at the intersection of technical depth and regulatory complexity, we directly impact approval rates, conversion, and fraud exposure. By joining this team, you will shape the foundational processes that unlock revenue and build customer trust on a global scale. WHAT YOU'LL DO: * You will be responsible for setting technical strategy for your team on a year-long time scale, and help your team tie it together with critical, business-impacting projects. * You will collaborate across teams in the product development lifecycle by collaborating with product management, design & analytics to ensure technical sustainability, risks and trade-offs are well understood and managed. * You will act as a force-multiplier for your team through your definition and advocacy of technical solutions and operational processes. * You take ownership of your team’s operations and availability by ensuring you have the right monitoring, triage rotations, playbooks, polcities, testing and alerting in place to support “keep the lights on” & on-call efforts. * You will foster a culture of quality and ownership on your team by setting code review and design standards for your team, and advocating for them beyond your team through your writing and tech talks. * You will help develop talent on your team by providing feedback and guidance, and leading by example. * On-Call Rotation - There would be an on-call rotation for this role as a requirement. WHAT WE LOOK FOR: * You have 8+ years of experience designing, developing and launching backend systems at scale using languages like Python or Kotlin. * You have an extensive track record of developing highly available distributed systems using technologies like AWS, MySQL, Spark and Kubernetes. * You have strong verbal and written communication skills that support effective collaboration with our global engineering team. * You have experience delivering major features, system components or deprecating existing functionality in a system through the definition of a technical and execution plan. You write high quality code that is easily understood and used by others. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Base Pay Grade - P Equity Grade - 6 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 monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents). In addition, the employees may be eligible for equity rewards offered by Affirm Holdings, Inc. (parent company). ESP base pay range per year: €101,000  -  €131,000     Additional benefits include: * Flexible Spending Wallets for tech, food and lifestyle * Away Days - wellness days to take off work and recharge * Learning & Development programs * Parental benefit * Employee Resource & Community Groups We are able to offer visa sponsorship for this role, but do require that someone is based in Spain for the role. Location - Remote Spain #LI-Remote 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. By clicking "Submit Application," you acknowledge that you have read Affirm's Global Candidate Privacy Notice [https://www.affirm.com/global-candidate-privacy-notice] and hereby freely and unambiguously give informed consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of your personal information as described therein.

Responsibilities

You will set the technical strategy for your team and collaborate across teams in the product development lifecycle. You will also take ownership of your team’s operations and foster a culture of quality and ownership.

Requirements

You need 8+ years of experience in backend systems and a strong track record in developing distributed systems. Strong communication skills and experience in delivering major features are also required.

Key skills

• Backend Systems — in 32 other listings on The Stack
• Python — in 1200 other listings on The Stack
• Kotlin — in 251 other listings on The Stack
• Distributed Systems — in 342 other listings on The Stack
• AWS — in 802 other listings on The Stack
• MySQL — in 93 other listings on The Stack
• Spark — in 54 other listings on The Stack
• Kubernetes — in 585 other listings on The Stack
• Technical Strategy
• Collaboration
• Code Review
• Design Standards
• Monitoring
• Operational Processes
• Talent Development
• Communication

On The Stack (as of 2026-11-05)

• Affirm has 37 other listings on The Stack, 25 of them marked as offering visa sponsorship.
• 76 visa-sponsored jobs in Spain on The Stack, posted in the last 60 days.
• 195 visa-sponsored software engineer jobs in Europe on The Stack, posted in the last 60 days.

Frequently asked questions about Affirm

Is this Staff Software Engineer, Back-end (Identity Engineering) role still open?

It was posted on 2026-03-19. Listings more than 30 days old may no longer be active, so check Affirm's site before applying.

Where is this role located?

The listing gives the location as Remote Spain. It is marked remote.

What skills does this role ask for?

The listing names: Backend Systems, Python, Kotlin, Distributed Systems, AWS, MySQL, Spark, Kubernetes, Technical Strategy, Collaboration, Code Review, Design Standards, Monitoring, Operational Processes, Talent Development, Communication.