Greenhouse ·
full-timeSenior Software Engineer, Backend (consumer Authentication Platform)
Affirm · Remote Canada
Affirm is a financial technology company that provides consumer-focused payment solutions, allowing users to pay for purchases over time. As a Senior Software Engineer on the Consumer Authentication Platform team, you will be responsible for the architecture, development, and maintenance of the systems that handle user sign-in, account recovery, session management, and identity federation. This role involves building secure and scalable backend infrastructure that serves as the entry point for millions of users across various merchant platforms. You will lead technical initiatives from initial design through to production, ensuring that authentication processes are both secure and frictionless. The position requires close collaboration with cross-functional teams including Security, Fraud, Compliance, and Data Science to balance regulatory requirements with user experience. You will also be expected to mentor junior engineers, set high standards for code quality, and lead the resolution of complex production issues. This role is well-suited for an experienced backend engineer with a strong background in distributed systems and a focus on security, reliability, and system architecture.
Education
- Level: Bachelor's degree
- Courses: B.E
Key Skills
Experience required
4-4 years experienceAt Affirm, we exist for the moments that matter—giving people a clear, predictable way to pay over time, with no hidden fees, no surprises, and no tradeoffs on what matters most. The Consumer Authentication Platform team is looking for a passionate Senior Software Engineer to help build the secure, reliable, and seamless authentication experiences that connect millions of consumers with Affirm’s financial products. Authentication is the front door to Affirm. Our systems power critical consumer journeys (including sign-up, sign-in, account recovery, checkout authentication, step-up challenges, session management, and connected merchant experiences) across thousands of merchants and multiple countries. We build foundational capabilities such as authentication factors, identity federation, session and authorization services, and risk-based authentication that protect consumers while minimizing unnecessary friction. We work closely with Product, Security, Fraud, Identity, Analytics, Compliance, Data Science, and a wide range of engineering teams to both leverage existing systems and build new systems. This role requires a high level of technical capability, strong cross-functional communication, and a creative mindset. Our work needs to be secure, reliable, correct, scalable, and extensible. Our job is to build an authentication platform that balances security, regulatory requirements, fraud prevention, customer experience, and business growth. As a senior engineer, you will lead significant technical initiatives, influence the architecture and evolution of the platform, and help the team deliver secure authentication capabilities that can be reused across products, merchants, and geographies. What You’ll Do You will own the technical design and delivery of significant authentication platform capabilities, leading projects from early requirements and architecture through implementation, rollout, and ongoing operation. You will build secure, highly available systems that support consumer sign-in, authentication factors, account recovery, step-up authentication, session management, authorization, and identity federation. You will support your peers and stakeholders in the product development lifecycle by collaborating with product management, Security, Fraud, Compliance, design, and analytics; participating in ideation; articulating technical constraints; and partnering on decisions that properly consider risks and trade-offs. You will translate security, regulatory, fraud, and customer-experience requirements into pragmatic technical designs that appropriately balance risk, friction, complexity, and delivery speed. You will proactively identify project, process, technology, security, reliability, or business issues, advocate for them, and lead in solving them. You will support the operations and availability of your team’s artifacts by creating and monitoring metrics, escalating when needed, and supporting “keep the lights on,” and on-call efforts. You will foster a culture of quality, security, and ownership on your team by setting or improving code review and design standards and advocating for them beyond your team through your writing and tech talks. You will help develop talent on your team by providing feedback and guidance, mentoring other engineers through design reviews and hands-on collaboration, and leading by example. You will clearly communicate technical decisions, constraints, risks, and trade-offs to engineering and non-engineering audiences through design documents, reviews, and technical discussions. You will lead the investigation and resolution of complex production issues and identify systemic improvements that prevent recurrence. What We Look For You have 4+ years of experience designing, developing, and launching backend systems at scale using languages like Python, Kotlin, Java, or another comparable modern programming language. You have a track record of developing highly available distributed systems using technologies like AWS, MySQL, and Kubernetes, as well as relational databases, event-driven architectures, and RPC or API frameworks. You have experience defining a technical plan for the delivery of a significant feature or system component with an elegant, secure, simple, and extensible design. You write high-quality code that is easily understood and used by others. You are proficient at making significant changes in a large codebase and have developed a suite of tools and practices that enable you and your team to do so safely, including testing strategies, migration plans, and controlled rollouts. Your experience demonstrates that you take ownership of your growth, proactively seeking feedback from your team, manager, and stakeholders, while helping other engineers grow through mentorship and technical leadership. You have strong verbal and written communication skills that support effective collaboration with our global engineering team and cross-functional partners. This positi
Skills for this role
Required skills
Also mentioned in the listing
| Role | Senior Software Engineer, Backend (consumer Authentication Platform) |
|---|---|
| Company | Affirm |
| Location | Remote Canada |
| Compensation | Not disclosed |
| Posted | 2026-09-23 |
| Deadline | Rolling |
Typical process for this type of role
A general guide — the exact steps for this specific listing may vary; check the original posting for details.
- 1ApplicationSubmit your resume through the apply link.
- 2ScreeningRecruiter reviews your background against the role.
- 3AssessmentA technical test, assignment, or coding round, depending on the role.
- 4Interview(s)One or more rounds with the hiring team.
- 5OfferOffer letter with compensation and start date.
Before you apply
0/4Senior Software Engineer, Backend (consumer Authentication Platform) at Affirm: frequently asked questions
- Who can apply for the Senior Software Engineer, Backend (consumer Authentication Platform) role at Affirm?
- The listing asks for Bachelor's degree (B.E); 4-4 years of experience.
- What skills does the Senior Software Engineer, Backend (consumer Authentication Platform) role require?
- The listing highlights Python, Java, MySQL, AWS, Kubernetes. Show each of these in a project or past role on your resume.
- What is the salary for this role?
- Affirm has not stated compensation in the listing. Check the original posting or ask during the application process.
- Is the Senior Software Engineer, Backend (consumer Authentication Platform) position remote, hybrid or onsite?
- The listing marks this role as remote, with Remote Canada as the location.
- What is the application deadline?
- Affirm has not listed a fixed deadline, so apply early in case the opening is filled.
- How do I apply for the Senior Software Engineer, Backend (consumer Authentication Platform) role?
- Use the Apply button on this page. It opens the original listing on job-boards.greenhouse.io, where you submit your application with the company.
More at Affirm
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- Software Engineer II, Backend (streaming) · Remote US
- Visual Designer II · Remote Canada
Internships at Affirm
- Software Engineer (machine Learning) Intern (summer 2027) · San Francisco, California, United States
- Software Engineer Intern (summer 2027) · San Francisco, California, United States
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