Staff Software Engineer - Java

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:

What you need to know about the role

Join our Risk Foundations team under the Risk organization. As a Backend Java Developer, you'll design and build scalable, high-performing systems, working on complex risk processing solutions. Your expertise in Java, distributed systems, and API development will drive innovations that enhance dispute resolution efficiency and accuracy.

Meet our team

We are a dynamic team focused on delivering solutions in the complex and evolving world of Risk Infrastructure Platforms. Collaborating within the broader Risk organization, we value ownership, curiosity, and teamwork. Together, we solve challenging problems, influence product decisions, and ensure resilience in our systems, all while fostering a supportive and growth-oriented environment.

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

Minimum Qualifications:

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

Preferred Qualification:

Your day-to-day

As a Staff Engineer – Backend, 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:

• 8+ years of backend development experience and a bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field.
• Proficiency in at least one backend language (Java)
• Expert in back-end development using Java EE technologies (e.g. Java language, application servers, servlet containers, JMS, JPA, Spring MVC, Hibernate)
• 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 Java EE, with extensive experience in Spring MVC or Hibernate.
• Proven ability to lead and influence 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.

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.

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 https://www.paypalbenefits.com .