Staff Software Engineer, Scale

Backend Engineer · Staff · Full Time

UK - LondonGBP 120k – 180k4mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

Airwallex is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join their Scale team, building embedded finance infrastructure for major enterprise clients like Rippling and SHEIN. This role requires 8+ years of Java/Spring Boot experience and focuses on multi-tenant platform architecture, cross-domain product features, and solutions engineering that directly impacts million-dollar deals.

Responsibilities

  • Embedded Finance Platform Development: Build and maintain multi-tenant infrastructure powering major enterprise clients like Rippling, Navan, Qantas, and SHEIN with enterprise-grade SLAs
  • Cross-Domain Product Features: Own complex features spanning business, regulatory, and technical domains including tax systems, compliance flows, and monetization tools
  • Solutions Architecture: Design technical integrations for enterprise prospects by translating business requirements into scalable technical solutions
  • System Architecture Design: Architect systems handling cross-data-center scenarios with high availability, low latency, and high throughput requirements
  • Multi-Team Leadership: Lead initiatives across Product, Design, Compliance, and Sales teams with measurable technical and business impact
  • Performance Optimization: Make strategic decisions balancing performance optimization versus development velocity based on business impact analysis
  • Enterprise Integration Support: Influence deal outcomes through architectural decisions enabling multi-million dollar contracts and competitive differentiation

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • Java/Spring Boot Expertise

    8+ years of professional software engineering experience with Java and Spring Boot framework

  • System Design Abstraction

    Proven ability to make appropriate abstraction decisions balancing flexibility and simplicity in system design

  • Scale Architecture Experience

    Design systems for scale, maintainability, and production excellence in high-traffic environments

  • Cross-functional Communication

    Demonstrate clean communication skills across technical and non-technical stakeholders

Education

  • Computer Science or Related Field

    Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience

  • Continuous Learning

    Demonstrated commitment to staying current with modern software engineering practices and technologies

Experience

  • Multi-team Leadership

    8+ years leading multi-team initiatives with measurable technical or business impact

  • Cross-functional Collaboration

    Experience thriving in environments spanning Product, Design, Compliance, and Sales teams

  • Production System Management

    Hands-on experience managing production systems with enterprise-grade availability requirements

Skills

Required

  • Java

    8+ years of professional experience with Java programming language

  • Spring Boot

    Expert-level proficiency in Spring Boot framework for enterprise application development

  • System Architecture

    Proven ability to design scalable, maintainable systems for production environments

  • Cross-functional Communication

    Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

  • Performance vs Velocity Trade-offs

    Strategic decision-making on optimization priorities based on business impact

  • Multi-team Leadership

    Experience leading initiatives across multiple engineering and business teams

Preferred

  • Fintech Experience

    Nice to have

    Background in financial technology, payments, or regulated industry environments

  • High-scale Performance Tuning

    Nice to have

    Experience with systems handling 100k+ QPS, large user bases, and strict latency SLAs

  • Multi-tenant SaaS Architecture

    Nice to have

    Platform architecture experience serving multiple enterprise clients

  • PostgreSQL

    Nice to have

    Advanced database design and optimization skills with PostgreSQL

  • Redis

    Nice to have

    Experience with Redis for caching and session management in distributed systems

  • Apache Kafka

    Nice to have

    Streaming platform experience for real-time data processing

  • Cloud Platforms

    Nice to have

    Proficiency with AWS, GCP, or Azure for scalable infrastructure deployment

  • OAuth2.0

    Nice to have

    Authentication and authorization framework implementation experience

  • API Design

    Nice to have

    RESTful API design and developer documentation creation

  • Cross-region Deployment

    Nice to have

    Experience with multi-region systems and data residency compliance

  • Solutions Engineering

    Nice to have

    Customer-facing technical experience translating business needs to technical solutions

Tech stack

Languages

JavaSQL

Frameworks

Spring BootOAuth2.0

Databases

PostgreSQLRedis

Tools

Apache KafkaAWS/GCP/AzureDockerKubernetes

Other

Multi-tenant ArchitectureAPI DesignCross-region Deployment

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·GBP 120,000 – 180,000

Equity·Stock options

Benefits

  • Equity Participation

    Share in company success through equity compensation as part of a US$8 billion valued fintech unicorn

