Tabs

Senior Software Engineer, Payments

Tabs1 weeks ago
Location

New York City, NY

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 175,000 – 240,000

Level

Senior

Role

Backend Engineer

Posted

Jul 14, 2026

Full TimeSenior

The role

Summary

Tabs seeks a Senior Software Engineer specializing in payments to architect and own custom payment workflows and integrations with multiple payment service providers. This role combines hands-on technical leadership with strategic system design at an AI-native fintech platform that automates the contract-to-cash lifecycle for modern finance teams. You'll shape payment infrastructure decisions while mentoring engineers and embedding AI throughout the platform, working 5 days onsite in NYC.

What you'll do

Payments Systems Architecture and Ownership: Own and drive significant payments projects spanning multiple payment service providers (PSPs), designing systems that handle complex payment workflows, reconciliation, and settlement processes. Take technical ownership of the payments domain while coordinating cross-functional integration requirements with other engineering teams across the revenue lifecycle.
Revenue Lifecycle Integration: Collaborate with other engineering teams to ensure seamless integration between payments and adjacent systems including billing, collections, revenue recognition, and reporting. Design and implement APIs and data flows that deliver a frictionless billing and payment experience for merchants and their customers throughout the entire contract-to-cash lifecycle.
AI-Powered Payment Solutions: Identify and implement AI applications throughout the payments domain, from automating payment processing and exception handling to optimizing reconciliation workflows and business processes. Balance aggressive AI adoption with deterministic financial accuracy, ensuring every transaction and settlement is tracked precisely.
Technical Leadership and Mentorship: Set the technical bar across the engineering organization, mentor engineers of varying experience levels, and shape company culture as the team scales from 30 to significantly larger. Conduct code reviews, design system discussions, and knowledge-sharing sessions that level up engineering capabilities across the platform.
Complex System Design for High-Growth Environments: Architect scalable, resilient payment systems designed for rapid growth, leveraging expertise in distributed systems and modern software engineering practices. Handle ambiguity in early-stage problem spaces, define technical requirements iteratively based on customer feedback and data insights, and execute complex projects from design through production.

What we look for

Technical

Payments Systems Expertise5+ years of professional software engineering experience with demonstrable specialization in building payments systems. Must have worked with at least two different Payment Processor integrations (such as Stripe, Plaid, Square, or similar), including experience handling payment flows, settlement logic, reconciliation, PCI compliance, and multi-PSP routing strategies.
Distributed Systems and Fundamentals MasteryDeep understanding of algorithms, data structures, and distributed systems principles. Ability to apply fundamental concepts to practical payment infrastructure challenges including idempotency, eventual consistency, transaction integrity, and fault tolerance in financial systems.
Modern Full-Stack DevelopmentHands-on proficiency with TypeScript, Next.js, Nest.js, and React. Comfortable working across frontend and backend, actively writing production code rather than delegating implementation. Experience shipping customer-facing features and scalable backend services in fast-moving environments.
AI and Generative AI IntegrationActive experience with AI systems and generative AI tools in production environments. Demonstrated ability to evaluate AI applications, test their limitations in financial contexts, and stay current with latest advancements. Comfortable embedding AI into payment workflows while maintaining correctness and auditability.
AWS and Cloud InfrastructureOperational expertise with AWS cloud infrastructure, containerization, deployment pipelines, and observability tooling. Familiarity with managed services approach and experience architecting systems on AWS. Experience with serverless options using platforms like Vercel.

Education

Computer Science FundamentalsStrong foundation in computer science concepts including algorithms, data structures, and system design. This can be demonstrated through formal education, substantial professional experience, or demonstrated expertise in building complex systems.

Experience

Large-Scale Complex System DesignLed the design and implementation of significant, complex systems in high-growth environments. Proven ability to own end-to-end technical projects in fast-moving startups or scaled organizations where requirements shift and systems must evolve rapidly.
Payment Processing and Financial SystemsShipped production payment systems with exposure to payment processing workflows, financial reconciliation, compliance requirements, and the operational nuances of moving money reliably. Comfortable with financial domain concepts including settlement windows, transaction states, and money movement architectures.
Technical Leadership in Growing TeamsExperience mentoring and developing other engineers, setting technical standards, conducting architectural reviews, and shaping engineering culture. Demonstrated ability to elevate team capabilities and influence technical direction in organizations scaling from early-stage to larger teams.

