Staff Software Engineer – Backend (Payments & Commerce)

Bolt is on a mission to democratize commerce. We relentlessly prioritize our retailers—putting their brands front and center while enabling frictionless shopping at any touchpoint in the customer journey. At the center of it all is our rapidly growing universal shopper network—Bolt merchants such as Revolve, Luisa via Roma, Benefit Cosmetics, Kendra Scott, Lucky Brand Jeans, and Johnny Was can access tens of millions of shoppers, offering them a best-in-class checkout.

And revolutionizing ecommerce is only half of the equation—we’re also transforming the way we work. At Bolt, we have created a work environment where people learn to drive impact, take risks and make big bets, and grow from feedback, all while feeling welcomed and accepted for who they are. Come join us on the adventure today!

About Us

We’re a mission-driven fintech company reimagining the future of commerce infrastructure. Our next-gen platform supports embedded finance, real-time payments, and intelligent merchant tooling at scale.

About the Role

As a Staff Backend Engineer, you’ll be at the forefront of building scalable, fault-tolerant infrastructure for mission-critical payment systems. You’ll own backend architecture decisions and work across teams to power core functionality—from money movement to compliance to fraud detection.

Please note, this is a contract-to-hire opportunity with the option to convert to full-time after 3–6 months.

What You’ll Do

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Design and implement backend services for payment acquisition, routing, risk evaluation, settlement, ledgering, and reconciliation.

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Build distributed systems that meet 5 9s reliability, low-latency, and high-throughput requirements.

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Collaborate with partners (banks, PSPs, card networks) to integrate payment rails and protocols.

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Lead backend-focused architectural reviews and make strategic technical decisions for scalability and maintainability.

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Partner with frontend, data, and infra teams to ensure end-to-end system integrity.

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Set engineering standards and mentor backend engineers across the organization.

Who You Are

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8+ years of backend engineering experience with modern languages (Go, Java, Kotlin, Rust, etc.).

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2+ years in a Staff+ role at a high-scale tech or fintech company.

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Deep knowledge of payments infrastructure (e.g., tokenization, card networks, ISO 8583, PCI).

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Strong background in event-driven systems, data consistency models, and system reliability.

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Ability to reason through complex distributed systems and make pragmatic trade-offs.

Nice to Have

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Experience with ISO, PayFac systems, or network tokenization.

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Familiarity with KYC/AML, risk scoring, or financial compliance tooling.

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Contributions to backend or payments open source projects.

Benefits Upon Successful Conversion to Full Time Employee:

• Comprehensive health coverage: Medical, dental and vision

• Remote-first workplace

• Time away: Minimum of 20 days guaranteed PTO, paid holidays + floating holidays, your birthday off!

• Paid parental leave

• Competitive Pay

• Retirement plans

• Virtual and in-person team & company events

In addition to our core values, Bolt is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity and expression, genetic information, pregnancy and related conditions, veteran status or any other reason prohibited by law. On our mission to democratize commerce, the Bolt platform levels the playing field for everyone. As a company, we are committed to designing products, building a culture, and supporting a team that reflects the diverse population we serve (that is, everyone).