Staff Software Engineer Jobs at Affirm with Visa Sponsorship
Staff Software Engineer jobs at Affirm involve building and scaling the infrastructure behind its buy-now-pay-later platform, and the company has a consistent track record of sponsoring work visas for this function. If you're on F-1 OPT, holding an H-1B visa, or exploring TN visa status, Affirm actively supports engineers through the sponsorship process.
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INTRODUCTION
Affirm is reinventing credit to make it more honest and friendly, giving consumers the flexibility to buy now and pay later without any hidden fees or compounding interest.
As we build Affirm's advertising platform and evolve Marketplace into a best in class shopping destination, the ability to route and discover is one of the greatest levers for consumer experiences. Search is one of the highest impact surfaces, and we are building a new team that will own not just the recommendations and search experiences, but also explore opportunities to improve customer experience, monetization, and merchant value. This team will help make Affirm the definitive destination consumers turn to for discovery, understanding, comparing, and shopping through Affirm, and will also lay the foundation for an agentic platform.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- 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.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 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 developing consumer experiences using UI frameworks like React.
- You have 2+ years of experience working in search or related recommendation engines.
- 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.
COMPENSATION
- 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 Pacific base pay range (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT): $230,000 - $290,000
USA Sapphire base pay range (all other U.S. states): $204,000 - $264,000
LI-Remote
Affirm is proud to be a remote-first company! The majority of our roles are remote and you can work almost anywhere within the country of employment. Affirmers in proximal roles have the flexibility to work remotely, but will occasionally be required to work out of their assigned Affirm office. A limited number of roles remain office-based due to the nature of their job responsibilities.
We're extremely proud to offer competitive benefits that are anchored to our core value of people come first. Some key highlights of our benefits package include:
- Health care coverage - Affirm covers all premiums for all levels of coverage for you and your dependents.
- Flexible Spending Wallets - generous stipends for spending on Technology, Food, various Lifestyle needs, and family forming expenses.
- Time off - competitive vacation and holiday schedules allowing you to take time off to rest and recharge.
- ESPP - An employee stock purchase plan enabling you to buy shares of Affirm at a discount.
We believe It's On Us to provide an inclusive interview experience for all, including people with disabilities. We are happy to provide reasonable accommodations to candidates in need of individualized support during the hiring process.
[For U.S. positions that could be performed in Los Angeles or San Francisco] Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, Affirm will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
By clicking "Submit Application," you acknowledge that you have read Affirm's Global Candidate Privacy Notice and hereby freely and unambiguously give informed consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of your personal information as described therein.
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Staff Software Engineer Jobs at Affirm
Align your experience with fintech infrastructure
Affirm's Staff Engineer roles center on distributed systems, payments infrastructure, and high-availability services. Frame your resume around reliability engineering, API design at scale, or data pipeline work, not general full-stack experience. Fintech hiring bars are higher for systems credibility.
Confirm your OPT timeline before applying
If you're on F-1 OPT with under six months remaining, flag it early in recruiter conversations. Affirm sponsors H-1B transfers, but cap-subject petitions require lead time. Missing the April filing window can leave you in a gap period.
Research Affirm's LCA filings on FLAG
The DOL's FLAG system shows certified Labor Condition Applications by employer and role title. Searching Affirm's LCA history tells you which job titles they've filed for at Staff Engineer level and what prevailing wage tiers they've certified, which helps you assess offer alignment.
Ask recruiters specifically about EB sponsorship timelines
Affirm sponsors EB-2 and EB-3 Green Cards, but PERM labor certification timelines vary by role and backlog. At Staff Engineer level, ask whether the company initiates PERM after a set tenure or on request, so you can plan your immigration roadmap from day one.
Use Migrate Mate to filter verified Affirm openings
Staff Engineer roles at Affirm appear and close quickly. Use Migrate Mate to filter open positions by visa type and company so you're applying to roles where sponsorship is confirmed, not inferred from a generic careers page disclaimer.
Prepare your visa documents before the offer stage
Have your I-94 travel history, prior visa approvals, and any previous H-1B petition receipts organized before negotiations start. Affirm's immigration counsel will request these immediately once an offer is signed, and delays in document gathering can push your start date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Affirm sponsor H-1B visas for Staff Software Engineers?
Yes, Affirm sponsors H-1B visas for Staff Software Engineers, including both new cap-subject petitions and transfers from existing H-1B holders. If you're already on an H-1B with another employer, you can begin working at Affirm as soon as the transfer petition is filed with USCIS under H-1B portability rules, without waiting for approval.
How do I apply for Staff Software Engineer jobs at Affirm?
You can apply through Affirm's careers page or find verified openings filtered by visa sponsorship on Migrate Mate. The process typically involves a recruiter screen, a technical phone interview, and a virtual onsite covering systems design and coding. Affirm's Staff Engineer bar emphasizes distributed systems experience, so prepare for in-depth architecture discussions alongside standard coding rounds.
Which visa types does Affirm commonly use for Staff Software Engineers?
Affirm sponsors H-1B, TN, F-1 OPT, and F-1 CPT visas for engineering roles, and supports EB-2 and EB-3 immigrant visa pathways for longer-term employees. TN status is available to Canadian and Mexican nationals in qualifying engineering roles. The right visa type depends on your nationality, current status, and career stage, so clarify with Affirm's immigration team during the offer stage.
What qualifications does Affirm expect for Staff Software Engineer roles?
Affirm's Staff Software Engineer positions require significant backend or infrastructure engineering experience, with depth in areas like distributed systems, microservices, or payments infrastructure. A bachelor's or master's degree in computer science or a related field is standard for H-1B specialty occupation purposes. Beyond credentials, Affirm looks for engineers who can define technical direction and drive cross-team projects independently, not just execute on defined tasks.
How long does the H-1B sponsorship process take at Affirm?
For cap-subject H-1B petitions, Affirm must file during the April window for an October 1 start date, meaning you need an offer finalized well before March. H-1B transfers from an existing employer can happen year-round, with USCIS processing taking two to four months for regular processing or a few weeks with premium processing. Build these timelines into your job search planning, particularly if your current status has an expiration date approaching.