Back-End Engineer Jobs in San Francisco, CA
Back-End Engineer jobs in San Francisco are concentrated in SoMa, the Financial District, and Mission Bay, driven by demand across enterprise software, fintech, and consumer technology. Employers actively hiring include Rippling, Affirm, and OpenAI. See the openings below and apply to the ones that match your experience.
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Showing 5 of 346+ Back-End Engineer jobs
At Affirm, we exist for the moments that matter—giving people a clear, predictable way to pay over time, with no hidden fees, no surprises, and no tradeoffs on what matters most.
About the Engineering team
The Engineering team builds systems that power Affirm's mission. We take pride in our craft, building reliable, performant, and scalable solutions that touch every part of the business. Whether we're enabling new ways to pay, ensuring our platforms can scale to the most demanding levels in the industry, or developing seamless servicing experiences, our focus is on solving complex problems through exceptional engineering.
About the role
The Trust and Safety Foundations team within Checkout Engineering builds and operates foundational systems and data capabilities that support how Affirm understands consumer risk and meets its credit reporting obligations. Our work sits at the intersection of data quality, system reliability, regulatory requirements, and risk, creating critical infrastructure that Affirm and its partners depend on to operate accurately and at scale.
As a Staff Software Engineer on Trust and Safety Foundations, you will help shape the team's technical strategy and lead complex, business-critical initiatives across systems and stakeholders. You'll turn ambiguous problems into clear technical approaches, guide projects from strategy through execution, and strengthen the reliability and sustainability of the systems we own. You'll also act as a force multiplier by raising the bar for system design and engineering quality, sharing your expertise, and helping other engineers grow. This role requires strong technical judgment, deep ownership, and the ability to navigate complexity in a high-impact domain.
.
What you'll do
- You will be responsible for setting technical strategy for your team on a year-long time scale, and help your team tie it together with critical, business-impacting projects.
- You will collaborate across teams in the product development lifecycle by collaborating with product management, design & analytics to ensure technical sustainability, risks and trade-offs are well understood and managed.
- You will act as a force-multiplier for your team through your definition and advocacy of technical solutions and operational processes.
- You take ownership of your team's operations and availability by ensuring you have the right monitoring, triage rotations, playbooks, policies, testing and alerting in place to support "keep the lights on" & on-call efforts.
- You will foster a culture of quality and ownership on your team by setting code review and design standards for your team, and advocating for them beyond your team through your writing and tech talks.
- You will help develop talent on your team by providing feedback and guidance, and leading by example.
What we look for
- You have 8+ years of experience designing, developing and launching backend systems at scale using languages like Python or Kotlin.
- You have an extensive track record of developing highly available distributed systems using technologies like AWS, MySQL, Spark and Kubernetes.
- You have experience delivering major features, system components or deprecating existing functionality in a system through the definition of a technical and execution plan. You write high quality code that is easily understood and used by others.
- You thrive in ambiguity, and are comfortable moving from low level language idioms all the way to the architecture of large systems to understand how they work.
- Your growth and impact trajectory demonstrates that you have mastered gathering and iterating on feedback from your engineering and cross-functional peers.
- You have strong verbal and written communication skills that support effective collaboration with our global engineering team.
- This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor's degree in a related field.
Base Pay Grade - P
Equity Grade - 13
Employees new to Affirm typically come in at the start of the pay range. Affirm focuses on providing a simple and transparent pay structure which is based on a variety of factors, including location, experience and job-related skills.
Base pay is part of a total compensation package that may include equity rewards, monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents.)
USA base pay range (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT) per year: 230,000 - 290,000
USA base pay range (all other U.S. states) per year: 204,000 - 264,000
#LI-Remote
Remote-first with flexibility built in
Affirm is proud to be a remote-first company. Most roles can be done from almost anywhere within the country of employment. Some positions may occasionally require in-person work at an Affirm office, and a few are office-based due to the nature of the work. All new hires will be invited to attend an in-person onboarding experience.
Benefits designed for you
Our benefits reflect our commitment to care, transparency, and flexibility. Here are a few highlights:
- Health coverage at no cost: We cover 100% of premiums for employees and their dependents.
- Spending stipends: Monthly stipends support your tech setup, and the ability to choose health and wellness options that are right for you.
- Time off to recharge: Flexible time off and generous holiday calendars help you rest when you need to.
- Own a piece of what you build: Our employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) lets you buy Affirm stock at a discount.
We're committed to providing an inclusive interview process, including accommodations for candidates with disabilities. If you need support, we're happy to help.
For positions based in San Francisco or Los Angeles: Affirm considers qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, as required by law.
By clicking "Submit Application," you acknowledge that you have read Affirm's Global Candidate Privacy Notice and consent to the use of your personal information as described.
At Affirm, we exist for the moments that matter—giving people a clear, predictable way to pay over time, with no hidden fees, no surprises, and no tradeoffs on what matters most.
About the Engineering team
The Engineering team builds systems that power Affirm's mission. We take pride in our craft, building reliable, performant, and scalable solutions that touch every part of the business. Whether we're enabling new ways to pay, ensuring our platforms can scale to the most demanding levels in the industry, or developing seamless servicing experiences, our focus is on solving complex problems through exceptional engineering.
About the role
The Trust and Safety Foundations team within Checkout Engineering builds and operates foundational systems and data capabilities that support how Affirm understands consumer risk and meets its credit reporting obligations. Our work sits at the intersection of data quality, system reliability, regulatory requirements, and risk, creating critical infrastructure that Affirm and its partners depend on to operate accurately and at scale.
As a Staff Software Engineer on Trust and Safety Foundations, you will help shape the team's technical strategy and lead complex, business-critical initiatives across systems and stakeholders. You'll turn ambiguous problems into clear technical approaches, guide projects from strategy through execution, and strengthen the reliability and sustainability of the systems we own. You'll also act as a force multiplier by raising the bar for system design and engineering quality, sharing your expertise, and helping other engineers grow. This role requires strong technical judgment, deep ownership, and the ability to navigate complexity in a high-impact domain.
.
What you'll do
- You will be responsible for setting technical strategy for your team on a year-long time scale, and help your team tie it together with critical, business-impacting projects.
- You will collaborate across teams in the product development lifecycle by collaborating with product management, design & analytics to ensure technical sustainability, risks and trade-offs are well understood and managed.
- You will act as a force-multiplier for your team through your definition and advocacy of technical solutions and operational processes.
- You take ownership of your team's operations and availability by ensuring you have the right monitoring, triage rotations, playbooks, policies, testing and alerting in place to support "keep the lights on" & on-call efforts.
- You will foster a culture of quality and ownership on your team by setting code review and design standards for your team, and advocating for them beyond your team through your writing and tech talks.
- You will help develop talent on your team by providing feedback and guidance, and leading by example.
What we look for
- You have 8+ years of experience designing, developing and launching backend systems at scale using languages like Python or Kotlin.
- You have an extensive track record of developing highly available distributed systems using technologies like AWS, MySQL, Spark and Kubernetes.
- You have experience delivering major features, system components or deprecating existing functionality in a system through the definition of a technical and execution plan. You write high quality code that is easily understood and used by others.
- You thrive in ambiguity, and are comfortable moving from low level language idioms all the way to the architecture of large systems to understand how they work.
- Your growth and impact trajectory demonstrates that you have mastered gathering and iterating on feedback from your engineering and cross-functional peers.
- You have strong verbal and written communication skills that support effective collaboration with our global engineering team.
- This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor's degree in a related field.
Base Pay Grade - P
Equity Grade - 13
Employees new to Affirm typically come in at the start of the pay range. Affirm focuses on providing a simple and transparent pay structure which is based on a variety of factors, including location, experience and job-related skills.
Base pay is part of a total compensation package that may include equity rewards, monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents.)
USA base pay range (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT) per year: 230,000 - 290,000
USA base pay range (all other U.S. states) per year: 204,000 - 264,000
#LI-Remote
Remote-first with flexibility built in
Affirm is proud to be a remote-first company. Most roles can be done from almost anywhere within the country of employment. Some positions may occasionally require in-person work at an Affirm office, and a few are office-based due to the nature of the work. All new hires will be invited to attend an in-person onboarding experience.
Benefits designed for you
Our benefits reflect our commitment to care, transparency, and flexibility. Here are a few highlights:
- Health coverage at no cost: We cover 100% of premiums for employees and their dependents.
- Spending stipends: Monthly stipends support your tech setup, and the ability to choose health and wellness options that are right for you.
- Time off to recharge: Flexible time off and generous holiday calendars help you rest when you need to.
- Own a piece of what you build: Our employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) lets you buy Affirm stock at a discount.
We're committed to providing an inclusive interview process, including accommodations for candidates with disabilities. If you need support, we're happy to help.
For positions based in San Francisco or Los Angeles: Affirm considers qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, as required by law.
By clicking "Submit Application," you acknowledge that you have read Affirm's Global Candidate Privacy Notice and consent to the use of your personal information as described.
See All 346+ Back-End Engineer Jobs in San Francisco
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Find Back-End Engineer JobsBack-End Engineer Job Market in San Francisco
Who's Hiring
- Rippling36
- Affirm19
- OpenAI12
- ALTRUIST10
- Salesforce10
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software105
- Banking & Financial Services17
- Artificial Intelligence10
- Consulting & Professional Services7
- Science & Research5
Back-End Engineer Jobs in San Francisco: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a back-end engineer job in San Francisco?
Focus your search on SoMa, Mission Bay, and the Financial District, where enterprise software companies, fintech firms, and growth-stage startups concentrate their engineering teams. Familiarity with distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, and API design gives candidates a clear edge in this market. Applying directly to companies with active engineering blogs or open-source contributions also signals genuine technical interest, which San Francisco employers tend to value highly.
Which companies hire back-end engineers in San Francisco?
Companies currently hiring back-end engineers in San Francisco include Rippling, Affirm, and OpenAI, per current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. San Francisco's employer mix runs from large publicly traded technology firms and regional banks to Series B and C startups building their first scaled engineering teams.
Are there remote back-end engineer jobs in San Francisco?
Yes, back-end engineering is among the more remote-compatible roles in tech because the work centers on code, systems design, and asynchronous collaboration rather than physical presence. About 66% of back-end engineer openings tied to San Francisco are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, with the highest remote concentration in API development and cloud infrastructure roles at established SoMa and Financial District companies.
How can I get a back-end engineer job in San Francisco with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path in San Francisco is through associate or junior engineer roles at mid-size startups in SoMa and Mission Bay, which often hire earlier-career candidates than large technology firms. Contributing to open-source projects, completing a coding bootcamp with Bay Area employer partnerships, or targeting QA and DevOps support roles as a lateral entry point all build the practical signal San Francisco hiring managers look for before moving candidates to a full back-end role.
Which industries hire the most back-end engineers in San Francisco?
The sectors hiring the most back-end engineers in San Francisco are Technology & Software, Banking & Financial Services, and Artificial Intelligence, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. San Francisco's role as a hub for venture-backed technology companies and a long-established financial services corridor means both fast-growth product teams and large enterprise engineering organizations compete for back-end talent in the same city.
Related Jobs in California
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