Staff Software Engineer - Python

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years, creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure. The company empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets, connecting hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers through its global two‑sided network. Job Summary As a Backend Python Engineer, you will architect and deliver high‑performance, fault‑tolerant backend solutions that power millions of secure global transactions each day. You’ll define technical direction, lead complex engineering efforts, and mentor teams, driving PayPal’s mission of democratizing financial services. Essential Responsibilities Act as a project or system leader, coordinating the activities of other engineers on the project or within the system Determine the technical tasks that other engineers will follow Ensure actions achieve customer, operational, program, or service objectives Proactively improve existing structures and processes Exercise judgment in reconciling diverse and competing priorities to identify optimal solutions Detect patterns and condense repetition into generalized solutions Collaborate with management to set or improve engineering standards Represent PayPal to partners, customers, and industry organizations Minimum Qualifications 5+ years of relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications Additional Responsibilities Lead the design and architecture of scalable, cloud‑native backend systems using microservices and serverless frameworks Define and drive the technical roadmap, ensuring initiatives align with business goals Provide technical leadership and mentorship to foster innovation, quality, and continuous improvement Architect and develop large‑scale backend systems using Python (Django or Flask) focused on performance, reliability, and maintainability Establish and uphold engineering standards, promoting code quality and operational rigor Design fault‑tolerant, high‑availability systems with disaster recovery capabilities Apply advanced security practices, including secure coding, encryption, and access control to ensure compliance and data protection Collaborate with cross‑functional teams (Product, Infrastructure, Operations) to deliver business outcomes Continuously improve technical frameworks, development processes, and system performance Exercise judgement in balancing time, quality, complexity, and risk to deliver optimal solutions Represent PayPal externally to promote technical excellence Preferred Qualifications Experience applying Agile/Scrum methodologies to software development Proven background in large‑scale, high‑performance system design and optimization Familiarity with the payments industry or relevant regulatory environments Hands‑on experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure Demonstrated contributions to open‑source projects or developer communities About the Team The Consumer Engineering team powers the experiences millions of PayPal customers use daily to send, spend, and manage money safely and effortlessly. They design and build reliable, high‑performance systems that drive trust and simplicity across PayPal’s global ecosystem. Compensation Pay is location‑based and inclusive of salary and commission‑based compensation. Example ranges include: San Jose, California: $176,500 – 262,350 annually Austin, Texas: $160,500 – 238,700 annually Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, public assistance status, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. #J-18808-Ljbffr PayPal