Senior Software Engineer, Payments (I)

Join Kickstarter as a Senior Software Engineer (I) on the Payments team. The role focuses on designing and maintaining systems that ensure compliant, efficient, and auditable global payments flows, handling VAT, HST, and GST across jurisdictions.

Senior Software Engineers (I) work with Product Managers, Product Designers, Engineering Managers, and other Engineers to build, maintain, and retire features that enable the success of Kickstarter users. They are responsible for complex tasks and bug fixes that may take multiple weeks to complete, often requiring coordination across multiple engineers. They also facilitate the development of teammates by pairing and offering feedback to more junior engineers.

Candidates must be based in the United Kingdom for this role.

In This Role, You Will:

• Write well‑tested software that meets product, design, and operational criteria to enable the success of Kickstarter users.
• Design, implement, and maintain payment flows and services that are tax‑aware, compliant, and auditable, handling VAT, HST, and GST requirements across jurisdictions.
• Collaborate with Payments, Finance, Product & Tech, and other teams to ensure tax data is captured and exposed properly for accounting and auditability.
• Identify and address regulatory and compliance risks within payment flows, ensuring tax management aligns with platform service tax collection and marketplace facilitator requirements.
• Build and maintain automated systems for correct tax calculation, refund handling, and reconciliation with payment service providers.
• Estimate task complexity and guide team execution of large projects, ensuring committed work is delivered on time.
• Work with non‑technical stakeholders to understand business challenges and then design, implement, and communicate corresponding technical solutions.
• Identify and propose technical project opportunities and suggest process improvements to help the team perform and deliver better.
• Participate in group code reviews to ensure a high standard of quality for all changes to Kickstarter systems.
• Participate in the on‑call rotation to ensure continuous availability of services to Kickstarter users.
• Pair with and provide growth feedback and mentorship to more junior teammates.

About You

• You have practical experience designing or maintaining payment systems with VAT, HST, or GST compliance, settlements, and accounting/ledger data flows.
• You understand multi‑jurisdictional tax rules, marketplace facilitator requirements, and tax reporting obligations.
• You can design robust, auditable payment flows that handle refunds, partial refunds, and fee routing correctly.
• You write well‑tested, maintainable software and can break down complex or ambiguous problems into actionable work.
• You have the knowledge of, or willingness to learn, core Kickstarter technologies (Ruby on Rails, JavaScript/TypeScript, React, MySQL, GraphQL).
• You can communicate effectively with non‑technical stakeholders to translate regulatory, product, and business requirements into technical solutions.
• You have prior experience in a payments, fintech, or marketplace environment and can navigate complex compliance scenarios confidently.

What You'll Enjoy

• A fully remote workforce with plenty of opportunities to get to know your colleagues.
• 16 paid vacation days, 10 sick days, paid holidays, and a company‑wide winter break between Christmas and New Years.
• 25 volunteer hours each year to give back to your community.
• 16 weeks of parental leave plus fertility/family planning resources.
• Annual stipends including a Remote Working & Wellness Stipend of £2,349 (prorated) and a £392 Role Development Stipend.
• Kickstarter currently operates with a 4‑day workweek, a model that aligns our belief in a healthy work‑life balance and gives staff the space to be more than their work.
• Incredibly talented and inspiring colleagues who know how to blend their creative endeavors into their work.

Kickstarter is an equal opportunity employer. As part of our commitment to fight for equality, we work to ensure a fair and consistent interview process. We celebrate diversity and we are committed to an inclusive work environment.

Reminder to applicants: Authentic communications from Kickstarter will always originate from official Kickstarter email domains (@kickstarter.com). Exercise caution and verify the legitimacy of anyone who claims to be representing Kickstarter on other platforms.

Please reach out to Kickstarter's Help Center to report potentially fraudulent contact here: https://help.kickstarter.com/hc/en-us/requests/new