Scale Engineer

Senior Software Engineer, Payments

Backend Engineer · Senior · Full Time

New York City, NYUSD 175k – 240k2mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

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.

Responsibilities

  • 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.

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • Payments Systems Expertise

    5+ 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 Mastery

    Deep 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 Development

    Hands-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 Integration

    Active 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 Infrastructure

    Operational 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 Fundamentals

    Strong 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 Design

    Led 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 Systems

    Shipped 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 Teams

    Experience 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

  • TypeScript

    Advanced proficiency in TypeScript for building type-safe, maintainable backend and full-stack applications in production environments.

  • Nest.js

    Production experience building scalable backend services with Nest.js framework, including dependency injection, middleware patterns, and enterprise application architecture.

  • Payments Integration

    Hands-on experience integrating with payment processors (Stripe, Plaid, Square, etc.), handling payment webhooks, and managing PSP-specific payment workflows and reconciliation.

  • System Design

    Expertise 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 Concepts

    Deep 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 Design

    Strong SQL capabilities and experience designing database schemas for financial systems with complex transaction requirements, audit trails, and reporting needs.

  • AWS

    Operational comfort with AWS services including compute, databases, queuing, observability, and infrastructure-as-code. Experience deploying and scaling applications on AWS.

Preferred

  • Next.js

    Nice to have

    Experience building full-stack applications with Next.js including server-side rendering, API routes, and modern frontend development patterns.

  • React

    Nice to have

    Solid React experience for building user interfaces, though may not be primary focus depending on specialization within payments domain.

  • AI and LLM Integration

    Nice to have

    Experience integrating generative AI models or LLM APIs into production systems, including prompt engineering, RAG systems, or autonomous agent architectures.

  • Plaid Integration

    Nice to have

    Specific experience with Plaid API for account linking, transaction data retrieval, and identity verification workflows in fintech applications.

  • Multi-PSP Architecture

    Nice to have

    Design experience with multi-payment-processor systems, including abstraction layers, routing logic, and managing multiple provider integrations seamlessly.

  • Datadog and Sentry

    Nice to have

    Experience with modern observability platforms for application performance monitoring, error tracking, and log aggregation in high-volume financial systems.

  • Event-Driven Architecture

    Nice to have

    Experience designing and implementing event-driven systems using message queues or event streaming platforms for payment state management and system integration.

  • Financial Compliance and ASC 606

    Nice to have

    Familiarity with financial reporting standards like ASC 606, PCI compliance requirements, and building systems that maintain audit trails for financial transactions.

Tech stack

Languages

TypeScript

Frameworks

Nest.jsNext.jsReact

Databases

PostgreSQL

Tools

StripePlaidAWSVercelDatadogSentryLinearSlackNotion

Other

Generative AI SystemsPCI Compliance FrameworkWebhook Event Processing

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·USD 175,000 – 240,000

Equity·Stock options

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.

Process

Interview steps.

  1. 01

    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. 02

    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. 03

    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. 04

    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. 05

    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. 06

    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.

Full posting

Original listing.

Tabs is the leading AI-native revenue platform for modern finance and accounting teams. Tabs agents automate the entire contract-to-cash lifecycle, including billing, collections, revenue recognition, and reporting, to help teams eliminate manual work and accelerate cash flow.

High-growth companies like Cursor and Statsig rely on Tabs to generate invoices directly from contracts, reconcile payments in real time, and automate ASC 606 compliance.

Founded in 2023, Tabs has raised over $91 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst, and Primary. The team is headquartered in New York and brings deep expertise in finance and AI.


About the Role

Tabs is seeking a Senior Software Engineer specifically focused on building out custom payments workflows and integrations with payment service providers. As a member of our early-stage startup, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the direction of the company and make a meaningful impact on our success.

How We Work

  • We work hard. Two-week sprints based on defined goals with short feedback cycles. Built around intra-month product releases.

  • We work smart. Get in front of the customer, use both data and customer feedback to drive decisions, while keeping the bigger picture in mind. Hash out your ideas with other smart engineers who are dedicated to coming up with great solutions.

  • We work together. In-office culture with people you want to work with. Lots of whiteboard space. Expense lunch and dinner when in the office, and bagel Fridays!

What You'll Do

  • Be our payments expert as we build out systems that support multiple PSPs and other exciting similar payment opportunities. There are a lot of moving pieces that have to line up and you’ll own and drive significant projects that make it work.

  • Work closely with other engineering teams to make sure the entire revenue lifecycle delivers a frictionless billing and payment experience for our merchants and their customers.

  • Put AI to work everywhere it can move the needle, whether it’s product automation, business process improvement, or the team’s day-to-day workflow. We're dealing with our customers' revenue, so we use AI aggressively while also getting the numbers exactly right.

  • Level up the engineers around you. The team's about 30 today with a good range of experience and backgrounds, and we’re growing fast. You'll be someone people look up to as you set the technical bar, mentor and learn from those around you, and shape the kind of culture we want as we get bigger.

About You

  • You’ve been building software professionally for 5+ years and shipped high-impact products with a specialization in building payments systems with at least a couple of Payment Processors.

  • You've led big, complex system design before, ideally somewhere that was moving and growing fast.

  • You're hands-on with modern languages and frameworks. You still like being in the code, not just talking about it.

  • You've got a strong grip on the fundamentals like algorithms, data structures, and distributed systems. You know how to apply them where they actually matter.

  • You’re genuinely excited about AI, already using it, testing its limits, and keeping up with the latest advancements.

  • Ambiguity doesn't slow you down. You thrive in the early, undefined stage of a problem where you get to shape the answer rather than follow a spec.

  • You're the kind of engineer other engineers want to learn from, and you truly enjoy that aspect of the role.

  • Not sure you tick every box? Apply anyway. If you're excited about what we're building, we want to hear from you.

Tech & Tools

  • Day to day, you'll be in Next.js, Nest.js, TypeScript, and React.

  • You'll have a wide range of GenAI systems and tooling to build with, and a lot of freedom in how you use them.

  • We run on AWS and Vercel, with Datadog and Sentry for observability, and Stripe and Plaid powering payments.

  • For everything else, we use modern tools like Slack, Notion, Linear, and Google Workspace.

Location: NYC, 5 days onsite

Perks and Benefits (Full-time Employees)

  • Competitive compensation and equity

  • Unlimited PTO

  • Up to 100% employer covered monthly healthcare premium (medical, dental, vision)

  • Lunch provided via Sharebite, plus dinner for any later in office days.

  • Parental leave up to 12 weeks

  • Tax free commuter and parking benefits

  • Voluntary insurances (Life, Hospital, Critical Illness, Accident)

  • Employee Assistance Program (Rightway)

  • Free One Medical Membership

  • 401k

Tabs is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome teammates of all identities and do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We’re committed to creating an environment where everyone can grow, contribute, and feel comfortable being themselves.

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