Staff Backend Engineer, Payments

The Internet lacks a protocol for money. Lightspark is building the tools and services to make it happen. Lightspark builds enterprise-ready infrastructure for open payments for the Internet at scale using the Lightning Network. An always-on, low-cost, universal payment network will completely transform how money is moved, enabling businesses and developers to transform existing solutions and build new financial systems, services, and processes accessible to everyone, transcending geographical restraints. Lightspark is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, but serves the world.

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Staff Backend Engineer to join our new dynamic team at Lightspark. In this role, you’ll drive the design, development, and scaling of cutting-edge payments solutions while ensuring the highest standards of scalability, security, and performance. You will play a pivotal role in shaping the architecture and technical direction of our backend systems, working closely with cross-functional teams, and mentoring engineers to deliver world-class solutions.

As a key technical lead, you’ll focus on building and optimizing our Fiat Platform, which connects Lightspark and its customers to traditional financial rails. You will work on complex systems, ensuring they are robust, reliable, and ready to scale as we expand our services globally.

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING:

• Design and build scalable backend systems that connect Lightspark to traditional financial infrastructure, including payment systems, bank integrations, and transaction processing.

• Lead the technical architecture and system design for high-performance payment solutions, ensuring reliability, security, and scalability.

• Collaborate closely with Product Managers, Designers, and cross-functional teams to define requirements and deliver high-impact features.

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to the backend engineering team, promoting best practices for coding, architecture, and system design.

• Drive innovation by identifying opportunities to improve performance, streamline development processes, and introduce new technologies where applicable.

• Build frameworks and tools to improve the monitoring, testing, and performance analysis of backend systems, ensuring our services can handle increasing scale and complexity.

• Collaborate with other teams to define and enforce high standards for engineering practices and code quality, leading by example in code reviews and technical decisions.

• Take ownership of critical components, troubleshooting production issues and driving incident resolution with an eye toward long-term solutions.

• Stay hands-on with coding, architecture, and problem-solving, while also contributing to strategic initiatives and long-term technical planning.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• 10+ years of backend engineering experience, with a strong focus on building scalable, reliable systems.

• Deep expertise in distributed systems design, data management, and performance optimization for large-scale platforms.

• Proficiency in one or more backend programming languages (e.g., Python, Go, Java, Rust, C++) and a strong understanding of system-level programming.

• Experience working in payment systems, including ledgers, bank integrations, transaction processing, or financial compliance systems.

• Demonstrated experience in technical leadership, including mentoring engineers, driving technical roadmaps, and making architectural decisions for critical systems.

• Ability to collaborate across teams, including Product, Design, and Operations, to deliver high-quality products that meet user needs.

• Strong understanding of modern infrastructure tools and platforms (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, AWS) and best practices for cloud-native systems.

• Proven ability to lead projects and deliver complex systems under tight deadlines in a fast-paced, startup environment.

• Experience with security and compliance in financial systems is a plus.

• A passion for working in a collaborative, startup environment, with a desire to take ownership of large initiatives and see them through to completion.

Lightspark is on a mission to build an open payment protocol for the Internet at scale and therefore we’re committed to creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace to reflect the customers we serve. We welcome interest from individuals of all backgrounds and levels of experience who share our mission. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. 

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the State of California Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.