Staff Engineer (Payments)

We are seeking a Staff Engineer that owns, leads design, and implements highly available payment solutions that our partners' rely on.  Using the agile development process and analytical skills, they work to break down complex problems, mentor and delegate to teammates, and help to continually improve team collaboration and our software development cycle.
 

Why PayJunction?

PayJunction is relentless and emphatic about helping others.  We exist to drive the success of our partners.  Specifically, the developers who connect to us, businesses who process payments through us, and all of our team members who work with us at PayJunction.

We believe dreams inspire people to start a business, and others to partner with them.  While building these dreams, entrepreneurs and business professionals will face many challenges along the way. We believe great partners can make all the difference.

We are your dream partner.  

Your success is our success. 

Our dream is to help you realize yours.

We exist to drive the success of our partners.  We do this by fundamentally changing the way you transact with others.  We just happen to make great payment systems.  If you love helping others succeed, in a culture that celebrates perfecting your craft, consider partnering with us.

Location

PayJunction takes a Flex First approach to work environments. This means that our team members can choose to work from our Santa Barbara office or remotely from home. We ensure that everyone has the resources and equipment to work where they feel most productive. We trust our teams to make the best decision for their work environment. All PayJunction employees must reside in one of the following states: CA, IL, TX, MN, CO, GA, NY.   

Mission

Our Engineering team’s mission is to design, develop, and maintain the products, technology, and systems that drive our partners’ success.

Vision

Thousands of partners love and rely on our platform to make payments simple.

Stack

We operate in a Linux and Mac environment, and use Java and Javascript for our development. Puppet is our infrastructure automation tool and we rely on Selenium, Karma and JUnit for testing. Learn more about our stack and engineering process read here: https://blog.payjunction.com/payjunction-engineering-ethos

Responsibilities

• Own and manage project backlogs, status tracking, and reporting for multi-quarter payments initiatives, ensuring transparency and accountability.  Partner with finance, compliance, and customer support teams to ensure accurate reconciliation, auditability, and operational readiness for new payment features.
• Lead technical discussions and decision-making for Product Requirement Documents (PRDs), ensuring alignment with stakeholders and documenting key architectural choices.
• Develop detailed architectural documentation, outlining implementation plans and alternative approaches.  Create and refine a technical payments roadmap ensuring the team regularly invests in maintenance.
• Ensure compliance with payment standards and complete certifications with payment processors.
• Break down complex projects into well-defined tasks, delegating effectively to empower and develop the team.
• Write and refine well-groomed technical tickets, ensuring clarity and feasibility for implementation.
• Produce clear, accurate, and concise customer-facing documentation to support external users.
• Drive agile development processes by delivering high-quality work, regularly communicating project status, and meeting timeline expectations.
• Follow stringent testing, quality assurance standards and ensure compliance with relevant legal and industry standards (OWASP, PCI DSS, GDPR, etc.)
• Define and monitor key reliability metrics (latency, success rate, error rates), drive observability efforts (logs, traces, alerts), and lead root cause analysis for production incidents.
• Ensure steady project progress by proactively checking in with engineers, timely review of code with detailed feedback , and keeping tickets moving forward.
• Unblock technical challenges for both yourself and teammates, ensuring progress without unnecessary bottlenecks.
• Delegate effectively while maintaining focus on high-priority, complex engineering efforts.
• Mentor engineers through design, code, and demo reviews, offering guidance to overcome technical challenges.

Qualifications

• Education & Experience:
  • BS/BA in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a relevant field (Highly Preferred).
  • Minimum requirement: Certificate or technical trade school experience with equivalent industry experience.

• Java Development & Deployment:
  • 8+ years of professional experience developing and deploying payment services in Java.
  • Experience with Java frameworks (Jetty preferred, Jakarta/Java EE preferred).
  • Proficiency in unit testing to ensure code reliability.

