Principal Software Engineer, Personal Loans

R-7288
Engineering

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 1,800 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 (opening Summer 2026), 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: Personal Loans Engineering owns the applicant journey and experience as they move through the loan application and verification process. PL Engineering isa conversion- and revenue-critical part of Upstart’s flagship product. The team brings single-threaded ownership to an experience that isaligning funnel outcomes and architectural evolution around one goal: maximizing originations while maintaining trust, risk integrity, and compliance.

How You’ll Make an Impact

Set technical direction for the applicant funnel
Define and drive the architecture of the end-to-end 9Got Rate 1 Funded Loan journey
Identify and resolve systemic bottlenecks impacting conversion, latency, and reliability
Lead large, cross-team initiatives
Own ambiguous, high-impact efforts that span Growth, Verifications Platform, Risk/Decisioning, and Lending Partners
Align multiple teams around cohesive technical strategies and execution plans
Evolve platform architecture
Drive decomposition of tightly coupled systems into scalable, reusable services and APIs Enable cross-product reuse across unsecured lending while maintaining system integrity
Translate complex business problems into systems
Balance product velocity, risk constraints, compliance requirements, and long-term maintainability Partner deeply with product, risk, compliance, and operations to deliver measurable business outcomes
Drive experimentation and intelligent automation
Elevate experimentation frameworks and data-driven iteration across the funnel
Identify and lead opportunities for AI-driven experiences (e.g., adaptive flows, conversational interfaces,...