Staff Software Engineer

At NerdWallet, we’re on a mission to bring clarity to all of life’s financial decisions and every great mission needs a team of exceptional Nerds. We’ve built an inclusive, flexible, and candid culture where you’re empowered to grow, take smart risks, and be unapologetically yourself (cape optional). Whether remote or in-office, we support how you thrive best. We invest in your well-being, development, and ability to make an impact because when one Nerd levels up, we all do. The Consumer Banking & Credit Cards team(s) are responsible for owning web shopping experiences across two of NerdWallet's largest and most mission-critical verticals. Our mission is to create best-in-class, data-driven shopping experiences that help millions of users make smarter financial decisions. We build fast, intuitive, and highly optimized experiences that rank, perform, and scale, all while collaborating with business stakeholders, Paid Marketers and SEO strategists to drive measurable business impact. We use data to drive our decision making, running fast product-led experiments that deliver real business value, as well as contribute directly to the company’s strategic roadmap. If you thrive on high-impact work, solving technical challenges, and shaping the future of financial shopping experiences on the web, this is the place for you. We're looking for a Staff Software Engineer who is both a technical leader and hands-on builder, someone who can drive technical excellence across the entire stack while collaborating with stakeholders to shape the future of our product offerings. This is a true full-stack role, ideal for a pacesetter who leads by doing. You ship high-quality code, set the technical direction, and raise the bar for everyone around you. You're equally comfortable building performant web experiences, designing scalable back-end systems, and collaborating on systems that power personalization and data-driven decision-making at scale. You embrace AI tools and modern engineering practices to move fast without sacrificing quality, and you bring that mindset to everything from Core Web Vitals (CWV) and technical SEO to back-end APIs and funnel experiences. You'll collaborate closely with engineering leadership to influence the engineering roadmap, contribute to best practices, and drive architectural projects that balance speed, scalability, and long-term maintainability. You'll mentor engineers and foster a culture of technical excellence, ensuring both high-quality execution and fast iteration across the team. Where you can make an impact: Shape the future of some of NerdWallet's highest-traffic web shopping experiences by improving performance, SEO, and user engagement. Partner with product, SEO, and paid marketing teams to run experiments, measure impact, and iterate quickly. Take input from and partner directly with engineering leadership to drive technical initiatives that enhance performance, observability, scalability, security, and developer experience. Contribute to platform stability and resilience through effective monitoring, troubleshooting, and incident management. Ensure high standards of technical excellence, maintaining a high-quality codebase and driving modernization efforts including AI tooling adoption. Mentor and provide technical guidance to engineering team members, promoting best practices in coding, testing, and architecture. Conduct code reviews to ensure code quality, performance, and adherence to standards, fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the engineering team. Your experience: We recognize not everyone will meet all of the criteria. If you meet most of the criteria below and you're excited about the opportunity and willing to learn, we'd love to hear from you. 8+ years in software engineering with a strong background in full-stack development and distributed systems. Expertise in TypeScript, React and Node.js, with experience in additional modern languages. Strong experience with modern front-end frameworks such as Next.js and React.js, with an understanding of web performance, Core Web Vitals, and technical SEO. Experience architecting and building back-end APIs and microservices, with a focus on scalability, performance, and data integrity. Strong understanding of database systems (both SQL and NoSQL), with experience in high-volume data processing. Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure), CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and orchestration technologies like Docker and Kubernetes. Knowledge of security and compliance best practices, particularly in financial services. Experience in observability and running production applications at scale. Preferred Qualifications: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience). Experience with integrating Machine Learning systems, personalization pipelines, and data-driven experimentation. Domain knowledge in finance and shopping marketplaces. Understanding of accessibility best practices and a keen eye for usability and user experience. Familiarity with paid and organic search strategies and how engineering decisions impact business outcomes. Where: This role will be remote (based in the U.S.). We believe great work can be done anywhere. No matter where you are based, NerdWallet offers benefits and perks to support the physical, financial, and emotional well being of you and your family. What we offer: Work Hard, Stay Balanced (Life’s a series of balancing acts, eh?) Industry-leading medical, dental, and vision health care plans for employees and their dependents Rejuvenation Policy – Flexible Vacation Time Off + 11 holidays + holiday company shutdown New Parent Leave for employees with a newborn child or a child placed with them for adoption or foster care Mental health support Paid sabbatical after 5 years for Nerds to recharge, gain knowledge, and pursue their interests Health and Dependent Care FSA and HSA Plan with monthly NerdWallet contribution Monthly Wellness Stipend, Cell Phone Stipend, and Wifi Stipend (Only remote Nerds are eligible for the Wifi Stipend) Work from home equipment stipend and co-working space subsidy (Only remote Nerds are eligible for these stipends) Have Some Fun! (Nerds are fun, too) Nerd-led group initiatives – Employee Resource Groups for Parents, Diversity, and Inclusion, Women, LGBTQIA, and other communities Hackathons and team events across all teams and departments Company-wide events like NerdLove (employee appreciation) and our annual Charity Auction Our Nerds love to make an impact by paying it forward – Take 8 hours of volunteer time off per quarter and donate to your favorite causes with a company match Plan for your future (And when you retire on your island, remember the little people) 401K with 4% company match Be the first to test and benefit from our new financial products and tools Financial wellness, guidance, and unlimited access to a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) through Northstar Disability and Life Insurance with employer-paid premiums If you are based in California, we encourage you to read this important information for California residents linked here . NerdWallet is committed to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, so all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment. NerdWallet will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act and the San Francisco Fair Chance Act, which requires this notice , as well as the Los Angeles Fair Chance Act, which requires this notice . NerdWallet participates in the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services E-Verify program for all US locations. For more information, please see: E-Verify Participation Poster (English+Spanish/Español ) Right to Work Poster (English) / (Spanish/Español) #LI-Remote