PayPal Staff Software Architect 

United States, California, San Jose 

573151434

Your ImpactAs Staff Full-Stack Engineer, you will provide technical leadership across the entire development stack while spearheading AI integration into our products. You'll lead your team through all phases of our software development lifecycle—from architectural decisions to implementation of machine learning models that enhance our payment systems. Your expertise will drive innovations that create exceptional value for merchants and buyers, while improving the scale, reliability, and intelligence of our platforms.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Acts as a project or system leader, coordinating the activities of other engineers on the project or within the system
• Determines the technical tasks that other engineers will follow
• Actions result in the achievement of customer, operational, program or service objectives
• Proactively improves existing structures & processes
• Exercises judgement in reconciling diverse and competing priorities (time, quality, complexity risk) to identify optimal solutions to problems
• Notices patterns and condenses repetition into densely meaningful generalized solutions
• Collaborates with management to set/improve standards for engineering rigor
• Trusted to represent PayPal, Inc to the outside world via interactions with partners, customers, or industry organizations

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience and a Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

What You Need to Bring

• 8+ years of professional experience in software development with demonstrable expertise across front-end and back-end
• Experience acting as a tech lead for full-stack components, services, or domains, with a focus on both front-end and back-end architecture
• Strong proficiency in modern front-end frameworks (React, Angular, or Vue.js) and back-end technologies (Node.js, Java, or Python)
• Strong backend programming skills and previous experience as a Java backend engineer and Python
• Experience with REST APIs, GraphQL APIs, Unit Testing, and build tools
• Good understanding and hands-on experience with databases such as MySQL, Oracle, etc.
• Rich object-oriented design and analysis skills
• Track record of building high-scale, high-throughput, low-latency systems with AI components
• Demonstrated ability to balance theoretical AI concepts with practical engineering solutions
• Experience leading technical teams through complex projects that blend traditional software development
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work independently or collaboratively
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous learning in rapidly evolving AI/ML fields
• Proven track record of mentoring team members and collaborating effectively across disciplines

Your Day-to-Day

Drive technical strategy and execution across both front-end and back-end systems
Architect, build, and optimize payment experiences, detect fraud patterns, personalize user interactions, and automate decision-making processes
Lead the design and development of sophisticated user interfaces that leverage AI to simplify complex payment workflows
Personally contribute code across the full technology stack, maintaining a hands-on approach while providing technical leadership
Optimize system performance through monitoring, logging, and metrics, with special attention to AI model performance and efficiency
Champion best practices in software engineering and machine learning development, including clean code, documentation, testing, and model validation
Identify critical non-functional requirements (Availability, Security, Performance, Scalability, and Observability) with specific considerations for AI components
Develop and implement automated testing strategies that encompass both traditional software and machine learning components
Lead continuous improvements to our build, deploy, and model management processes
Mentor junior engineers in both traditional engineering, fostering their professional growthAdvocate for and implement strategies to manage technical debt across all system components
Participate in program planning, influencing product and technology roadmaps with AI-driven insights

Travel Percent:

The total compensation for this practice may include an annual performance bonus (or other incentive compensation, as applicable), equity, and medical, dental, vision, and other benefits. For more information, visit .

The US national annual pay range for this role is $152,500 to $262,350

Our Benefits:

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please