Staff Backend Engineer, Issuing Platform

Airwallex2 months ago

Location

SG - Singapore

Type

Full Time

Salary

SGD 180,000 – 260,000

Level

Staff

Role

Backend Engineer

Posted

Jan 12, 2026

Full TimeStaff

The role

Summary

A Staff Backend Engineer role at Airwallex's issuing platform team, responsible for designing and building highly scalable card transaction processing systems. The role requires 8+ years of experience with distributed systems, event-driven architectures, and JVM-based technologies, focusing on technical leadership and architectural excellence in Singapore's growing fintech sector.

What you'll do

System Design and Architecture: Design and build highly reliable, scalable systems that power real-time card transactions with strong guarantees around correctness, performance, and resiliency

End-to-End Technical Ownership: Take complete ownership of complex problem spaces from system design through production rollout and long-term evolution

Distributed Systems Leadership: Lead the design of distributed, event-driven systems for global-scale financial transaction processing

Engineering Excellence: Set high standards for code quality, testing, observability, and operational readiness across teams

Cross-Team Technical Leadership: Influence technical direction across multiple teams through design reviews, RFCs, and hands-on collaboration

Mentorship and Best Practices: Mentor senior engineers and help shape engineering best practices without formal people management responsibilities

Platform Evolution: Contribute to core infrastructure and shared platform capabilities to improve developer productivity and system reliability

Technology Evaluation: Evaluate new technologies pragmatically and guide their adoption where they deliver clear business value

Technical Bottleneck Resolution: Identify and remove technical bottlenecks that slow down teams or introduce systemic risk

Architectural Improvements: Drive architectural improvements that reduce complexity, improve operability, and enable future product growth

What we look for

Technical

Backend Development ProficiencyStrong expertise in Java, Kotlin, Go, or Python for enterprise-scale backend systems

Distributed Systems ExperienceDeep experience designing and delivering large-scale, distributed systems in production environments

Event-Driven ArchitectureHands-on experience with event-driven and streaming architectures, particularly Apache Kafka

RESTful API DesignProven experience designing and operating RESTful APIs at scale

Cloud Platform ExperienceExperience with Google Cloud Platform (preferred) or AWS, including Docker and Kubernetes

Observability ToolsFamiliarity with monitoring and observability tools such as Splunk, Grafana, and Prometheus

Domain-Driven DesignExperience with domain-driven design principles and event-driven architectures

Education

Bachelor's DegreeBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field

Experience

Professional Experience8+ years of professional software engineering experience with sustained impact as senior or staff-level individual contributor

Technical LeadershipDemonstrated ability to mentor engineers and influence technical direction through design and execution

Computer Science FundamentalsStrong computer science fundamentals and solid understanding of object-oriented design principles

Skills

Required skills

Java/Kotlin ExpertiseAdvanced proficiency in JVM-based languages for enterprise backend development

Distributed SystemsDeep understanding of distributed system design patterns and scalability principles

Event-Driven ArchitectureExperience with Apache Kafka and streaming data processing architectures

Cloud PlatformsHands-on experience with GCP or AWS, including containerization technologies

System DesignAbility to architect large-scale, high-performance systems with reliability guarantees

Technical LeadershipProven track record of influencing technical decisions and mentoring senior engineers

RESTful APIsExperience designing and implementing scalable API architectures

ObservabilityKnowledge of monitoring, logging, and metrics collection for production systems

Nice to have

Fintech ExperienceBackground in financial technology, payments, or regulated financial domains

Spring FrameworkDeep expertise with Spring Boot and enterprise Java ecosystem

Payment ProcessingUnderstanding of card issuing, transaction processing, and financial settlement systems

Compliance KnowledgeFamiliarity with financial regulatory requirements and compliance frameworks

High-Frequency SystemsExperience with low-latency, high-throughput transaction processing systems

Compensation & benefits

Salary

SGD 180,000 – 260,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Global Impact

Work on systems serving over 200,000 businesses worldwide including major enterprises

Technical Growth

Opportunity to work on cutting-edge financial technology and payment processing systems

International Exposure

Collaborate with teams across 26 global offices and work on international payment solutions

Innovation Culture

Join a high-growth fintech valued at US$8 billion with world-leading investor backing

Learning Opportunities

Access to accelerated learning and real ownership of complex technical challenges

Career Advancement

Clear path for technical leadership growth in a rapidly scaling organization

Equal Opportunity

Inclusive workplace that values diversity and provides equal opportunities for all employees

AI Integration

Opportunity to use AI tools to work smarter and solve problems faster

Interview process

1
Initial Screening — Phone or video call with recruiter to discuss background, motivation, and basic technical experience
2
Technical Phone Screen — 45-60 minute technical interview focusing on system design concepts and backend development experience
3
System Design Interview — Deep dive into distributed systems architecture, focusing on payment processing and high-scale financial systems
4
Technical Deep Dive — Detailed technical discussion about past projects, architectural decisions, and problem-solving approach
5
Behavioral Interview — Leadership and collaboration assessment focusing on technical mentorship and cross-team influence
6
Final Round Panel — On-site or virtual panel with senior engineering leadership and potential team members
7
Cultural Fit Assessment — Discussion with team leads about alignment with Airwallex's operating principles and engineering culture