Senior Software Engineer, Conversion Rate Optimization

About Upstart

Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates across races, ages, and genders, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than 80% of borrowers are approved instantly, with zero documentation to upload.

Upstart is a digital-first company, which means that most Upstarters live and work anywhere in the United States. However, we also have offices in San Mateo, California; Columbus, Ohio; and Austin, Texas.

Most Upstarters join us because they connect with our mission of enabling access to effortless credit based on true risk. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Upstart, we’d love to hear from you!

The Team

The Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) team is focused on improving the borrower journey from application initiation through rate acceptance. Our mission is to build fast, intuitive, and impactful user experiences that directly drive Upstart’s revenue by increasing conversion metrics. We operate as a full-stack team and are deeply collaborative—engineers, product managers, and designers work closely to scope, build, and iterate on features that enhance our funding flow. Our team thrives on curiosity and iteration. We prioritize delivering atomic commits to accelerate development and reduce cognitive load. Whether it’s implementing a new API endpoint or enhancing front-end performance, we’re committed to code quality and meaningful business impact.

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will be directly responsible for helping build critical functionality that impacts Upstart’s core business and help improve the user experience when completing applications, which translates into increased conversion metrics and revenue.

How you’ll make an impact:

• Design and implement user-facing features that streamline and enhance the loan funding experience.
• Lead end-to-end development of experiments that help improve conversion rates across the funnel.
• Partner closely with product and design teams to scope and deliver impactful features.Contribute to key architectural decisions as the team continues to modernize its platform and services.
• Take ownership of feature development, from idea to measurement, working across the stack.
• Help shape our technical culture through mentorship, documentation, and best practices.
• Improve the observability and monitoring of our systems to ensure high-quality user experiences.

What we’re looking for:

• Minimum requirements:

• 5+ years of experience as a software engineer, with at least 1+ years in a senior or tech lead role.

• Strong experience in at least one backend language such as Ruby or Kotlin.

• Demonstrated experience building scalable APIs and services, ideally in production.

• Proficiency with modern frontend technologies and frameworks (e.g., React, Vue, or similar).

• Comfort working in a full-stack environment, with experience shipping end-to-end features.

• Experience with experimentation platforms, A/B testing frameworks, or data-driven decision-making.

• Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset.

• Preferred qualifications:

• Prior experience in fintech or a regulated industry where data quality and compliance matter.

• Familiarity with Spring Boot, Kafka, and distributed system architecture.

• Proficiency in Docker, GitHub Actions, and cloud environments like AWS.

• Demonstrated success in mentoring teammates and guiding project execution.

• Proven experience writing unit and end-to-end tests to maximize code coverage.

• Experience paying down tech debt or refactoring legacy services with domain-driven principles. Passion for improving user experience through best practices and metrics-driven development.

Position Location - This role is available in the following locations: Remote, San Mateo, Columbus, Austin

Travel Requirements - This team has regular on-site collaboration sessions. These occur 3 days per quarter at an Upstart office. If you need to travel to make these meetups, Upstart will cover all travel related expenses.

What you'll love:

• Competitive Compensation (base + bonus & equity)
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart
• 401(k) with 100% company match up to $4,500 and immediate vesting and after-tax savings
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Life and disability insurance
• Generous holiday, vacation, sick and safety leave
• Supportive parental, family care, and military leave programs
• Annual wellness, technology & ergonomic reimbursement programs
• Social activities including team events and onsites, all-company updates, employee resource groups (ERGs), and other interest groups such as book clubs, fitness, investing, and volunteering
• Catered lunches + snacks & drinks when working in offices

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).

United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range

$163,600—$226,400 USD

Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. We are dedicated to ensuring that underrepresented classes receive better access to affordable credit, and are just as committed to embracing diversity and inclusion in our hiring practices. We celebrate all cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, and know that we can only become better together.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email _candidate_accommodations@upstart.com

_https://www.upstart.com/candidate_privacy_policy