Senior Backend Engineer, Payments

Lightspark is the easiest, most reliable, enterprise-grade gateway to the Lightning Network, enabling money to move just like bits and bytes do on the Internet. Lightspark services aim to be the fastest, lowest cost, easiest and most reliable way to send and receive payments globally using Lightning. We want to  deliver open payments for the Internet at scale and we’re laser-focused on solving real problems for our customers with best-in-class innovative software solutions.  We aim to help businesses around the world benefit from real time payments and build amazing new experiences for themselves and their customers. Lightspark is headquartered in Los Angeles but serving the world.

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Backend Engineer to join our new Fiat Platform team at Lightspark. As a Senior Engineer, you will design, develop, and optimize cutting-edge payments solutions that ensure high performance, scalability, and security. You’ll play a key role in shaping the backend systems that connect Lightspark to traditional financial rails, enabling our customers to access financial services efficiently and securely.

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING:

• Designing and developing scalable backend services that integrate Lightspark with traditional financial systems, including payments infrastructure, bank integrations, and transaction processing.

• Collaborating with Product Managers, Designers, and other Engineers to build features that meet the evolving needs of our users.

• Contributing to the architecture and design of backend systems, ensuring reliability, security, and maintainability as our services scale.

• Writing high-quality, well-tested code that is maintainable and performant.

• Leading technical discussions and participating in code reviews to ensure engineering best practices are followed across the team.

• Taking ownership of key backend components, troubleshooting production issues, and working to improve system performance and stability.

• Building tools and frameworks to monitor, analyze, and improve system performance at scale.

• Proactively identifying opportunities for system optimization and performance improvements as we scale our platform to support more users.

• Mentoring junior engineers, providing feedback, and sharing best practices to help the team grow and improve.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• 7+ years of backend engineering experience, with a proven track record of building and maintaining scalable backend systems.

• Strong proficiency in one or more backend programming languages (e.g., Python, Go, Java, Rust, C++) and experience with modern software development practices.

• Experience working with distributed systems and large-scale applications, with a focus on reliability and performance optimization.

• Experience with payments systems or financial infrastructure (e.g., ledgers, transaction processing, bank integrations) 

• Experience with cloud-based technologies and infrastructure tools such as Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, or other cloud platforms.

• Ability to lead technical projects from design through deployment, collaborating with team members and cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality solutions.

• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to troubleshoot complex issues in production systems.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work effectively in a collaborative environment and explain technical decisions to non-engineering stakeholders.

• A passion for learning new technologies and continuously improving engineering processes.

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.