Distinguished Software Engineer, Architecture

OverviewAffirm 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.In this role, you will be a senior member of Affirm’s Architecture Group, reporting directly to the Head of Architecture. You will own the architecture, technical roadmap, and delivery outcomes for Affirm’s Infrastructure domain, spanning the foundational platforms that enable all of engineering. You will also shape Affirm’s broader technical direction through leadership within the Architecture Group, driving innovation and architectural coherence across the company.You will serve as the accountable technical leader for four critical infrastructure areas:Developer Productivity: CI/CD, application testing, environments & tooling, and code standards.Reliability Engineering: SRE practices, observability platforms, and reliability engineering frameworks.Data & Storage Services: online storage, data lakes, streaming infrastructure, and batch systems.Online Services: traffic management, capacity planning, and load testing.What You’ll DoDrive the long-term technical vision for Affirm’s Infrastructure, ensuring scalability, reliability, and developer empowerment.Lead architectural strategy and roadmap definition in collaboration with domain tech leads and the broader Architecture Group.Champion patterns and platforms that maximize developer productivity and system resilience.Define and uphold standards for infrastructure design, operational excellence, and quality.Partner with Product, Platform, and Engineering leadership to ensure infrastructure investments are aligned with business goals.Guide cross-functional teams to deliver foundational services that enable Affirm’s product engineering at scale.Mentor and grow a bench of IC technical leaders across multiple infrastructure domains.Foster a culture of rigor, curiosity, and technical excellence across engineering.What We Look ForProven success leading infrastructure architecture for large-scale, distributed systems.Deep expertise in at least two of the following domains: developer productivity, reliability engineering, data & storage, online services.Strong hands-on knowledge of cloud-native infrastructure (AWS and/or GCP), with AWS expertise preferred.Ability to define and execute long-term infrastructure roadmaps that accelerate developer velocity and system resilience.Track record of mentoring and developing senior ICs and technical leaders.Extensive experience building and operating highly available, performant, and secure systems.Effective communicator, capable of engaging both engineers and executives to drive alignment and clarity.15+ years of software engineering experience, with prior technical leadership roles.Experience in fintech or consumer-facing systems is a plus.JVM experience at scale is a plus.Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent practical experience.Compensation and BenefitsPay Grade - VEquity Grade - 13Base pay range per year: $270,000 - $310,000Affirm is remote-first. The majority of roles are remote and you can work almost anywhere within the country of employment. Some roles may require working from an Affirm office.Base pay is part of a total compensation package that may include equity rewards, stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents).Benefits include health care coverage, Flexible Spending Wallets, time off, and an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP).Affirm is proud to be an inclusive employer. We 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] Affirm will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in line with local ordinances.By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have read Affirm's Global Candidate Privacy Notice and consent to the collection, processing, and storage of your personal information as described therein.Seniority levelMid-Senior levelEmployment typeFull-timeJob functionEngineering and Information TechnologyReferrals increase your chances of interviewing at Affirm by 2xGet notified about new Distinguished Software Engineer jobs in London, Ontario, Canada. #J-18808-Ljbffr