For 41 years, Rewards Network has been helping restaurants grow revenue, increase traffic, and boost customer engagement through innovative financial, marketing services, and premier dining rewards programs. By offering unique card-linked offers, we introduce diners to fantastic restaurant experiences, leveraging advanced technology and data analytics to deliver value to restaurants, diners, and our strategic partners' loyalty programs.

Our Culture

At Rewards Network, you'll be part of a driven and diverse team that excels in collaboration, issue resolution, and taking ownership of both personal growth and the company's success. We take pride in partnering with the world's most powerful loyalty programs to drive full-price paying customers to local restaurants through marketing services and flexible funding options. Our engaging and rewarding environment is designed to help you gain your full potential.

Job Overview

The Senior Software Engineer (Platform Team) joins a dynamic group responsible for designing and developing scalable back-end systems that power Rewards Network’s dining and transaction processing platform. This role contributes to building robust, functional programming-driven services, ensuring seamless rewards delivery and exceptional partner experiences for millions of users. We’re open to hiring at the mid to senior level based on experience .

This is a hybrid position that requires in office presence 3 days a week (Tuesday-Thursday) in Chicago.

What you’ll bring to the table: (Responsibilities)

• Lead the development of scalable back-end systems to support platform services. • Architect RESTful APIs and microservices using functional programming to ensure reliability and maintainability. • Build real-time data pipelines to enable efficient platform operations. • Optimize databases for performance and data integrity. • Mentor team members on functional programming practices and system design for high-quality, testable code. • Collaborate with DevOps and data teams to align on platform performance and operational needs. • Implement security measures to safeguard sensitive platform data. • Oversee projects from design to deployment, ensuring alignment with business goals. • Enhance CI/CD processes to maintain platform reliability. • Research advanced functional programming techniques to improve system performance.

Do you have the right mix of ingredients :

7+ years of experience in back-end software development, with at least 3 years focused on functional programming.

Expert proficiency in Scala or other functional programming languages for building complex back-end systems.

Strong experience with functional programming libraries, including Cats Effect, for concurrent and scalable applications.

Advanced skill in designing RESTful APIs and microservices with functional paradigms.

Proficiency in event streaming systems like Kafka for real-time processing.

Expertise in optimizing relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL) for high-throughput environments.

Ability to write clean, testable code adhering to functional programming principles.

Deep knowledge of security practices for critical systems.

Proven ability to lead technical projects and mentor engineers across teams.

Experience with CI/CD pipelines and containerized environments (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).

Familiarity with Typelevel ecosystem (preferred).

Experience building applications using Python (preferred).

Education, Certifications and Experience: Preferred

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience (e.g., coding bootcamp or self-taught expertise).

What you’ll love about us:

Comprehensive benefits package, which includes:

This is a full-time, exempt position. The base salary range for this role in Chicago is $130,000–$170,000 annually, depending on level (mid-level or senior), as well as candidate experience, skills, and other factors. This role is also eligible for an annual bonus target of 10%, bringing total target compensation to $143,000–$187,000.

Competitive Time Off Benefits: including flexible PTO, 11 company holidays, and parental leave.

Generous dining reimbursement when you dine with our restaurant clients

401(k) plan with a company match

Two medical plan options- Standard PPO or High Deductible Health Plan (HSA with company match for HDHP participants)

Partnership with Rx n Go, offering certain prescriptions for free

Two dental plan options and a vision plan

Flexible Spending Accounts and a pre-tax commuter benefit program

Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity Insurance Plans

Short Term and Long Term disability

Company-paid life insurance and AD&D insurance, supplemental employee, spouse, and child life insurance

Employee Life Assistance Program

Hybrid working environment in a new office space downtown near the Metra Train stations and catered lunches on Tuesdays.

Rewards Network is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). We encourage and strongly support workplace diversity.

Expected Base Salary Range $130,000 — $170,000 USD