Software Engineer, Lifecycle

About Upstart

At Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.

As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 3,000 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress.

We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City, you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.

If you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you.

The Team:

Upstart’s Lifecycle Platform team develops innovative solutions, strategies, and systems that enable personalized, timely communication with millions of current and prospective customers. We build and scale the platforms behind preference management, email, SMS, push notifications, and emerging channels—ensuring the right message reaches the right user at the right time.

As a Software Engineer II on the team, you will be part of the broader Growth organization and partner closely with Lifecycle Marketing, Distribution, Insights, Data Platform, Analytics, and ML teams. We are the technical thought leaders and subject matter experts for outbound communications across the company. Our mission is to design and operate the infrastructure that transforms rich customer data into actionable, high-impact engagement.

This team operates with speed and ownership. We deploy frequently, unblock ourselves, and hold a high bar for accountability. We are not a siloed engineering team—we collaborate deeply with cross-functional stakeholders and play a central role in shaping the future of Upstart’s marketing platforms.

How you’ll make an impact

Design and build scalable backend services that power our unified communications platform across SMS, email, push, and future channels.

Develop systems for real-time, event-triggered messaging and self-serve marketing automation and experimentation capabilities.

Translate large, complex datasets into high-leverage marketing capabilities through APIs, streaming pipelines, and reverse ETL workflows.

Partner closely with product managers, lifecycle marketing, data insights, analytics, and data platform teams to define requirements and deliver impactful, data-driven solutions.

Lead medium-sized projects independently—proactively identifying risks, managing ambiguity, and driving execution from design through launch.

Strengthen our engineering culture by improving system reliability, accelerating iteration, and clearly communicating technical trade-offs to cross-functional stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or Mathematics, or a related field (or its equivalent) + 3 years of experience

Experience building and operating microservices and APIs in a cloud environment (preferably AWS).

Proficiency in at least one backend language such as Kotlin, Java, Ruby, or Python.

Demonstrated ability to independently execute on projects, navigate ambiguity, and collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work in a distributed team

Preferred Qualifications

Experience supporting Marketing, Growth, or GTM teams, particularly in environments involving CDPs, customer segmentation, or campaign orchestration.