Distinguished Software Engineer, Architecture

Distinguished Software Engineer, Architecture (Infrastructure) Affirm 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 the Infrastructure domain, spanning the foundational platforms that enable all of engineering. You will also shape the 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. Responsibilities Drive the long‑term technical vision for Infrastructure, ensuring scalability, reliability, and developer empowerment. Lead architectural strategy and roadmap definition in collaboration with domain tech leads and the 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 align with business goals. Guide cross‑functional teams to deliver foundational services that enable 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. Qualifications Proven 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 Equity Pay Grade – VEquity Grade – 13Base pay range: $270,000 – $310,000 per year (can be accompanied by equity rewards and monthly stipends for health, wellness, and tech spending). Benefits Health care coverage – company covers all premiums for you and your dependents. Flexible Spending Wallets – generous stipends for technology, food, lifestyle needs, and family‑forming expenses. Time off – competitive vacation and holiday schedules. Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) – an option to buy shares at a discount. We believe It’s On Us to provide an inclusive interview experience for all, including people with disabilities. We are happy to provide reasonable accommodations to candidates in need of individualized support during the hiring process. By clicking “Submit Application,” you acknowledge that you have read Affirm's Global Candidate Privacy Notice and freely and unambiguously give informed consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of your personal information as described therein. #J-18808-Ljbffr