Skills

Required skills

TypeScriptAdvanced proficiency in TypeScript for building type-safe, maintainable backend and full-stack applications in production environments.
Nest.jsProduction experience building scalable backend services with Nest.js framework, including dependency injection, middleware patterns, and enterprise application architecture.
Payments IntegrationHands-on experience integrating with payment processors (Stripe, Plaid, Square, etc.), handling payment webhooks, and managing PSP-specific payment workflows and reconciliation.
System DesignExpertise in designing complex, distributed systems with attention to scalability, reliability, fault tolerance, and operational simplicity. Comfortable making trade-offs and owning architectural decisions.
Distributed Systems ConceptsDeep understanding of eventual consistency, idempotency, transaction semantics, CAP theorem, and how to apply these concepts to payment infrastructure where correctness is critical.
SQL and Database DesignStrong SQL capabilities and experience designing database schemas for financial systems with complex transaction requirements, audit trails, and reporting needs.
AWSOperational comfort with AWS services including compute, databases, queuing, observability, and infrastructure-as-code. Experience deploying and scaling applications on AWS.

Nice to have

Next.jsExperience building full-stack applications with Next.js including server-side rendering, API routes, and modern frontend development patterns.
ReactSolid React experience for building user interfaces, though may not be primary focus depending on specialization within payments domain.
AI and LLM IntegrationExperience integrating generative AI models or LLM APIs into production systems, including prompt engineering, RAG systems, or autonomous agent architectures.
Plaid IntegrationSpecific experience with Plaid API for account linking, transaction data retrieval, and identity verification workflows in fintech applications.
Multi-PSP ArchitectureDesign experience with multi-payment-processor systems, including abstraction layers, routing logic, and managing multiple provider integrations seamlessly.
Datadog and SentryExperience with modern observability platforms for application performance monitoring, error tracking, and log aggregation in high-volume financial systems.
Event-Driven ArchitectureExperience designing and implementing event-driven systems using message queues or event streaming platforms for payment state management and system integration.
Financial Compliance and ASC 606Familiarity with financial reporting standards like ASC 606, PCI compliance requirements, and building systems that maintain audit trails for financial transactions.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 175,000 – 240,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Comprehensive Healthcare Coverage

Up to 100% employer-covered monthly healthcare premium including medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and eligible dependents.

Equity Compensation

Competitive equity packages providing meaningful ownership stake in the company alongside base compensation.

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Unlimited PTO policy enabling flexibility for vacation, professional development, and personal well-being without arbitrary caps on time off.

Meal Benefits

Lunch provided daily via Sharebite and dinner provided for any days worked later in the office, plus complimentary bagels every Friday for in-office team culture.

Parental Leave

Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave supporting work-life balance and family planning for new parents.

Commuter and Parking Benefits

Tax-free commuter and parking benefits reducing out-of-pocket transportation costs for NYC-based employees.

Voluntary Insurance Programs

Optional supplemental insurance coverage including life insurance, hospital insurance, critical illness insurance, and accident insurance.

Employee Assistance Program

Rightway Employee Assistance Program providing confidential counseling, mental health support, and personal wellness resources.

Primary Healthcare Membership

Free One Medical membership providing preventative care, telehealth services, and convenient healthcare access for employees.

Retirement Benefits

401(k) retirement savings plan supporting long-term financial planning and wealth accumulation.

Interview process

  1. 1
    Initial Application Review — Your application including resume, portfolio, and cover letter will be reviewed against the technical requirements and experience qualifications for the Senior Software Engineer role.
  2. 2
    Recruiter Screening Call — A 30-minute conversation with a member of the Tabs recruiting team to discuss your background, experience with payments systems, and interest in the role and company mission.
  3. 3
    Technical Discussion Round — 60-90 minute conversation with a Senior or Staff Engineer from the team covering system design, past projects, payments architecture decisions, and technical problem-solving approach. Expect discussion of complex distributed system challenges and payment processing scenarios.
  4. 4
    Payments Domain Deep Dive — Technical interview focused specifically on payments systems experience, including questions about payment processor integrations, reconciliation logic, settlement processes, and how you've handled edge cases in production payment systems.
  5. 5
    Leadership and Collaboration Discussion — Conversation with an Engineering Lead or Manager exploring your mentorship philosophy, technical leadership experience, how you've influenced technical direction, and your approach to working in early-stage, high-growth environments.
  6. 6
    Leadership Team Meeting — Discussion with a founder or senior company leader about your vision for the payments platform, thoughts on AI integration, and long-term career goals aligned with the company's trajectory.
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Tabs

Tabs

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Tabs is a financial technology company that provides restaurant and hospitality business management solutions. The platform offers point-of-sale (POS) systems, inventory management, accounting, and operational tools designed specifically for restaurants, bars, and other food service establishments. Tabs helps hospitality businesses streamline their operations, reduce costs, and improve profitability through integrated software solutions built for the modern restaurant industry.

London, United KingdomFounded 2016tabs.com

Tech Stack

Languages
TypeScript
Frameworks
Nest.jsNext.jsReact
Databases
PostgreSQL
Tools
StripePlaidAWSVercelDatadogSentryLinearSlackNotion
Other
Generative AI SystemsPCI Compliance FrameworkWebhook Event Processing
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