Remote opportunity at
AffirmSenior Software Engineer, Backend (Online Storage)
Affirm is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for its Online Storage team to architect, build, and scale distributed and relational databases that serve all company services.…
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About This Role
Affirm is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for its Online Storage team to architect, build, and scale distributed and relational databases that serve all company services. Affirm operates on a remote-first basis, creating honest financial products that offer transparent payment solutions without hidden fees. In this full-time remote position, you will develop and manage the control plane for large-scale database systems like MySQL and TiDB, automate critical infrastructure operations, and…
Job Description
Affirm is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for its Online Storage team to architect, build, and scale distributed and relational databases that serve all company services. Affirm operates on a remote-first basis, creating honest financial products that offer transparent payment solutions without hidden fees.
In this full-time remote position, you will develop and manage the control plane for large-scale database systems like MySQL and TiDB, automate critical infrastructure operations, and resolve complex architectural challenges. This role suits an experienced backend engineer with a strong background in distributed database architecture, Kubernetes networking, and production database reliability.
You will collaborate closely with product management, analytics, and design peers to define quarterly goals, design zero-downtime database migrations, and optimize database performance. The Online Storage team manages essential online checkout databases, transactional financial data, and storage platforms, giving you direct influence over core infrastructure roadmaps.
Responsibilities
- Build and operate the control plane for large-scale distributed SQL databases such as MySQL and TiDB.
- Automate provisioning, failovers, backups, and upgrades from end to end.
- Design and execute zero-downtime, reliability-focused schema and data migrations across multi-tenant clusters.
- Own and tune the Kubernetes networking stack that connects storage to services, utilizing connection proxies like ProxySQL.
- Deliver quarterly team objectives while guiding engineers through ambiguous, open-ended technical challenges.
- Partner with product management, design, and analytics teams to evaluate technical risks, trade-offs, and constraints.
- Monitor team infrastructure metrics, escalate issues when necessary, and participate in on-call and operational support.
- Establish code review and design benchmarks to promote a strong culture of quality and technical ownership.
Requirements
- Total of 5+ years of software engineering experience.
- Background in designing, developing, and launching backend systems at scale using technologies like Python, Kotlin, AWS, MySQL, Terraform, and Kubernetes.
- Practical, hands-on experience handling large-scale production database deployments.
- Expertise in distributed databases and database technologies such as MySQL, TiDB, Postgres, Spanner, Vitess, or CockroachDB.
- Strong command of distributed database architecture, data modeling, SQL tuning, and performance optimization techniques.
- Familiarity with database benchmarking, capacity planning, and load testing.
- Experience using connection poolers and proxies such as ProxySQL, RDS Proxy, Pg Bouncer, or PgDog.
- Experience building database control-plane or automation tooling for provisioning, upgrades, failovers, or schema migrations on Kubernetes.
- Proven ability to execute zero-downtime migrations and major version upgrades on production databases, backed by CLI tools or runbooks.
- Working knowledge of Kubernetes service discovery, networking, and TLS for debugging connection issues.
- Demonstrated ability to write clear, high-quality code and design extensible, significant system components.
Qualifications
- Equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor's degree in a related field.
Core Skills
Benefits
- 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental, and vision for employees and their dependents.
- Monthly stipends to support tech setups and health and wellness options.
- Flexible time off and generous holiday schedules.
- Employee stock purchase plan to buy Affirm stock at a discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this position remote?
Yes, Affirm is a remote-first company, and this role can be performed from almost anywhere within the country of employment.
What is the salary range for this role?
The annual base pay ranges from $195,000 to $255,000 for California, Washington, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and from $173,000 to $233,000 for all other U.S. states.
What is the employment type?
This is a full-time position.
What primary technologies are used in this role?
The role utilizes technologies including Python, Kotlin, AWS, MySQL, TiDB, Terraform, Kubernetes, and ProxySQL.
Sample Interview Questions
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