Staff Software Engineer, Backend Python

PayPal

. Act as a project or system leader coordinating other engineers .

Posted 11/4/2026full-timeUnited StatesLead💰 $160,500 - $262,350 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in leading engineering projects, mentoring teams, and implementing scalable software solutions. Proficient in managing relationships across technical and non-technical teams while ensuring operational excellence and adherence to engineering standards.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Project LeadershipTechnical LeadershipDistributed Services ExpertiseCloud Services ExperienceInfrastructure as Code Management

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

RDBMSNoSQL Data StoresCaching SolutionsMessaging SystemsDistributed SystemsSoftware Development Life Cycle (SDLC)Fault-Tolerant SystemsScalable Software ServicesTerraformIncident Support

Soft Skills

MentoringCollaborationRelationship ManagementProblem SolvingPrioritization

Tools & Technologies

RedisElastiCacheHazelcastSQSKafkaRabbitMQPulsarAWSGCPAzure

Industry Keywords

Engineering StandardsOperational ExcellenceTechnical RoadmapOn-Call RotationsIncident Support

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudGoogle Cloud PlatformKafkaNoSQLPulsarRabbitMQRDBMSRedisSDLCTerraform

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Act as a project or system leader coordinating other engineers
Determine technical tasks for other engineers
Improve existing structures and processes
Reconcile competing priorities to identify optimal solutions
Develop generalized solutions from recurring patterns
Collaborate with management to establish and improve engineering standards
Represent PayPal to partners, customers, and industry organizations
Lead engineering efforts and team-level processes
Provide technical advice to senior leaders on systems, solutions, challenges, and strategy
Own design, implementation, and operational excellence of software components
Contribute to the technical engineering roadmap through implementation assessments and recommendations
Provide technical leadership for a small team
Design, estimate, and implement secure, reliable, scalable software services
Deliver high-quality code following the SDLC process
Own service performance and availability
Participate in on-call rotations and incident support
Contribute to complex projects with colleagues

Requirements

What you’ll need

5+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR any equivalent combination of education and experience
Advanced skills with RDBMS and NoSQL data stores
Experience with caching solutions such as Redis, ElastiCache, and Hazelcast
Experience with messaging/queuing systems such as SQS, Kafka, RabbitMQ, and Pulsar
Ability to lead projects and mentor engineering staff at all levels
Ability to manage relationships with Product, Engineering Operations, and non-technical business and support teams
Expertise with distributed services and backend systems
Expertise building services on public cloud, preferably AWS, GCP, or Azure
Experience managing infrastructure as code using Terraform
Experience with fault-tolerant and scalable distributed services and systems
Ability to participate in on-call rotations and provide incident support

Benefits

Comp & perks

Balanced hybrid work model: 3 days in the office and 2 days at either the PayPal office or home workspace
Generous paid time off
Healthcare coverage for you and your family
Resources to create financial security
Mental health support resources
Reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities