Software Engineer, Staff

About CheckPayroll is broken. It's still running on decades-old infrastructure. We're rebuilding it.We don't run payroll ourselves — we power the businesses that do. As the inventors of embedded payroll, we're redefining how people get paid and making it easier for those businesses to launch, grow, and thrive.On our team, you'll use creative problem-solving, critical thinking, and grit to simplify the complexity of payroll for thousands of employers of every size, across all industries. We ignore conventional role boundaries in favor of the unique strengths and values each builder brings to our mission: make paying people simple. Check out our origin story!Check is far more than just API infrastructure. We’re a springboard for building and scaling payroll businesses. See how it works for our partners.Engineering Culture at CheckEngineering at Check works as one small team with a lot of ownership. We staff engineers on business priorities rather than fixed domains, and when something is stuck, people step in to move it forward instead of waiting on ownership boundaries. AI is central to how we build, and very little of our code is written by hand. That makes engineering judgment more important: deciding on the right problems to solve, defining what "done" means, and working with AI to get there. A merged PR isn't the finish line. The work is done when it has had the intended outcomes.About this roleAs a staff engineer, you'll use technical depth, product sense and AI tools to take on the hardest, highest-impact problems on the platform that moves money, calculates taxes and runs compliance for thousands of businesses. You'll decide what's worth solving, then see it through, often over several months and across teams, so our partners can run payroll confidently and thousands of people get paid.What You'll DoOwn company-level outcomes from start to finish, including identifying the problems worth solving, defining the impact you're aiming for, and driving multi-month efforts through rollout and follow-throughSet technical direction for complex, cross-team systems, making architecture decisions that hold up as we scaleUse AI to research, prototype and build quickly, and own the quality of everything you ship, however it was writtenSet the bar for how engineering builds with AI across teams, including review standards, workflows and where human judgment can't be skippedSimplify our platform by spotting patterns across domains, reducing complexity and questioning the status quo, including when it's your own past workMake clear, well-reasoned decisions under ambiguity, and write down the thinking so others can build on itRaise the quality bar across engineering through reviews, candid feedback and mentorship, and help grow senior engineers into broader scopeWork with product, operations and partners to understand problems directly from the people who have them, and turn them into business outcomesWhat We're Looking ForStaff-level experience building and operating complex systems, ideally at scale or in a regulated industry, with a track record of driving outcomes that moved the business, not just a teamExperience leading efforts that took months, not weeks, and delivering on them by chipping away at hard, ambiguous problemsDeep, hands-on experience building with AI tools, with clear opinions on where they help, where they fall short, and when to override themThe ability to work autonomously on company-wide projects, set your own priorities, and bring others along without relying on formal authorityA track record of fast, sound decisions grounded in experience, including knowing when to go deep and when to shipThe curiosity and persistence to debug complex problems in intricate systemsComfort working cross-functionally with internal teams and partners, and influencing across themWe don't require any particular programming language. You'll pick up our stack (Python/Django, React, TypeScript, AWS, Terraform, Postgres, Temporal, GitHub) as you go.Travel & Office PolicyThe Check team is distributed across the US. Roles can be remote, hybrid, or based in one of our offices in New York City or San Francisco. We offer ample opportunities and encourage employees to attend team offsites, events, and hackathons throughout year. All Checketeers gather in the spring for our annual 3-day company retreat. For our in-office and hybrid employees, our offices are open all week. We provide meals on Tuesdays and Thursdays and there are regular happy hours, game nights, and other in-person events.Remote work at Check requires the ability to perform all responsibilities without distraction or disruption, while maintaining quality, effective communication, and productivity.--Check is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, provided they are consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Check is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process.Check participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with Form I-9 information from all new employees to confirm that they are authorized to work in the U.S. Check does not use E-Verify to pre-screen applicants.Compensation Range: $228K - $264KLocationRemote; New York City, NY; San Francisco, CAEmployment TypeFull timeLocation TypeRemoteDepartmentResearch & DevelopmentEngineeringDeadline to ApplyDecember 1, 2026 at 5:00 AM UTCCompensationSF, NYC, Seattle, LA$240K – $264K • Offers EquityRemote US$228K – $250K • Offers EquityThe actual annual salary for this role is dependent on each candidate’s experience, qualifications, and work location. Most new hires are placed near the midpoint of this range to ensure fairness with our existing team’s compensation.Check is proud to offer employee benefits that support a healthy life outside of work for individuals of all backgrounds. Full-time team members have access to flexible PTO and sick leave, generous paid parental leave for all new parents and flexible return-to-work, a 401k retirement plan, and a $100 monthly stipend for home internet and mobile phone expenses. We also provide high-quality medical, dental, vision, short-term/long-term disability, and basic life insurance coverage, effective on your first day of work.