Principal Engineer
PayPal
Software Engineering
San Jose, CA, USA
USD 188k-323,950 / year + Equity
Posted on Jun 3, 2025
The Company
PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy.
We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.
We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards. Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade.
Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day. We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.
Job Description Summary:
The Consumer Experiences team is responsible for building the consumer mobile and web applications that power the PayPal's digital wallet, bringing valuable new features to life. Our goal is to acquire and retain consumers by delivering secure, seamless, and rewarding digital wallet experiences that help them save time and money—while also empowering merchants to acquire, convert, and retain customers more effectively. We are seeking an experienced and driven Principal Engineer to design and develop PayPal’s consumer mobile and web applications and platforms. This role requires a strategic thinker with a deep technical background and a passion for building exceptional customer experiences. This position is a critical role in providing technical leadership, guiding teams in building cohesive, next-generation mobile and web applications, and work closely with the core platform teams to design solutions that fully leverage platform capabilities while ensuring performance, scalability and reliability. This person will also mentor engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, ownership and technical excellence.
Job Description:
You will architect and implement robust cloud-native platform solutions that power scalable mobile and web experiences. As a Principal Engineer, you'll work across teams to solve complex technical challenges, drive platform strategy, and influence technology decisions. We value agility, innovation, and collaboration — if you're passionate about engineering excellence, thrive in high-impact roles, and enjoy mentoring others, this opportunity will inspire you.
Your day to day:
Actual Compensation is based on various factors including but not limited to work location, and relevant skills and experience.
The total compensation for this practice may include an annual performance bonus (or other incentive compensation, as applicable), equity, and medical, dental, vision, and other benefits. For more information, visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com.
The U.S. national annual pay range for this role is $188,000 to $323,950
For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.
Our Benefits:
At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.
We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more. To learn more about our benefits please visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com
Who We Are:
To learn more about our culture and community visit https://about.pypl.com/who-we-are/default.aspx
Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at paypalglobaltalentacquisition@paypal.com.
Belonging at PayPal:
Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.
Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.
We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.
REQ ID R0126397
PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy.
We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.
We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards. Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade.
Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day. We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.
Job Description Summary:
The Consumer Experiences team is responsible for building the consumer mobile and web applications that power the PayPal's digital wallet, bringing valuable new features to life. Our goal is to acquire and retain consumers by delivering secure, seamless, and rewarding digital wallet experiences that help them save time and money—while also empowering merchants to acquire, convert, and retain customers more effectively. We are seeking an experienced and driven Principal Engineer to design and develop PayPal’s consumer mobile and web applications and platforms. This role requires a strategic thinker with a deep technical background and a passion for building exceptional customer experiences. This position is a critical role in providing technical leadership, guiding teams in building cohesive, next-generation mobile and web applications, and work closely with the core platform teams to design solutions that fully leverage platform capabilities while ensuring performance, scalability and reliability. This person will also mentor engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, ownership and technical excellence.
Job Description:
You will architect and implement robust cloud-native platform solutions that power scalable mobile and web experiences. As a Principal Engineer, you'll work across teams to solve complex technical challenges, drive platform strategy, and influence technology decisions. We value agility, innovation, and collaboration — if you're passionate about engineering excellence, thrive in high-impact roles, and enjoy mentoring others, this opportunity will inspire you.
Your day to day:
- Leadership and Vision
- Lead large-scale platform engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
- Define and communicate a comprehensive platform strategy that aligns with business goals.
- Guide the team in adapting to industry trends and emerging technologies.
- Strategic Thinking
- Align platform investments with company objectives and ensure balance between short-term deliveries and long-term evolution.
- Make informed decisions in build-vs-buy scenarios to optimize resources.
- Conduct cost and return on investment optimizations while making architecture decisions that enhance operational efficiency.
- Team and Stakeholder Management
- Support enterprise-wide hiring processes and participate in Bar Raiser groups to enhance talent acquisition.
- Manage and nurture cross-functional relationships across product, security, infrastructure, compliance, and privacy departments.
- Communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, influencing executives and external partners regarding architectural direction.
- Architecture and Design
- Design and implement scalable, distributed systems to support high-traffic web and mobile applications.
- Utilize microservices architecture, including API gateways, service discovery, and orchestration techniques.
- Develop and govern RESTful APIs and GraphQL services, and design event-driven architectures using technologies like Kafka and AWS SNS/SQS.
- Leverage cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) for operational efficiency and scalability while optimizing performance and latency.
- Operational Excellence
- Implement methods to ensure platform reliability and performance, including capacity planning and performance engineering.
- Implement robust Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) practices and manage incident handling and post-mortem processes.
- Focus on quality and observability, utilizing monitoring tools like Datadog, Grafana, and OpenTelemetry to ensure platform health.
- Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
- 15+ years of experience in developing mobile and web applications and platforms, including 5+ years leading architecture efforts and mentoring senior engineers.
- Deep expertise in designing scalable, secure, and resilient systems on cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or GCP.
- Strong proficiency in cloud-native technologies, including Kubernetes, Docker, service mesh and Infrastructure as Code.
- Extensive experience with microservices architecture, API design (REST, GraphQL), and event-driven systems (Kafka, EventBridge, etc.).
- Proven ability to build and operate highly available platforms using DevOps and SRE best practices, including CI/CD, observability, and automated testing.
- Demonstrated capability in performance optimization and troubleshooting of distributed systems at scale.
- Strong communication and influencing skills across both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executives and cross-functional partners.
- Experience driving strategic architecture decisions, including cost optimization and resource efficiency.
- Demonstrated success in leading cross-functional engineering teams in delivering complex platform or infrastructure projects.
- Deep understanding of security, compliance, and regulatory requirements particularly in the financial domain.
- Prior experience in the payments or fintech industry is highly desirable.
Actual Compensation is based on various factors including but not limited to work location, and relevant skills and experience.
The total compensation for this practice may include an annual performance bonus (or other incentive compensation, as applicable), equity, and medical, dental, vision, and other benefits. For more information, visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com.
The U.S. national annual pay range for this role is $188,000 to $323,950
For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.
Our Benefits:
At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.
We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more. To learn more about our benefits please visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com
Who We Are:
To learn more about our culture and community visit https://about.pypl.com/who-we-are/default.aspx
Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at paypalglobaltalentacquisition@paypal.com.
Belonging at PayPal:
Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.
Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.
We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.
REQ ID R0126397