Staff Software Engineer, Backend Python

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy.

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards. Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade.

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day. We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary:

This job acts as a project leader, coordinating the activities of other engineers, determining technical tasks, and improving existing structures and processes. It involves making technical decisions, collaborating with management to set standards, and representing the company to external partners.

Job Description:

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

Expected Qualifications:

* 5+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.

Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications:

Meet Your Team

The Consumer Engineering team powers the experiences that millions of PayPal customers use every day to send, spend, and manage their money safely and effortlessly. We design and build reliable, high-performance systems that drive trust and simplicity across PayPal’s global ecosystem.

Our team partners closely with product, design, and data science to deliver innovative, customer-first solutions that advance PayPal’s mission to make financial services more accessible, inclusive, and empowering for people everywhere.
Your way to impact
At PayPal, Backend Software Engineers are the architects of our global payment platform. You'll design, develop, and optimize core systems that power millions of transactions daily, directly impacting our customers' experiences and our company's success.

Your day-to-day:
As a Software Engineer, Backend Python, you'll define the technical roadmap and drive innovation. You'll collaborate with product and engineering leadership to deliver impactful solutions.

* Strong analytical skills to analyze requirements and transform into scalable software designs.
* Strong advocate of code craftsmanship, good coding standards and use of tools that will improve the quality of the delivered code
* Define and execute the backend technology strategy.
* Drive innovation and experimentation.
* Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver business outcomes

What do you need to bring:

* Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field.
* 8+ years of backend development experience.
* Proficiency in at least one backend language (Python)

* Leadership in designing and architecting scalable backend systems with a focus on cloud-native solutions, microservices, and serverless architectures.
* Expertise in architecting and developing large-scale backend systems using Python, with extensive experience in Django, or Flask.
* Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams, drive technical roadmaps, and ensure alignment with business objectives.
* Expertise in designing and implementing fault-tolerant systems with a focus on high availability and disaster recovery.
* Experience with advanced security practices, including secure coding, encryption, and access control.
* Proven ability to influence and mentor engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
* Deep expertise in backend technologies and architecture.
* Proven ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams

Preferred Qualifications:

* Experience with using Agile/Scrum methodology for software development
* Experience with large-scale, high-performance systems.
* Knowledge of the payment processing industry and relevant regulations.
* Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure).
* Contributions to open-source projects.

The base pay for this role will depend on where you work and the relevant experience and expertise you bring. The expected range of pay for this role by location is:

Primary Location | Pay Range:

San Jose, California | ($176,500-$262,350 Salary)

Additional compensation for this role may include an annual performance bonus, equity, or other incentive compensation, as applicable.

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.

We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more. To learn more about our benefits please visit

Who We Are:

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at [email protected].

Belonging at PayPal:

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.