  • Global Career Growth

    Opportunities to work across 26 international offices and develop expertise beyond engineering

  • Technical Leadership Development

    Career progression paths toward technical leadership, product roles, or entrepreneurship

  • World-Class Team

    Collaborate with exceptional engineers, product thinkers, and designers across global offices

  • Meaningful Impact

    Direct influence on financial services used by millions through infrastructure serving major enterprise clients

  • Regulatory Domain Expertise

    Develop specialized knowledge in financial regulation, compliance, and cross-border payments

  • Enterprise Sales Exposure

    Gain experience influencing multi-million dollar deals through technical architecture decisions

Process

Interview steps.

  1. 01

    Initial Screen

    Phone or video call with hiring manager to discuss background, experience, and role alignment

  2. 02

    Technical Deep Dive

    System design interview focusing on multi-tenant architecture, scalability, and Java/Spring Boot expertise

  3. 03

    Cross-functional Scenario

    Case study demonstrating ability to work with Product, Compliance, and Sales teams on complex technical decisions

  4. 04

    Architecture Review

    Present and defend technical architecture decisions for enterprise-scale financial systems

  5. 05

    Team Fit Interview

    Meet with Scale team members to assess collaboration style and cultural alignment

  6. 06

    Leadership Assessment

    Discussion of multi-team leadership experience and approach to driving measurable impact

  7. 07

    Final Round

    Senior leadership meeting to discuss career goals, company vision alignment, and offer details

Full posting

Original listing.

About Airwallex

Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 200,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale.

Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,000 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$8 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us.

Attributes We Value

We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor.

You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next.

What the Scale Team Does

  • Embedded Finance Platform: Build and maintain the multi-tenant infrastructure powering companies like Rippling, Navan, Qantas, and SHEIN. You'll architect systems that aggregate requests from all platform customers, meeting enterprise-grade SLAs for availability, latency, and throughput while handling cross-data-center scenarios.

  • Cross-Domain Product Features: Own features that require synthesizing knowledge across business, regulatory, and technical domains—areas where no single existing team has full coverage, like tax systems, compliance-driven flows, or monetization tools.

  • Solutions Architecture: Design integrations for enterprise prospects by translating their business requirements into technical solutions. Your architectural decisions directly influence deal outcomes—from enabling multi-million dollar contracts to differentiating in competitive sales.

Who You Are

You might be a great fit if you

  • Have 8+ years of software engineering experience (8+ for Staff) in Java/Spring Boot

  • Excel at making the right level of abstraction—balancing flexibility and simplicity in system/component design

  • Demonstrate clean communication across technical and non-technical stakeholders

  • Make pragmatic decisions on when to optimize for performance vs. velocity based on business impact

  • Thrive in cross-functional environments spanning Product, Design, Compliance, and Sales

  • Design for scale, maintainability, and production excellence

  • Have led multi-team initiatives with measurable technical or business impact

Bonus if you have

  • Fintech, payments, or regulated industry experience

  • High-scale performance tuning (100k+ QPS, large user bases, strict latency SLAs)

  • Multi-tenant SaaS or platform architecture background

  • Proficiency with PostgreSQL, Redis, Kafka, or cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure)

  • Experience with OAuth2.0, API design, or developer documentation

  • Cross-region deployment or data residency compliance experience

  • Solutions engineering or customer-facing technical experience

Why Join Us

  • Build Something That Matters: Your work directly impacts how millions of people use financial services. Companies like Rippling and SHEIN rely on infrastructure you'll build. You're not just writing code—you're shaping how businesses embed finance.

  • Grow Beyond Engineering: You'll develop expertise that extends beyond technical skills: understanding customer business models, navigating regulatory landscapes, influencing enterprise sales. This is career growth that prepares you for technical leadership, product roles, or even founding your own company.

  • Join a World-Class Team: Work with exceptional engineers, product thinkers, and designers across the globe. At Airwallex, you'll be challenged, supported, and surrounded by people who are building something meaningful together.

Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters

To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page.

Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary.

Equal opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

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