• Payments Industry Expertise:
  • 5+ years of development experience in the payment industry (Required).
  • Experience working at a Payment Gateway or Processor (e.g., Tsys, Adyen, Stripe, Square, Fiserv) implementing transaction handling (authorizations, settlements, chargebacks, refunds, dispute handling).
  • Knowledge of Card Networks & Banking Rails (Visa, Mastercard, ACH, SEPA, RTP, SWIFT).
  • Expertise in risk & fraud detection, including machine learning models, anomaly detection, and chargeback prevention.

• Security & Compliance:
  • Compliance with PCI DSS, SOC2, and NIST security standards.
  • Experience with ISO 8583 messaging and EMV (chip-based transaction security).
  • Knowledge of 3D Secure (3DS 2.0/2.2), Tokenization, and secure card storage & processing.
  • Understanding of encryption, OAuth, JWT, AML (Anti-Money Laundering), and KYC (Know Your Customer).

• System Architecture & Strategy:
  • 5+ years of experience designing reliable, highly available, and fault-tolerant payment platforms.
  • Ability to balance security, performance, and usability trade-offs in decision-making.

• Platform & Infrastructure:
  • 5+ years of experience working with relational databases (MySQL, H2).
  • Strong knowledge of Unix/Linux environments (Ubuntu, Mac).
  • Proficiency in observability & monitoring tools (Splunk, Grafana, Prometheus).

• Software Engineering Leadership & Mentorship:
  • 5+ years of experience leading teams and mentoring engineers.
  • Proficiency in Agile development with Scrum, conducting code reviews, and guiding mid-level & junior engineers.

• API & 3rd Party Library Integration:
  • Experience integrating with third-party applications using publicly documented APIs and libraries.

• Testing & Quality Assurance:
  • Strong understanding of unit testing frameworks (Jasmine, JUnit)

About PayJunction

Founded in 2000 by three UCSB graduates, PayJunction has grown from a bootstrapped startup to a recognized and respected leader in the payments industry. PayJunction processes more than $12 billion dollars annually for thousands of businesses with solutions that make it easy to accept credit and debit card payments in-store, online, and on-the-go.

Our people-first culture values long-term relationships over short-term profits. Honesty and integrity are part of every interaction with partners, customers and employees. We foster a collaborative work environment, where creative ideas are welcomed, teams are inspired, and success is celebrated. PayJunction is a place where you can find experienced mentors and supportive friends who are committed to your growth.

Total Rewards Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision paid 100% by company for you and your dependents
• 401k with 6% match
• FSA and Dependent Care FSA
• Long-term & short-term disability coverage for you paid 100% by company
• 8 paid company holidays per year
• 2 paid floating holidays per year
• 1 paid volunteer day per year
• Paid Time Off
• Annual learning stipend
• Home office equipment stipend
• Quarterly “fun budgets” for team bonding events
• Opportunity to be part of a company that is changing a whole industry
• Opportunity for growth within the company
• Opportunity for remote, in-office, or hybrid work 

Office Environment

• The opportunity to choose the work environment that best suits you - remote, in-office, or hybrid.
• All remote & hybrid team members can enjoy:
  • Company-provided equipment for your home office
  • An equipment allowance for home office essentials
  • The opportunity to work at one of Glassdoor's Top 30 Best Places to Work in the US, 2020!
• Those who choose to come into the office can look forward to:
  • Bright and open offices in downtown Santa Barbara
  • Stocked snack kitchens 
  • Collaborative work spaces with Herman Miller chairs, height-adjustable desks, and a large 32-inch monitors
  • Dog-friendly office

Company Values

• Build the Dream
• Put People First
• Value Long Term Relationships Over Short Term Profit
• Make it Simple
• Be Data Driven
• Own It

The base salary range for this role is $175k - $190k/year plus benefits.  Actual base salary offered will vary depending on factors including but not limited to: education, experience, skills and qualifications. PayJunction is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a work environment where people from all backgrounds and identities thrive. We firmly believe that more diversity and inclusion in our workforce creates a stronger team, product, and culture.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. PayJunction reserves the right to conduct background and/or credit checks on all of its potential employees