Startup Hiring Index · threadangellabs
Plaid › Engineering

Software Engineer, Backend

Plaid · San Francisco HQ · Remote

Pay
$176K–$227K
From the posting
Posted
May 4, 2026
Tracked open for 176 days
Team
All Departments
Full-time
Plaid hiring
134 open roles
46 in engineering
Apply on Plaid's site → Alert me about roles like this

Typical software engineer pay at startups: $221K median, middle half $188K–$256K (2,406 posted ranges).

Typical engineering pay at Plaid: $191K–$263K — median of 43 listed ranges.

Across all startups we track: $170K–$242K for engineering roles (8,046 listed ranges).

About the role

We believe that the way people interact with their finances will drastically improve in the next few years. We’re dedicated to empowering this transformation by building the tools and experiences that thousands of developers use to create their own products. Plaid powers the tools millions of people rely on to live a healthier financial life. We work with thousands of companies like Venmo, SoFi, several of the Fortune 500, and many of the largest banks to make it easy for people to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they want to use. Plaid’s network covers 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, UK and Europe. Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York, Seattle, Washington D.C., Raleigh, London, and Amsterdam.

Plaid’s mission is to unlock financial freedom for everyone by making money movement and access to financial data simple and secure. As a Software Engineer, you will design and build the systems that power how millions of people connect to their finances. You will work across the stack, from reliable backend services and APIs to intuitive applications that bring those systems to life. You will collaborate with engineers, product managers, and designers to ship products that make financial services more accessible and transparent. At Plaid, engineers take ownership early, grow quickly, and see their work reach millions of users.

Responsibilities:

  • System Design & Development: Build and maintain scalable, reliable backend or fullstack systems and APIs that power Plaid’s products.

  • Collaboration: Work closely with product managers, designers, and other engineers to define and deliver features that solve real customer problems.

  • Code Quality: Write clean, efficient, and well-tested code. Participate in reviews to maintain high engineering standards.

  • Testing & Debugging: Build automated tests, monitor system performance, and troubleshoot issues in production environments.

  • Continuous Improvement: Contribute to technical design discussions, share best practices, and help improve how we build at Plaid.

Qualifications:

  • 2-4 years of software engineering experience (post-internship).

  • Proven ability to ship reliable systems or features at scale.

  • Strong problem-solving skills. You turn ideas into practical, maintainable solutions.

  • High ownership. You are excited to roll up your sleeves and figure things out that don’t have precedent at Plaid.

  • Collaborative mindset. You thrive in a fast-paced environment and enjoy working with others to deliver results.

  • Growth oriented. You seek feedback, learn quickly, and take pride in improving your craft.

Our mission at Plaid is to unlock financial freedom for everyone. To support that mission, we seek to build a diverse team of driven individuals who care deeply about making the financial ecosystem more equitable. We recognize that strong qualifications can come from both prior work experiences and lived experiences. We encourage you to apply to a role even if your experience doesn't fully match the job description. We are always looking for team members that will bring something unique to Plaid!

Plaid is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion or religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, military or veteran status, disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Plaid is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance with your application or interviews due to a disability, please let us know at accommodations@plaid.com.

Please review our Candidate Privacy Notice here.

Additional compensation in the form(s) of equity and/or commission are dependent on the position offered. Plaid provides a comprehensive benefit plan, including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k). Pay is based on factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience and skillset, and location. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.

From Plaid's careers page. First seen May 4, 2026, last verified Oct 26, 2026.

Plaid hiring momentum

Open roles: 134, up 7 (+6%) over the last 10 days.

Oct 16, 2026 · 127Oct 26, 2026 · 134

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