Lead Software Engineer
Nubank
Palo Alto, CA · $230k–$276k a year · Posted October 22, 2026
Just laid off? Start here: a plan for the first weeks
More in California job market · Lead Software Engineer jobs in California (35) · All Lead Software Engineer jobs (255) · Technology & Software · Engineering jobs
More roles at Nubank
- Principal Product Designer · Palo Alto, CA
- Head of Design, AI Private Banker · Palo Alto, CA
- Head of Design, Global Expansion · Miami, FL
- Head of FP&A | Credit Products · Miami, FL
- Legal Senior Manager, M&A and Strategic Contracts · Miami, FL
- US CISO · Palo Alto, CA
Similar jobs
- Software Engineer, Growth Data Platform · Omni · San Francisco, CA
- Staff Engineer, Full Stack (US, Canada, SF) · Short Story · San Francisco, CA
- Member of Technical Staff - Engineering Lead, Compute Platform · Reflection AI · San Francisco, CA
- Senior Software Engineer, Trading Infrastructure · Aptos · Palo Alto, CA
- Senior Forward Deployed Agentic Engineer · Gumloop · San Francisco, CA
- Member of Technical Staff - Engineering Lead, Platform Foundations · Reflection AI · San Francisco, CA
Where Palo Alto, CA ranks
Where Palo Alto, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #3Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills28% · of 100
- #3Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills in the West Coast28% · of 54
- #3Best cities for AI-skill jobs37% · of 100
- #3Best cities for AI-skill jobs in the West Coast37% · of 71
- #4Best cities for data and analytics pay after cost of living$207k · of 28
- #4Best all-round cities for mid-career professionals83 / 100 · of 100
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among software developers, AI is already used for some of the tasks. Measured exposure for software developers: 29% (some).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Skills this job asks for
Say which you have and which you want to build. We use it to match you to jobs like this one.
About the job
ABOUT NU
Nu serves more than 140 million customers, guided by a mission to fight complexity and empower people. The company has been leading an industry transformation through innovative products and human-centered services.
Proprietary technology and data at scale power Nu’s digital platform, built to promote financial access, advancement, and transparency. Its business model thrives on customer love and lower costs, feeding a flywheel of growth and profitability.
Visit our Institutional Page https://www.nu.com/2026-en
ABOUT THE ROLE
As a Software Engineer, you will join a small, senior group shaping the core technology that powers Nubank globally — from data and experimentation platforms to shared services that support products across multiple business units and geographies.
The work is highly 0→1, with a strong emphasis on long‑term impact, technical quality, and global scale rather than one‑off features.
YOU'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
- Designing, building, and operating distributed backend services and APIs that support core platforms used by multiple product teams worldwide.
- Owning services end‑to‑end — from architecture and implementation to observability, reliability, and continuous improvement in production.
- Defining clear contracts, SLOs, and guardrails so internal teams can safely build on top of the platforms you own.
- Collaborating closely with data, ML, and infrastructure engineers to turn models, datasets, and lower‑level components into robust, easy‑to‑use internal products.
- Leading 0→1 and modernization initiatives, making pragmatic trade‑offs and setting technical standards for high‑leverage systems.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR A PERSON WHO HAS
REQUIRED
- Solid experience as a backend or platform engineer, owning production systems end‑to‑end (design, implementation, operations, and ongoing evolution).
- Proven track record working with distributed systems at scale and building APIs or microservices on modern cloud infrastructure.
- Experience building or supporting platform‑level services where many teams depend on your systems for their day‑to‑day work.
- Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast‑changing contexts and driving 0→1 technical decisions with a long‑term mindset.
- Strong collaboration and communication skills, including working effectively with engineers across disciplines and locations.
NICE TO HAVE
- Experience with data, ML, or AI‑related infrastructure (e.g., experimentation, model serving, or ML platforms) used by multiple product teams.
- Exposure to highly regulated or safety‑critical domains (such as financial infrastructure or crypto) where reliability, compliance, and auditability are essential.
- Background in fast‑growing global tech companies, designing systems that work across products, markets, and regulatory environments.
- Experience mentoring other engineers and contributing to raising the engineering bar through reviews, discussions, and hiring.
LOCATION & WORK MODEL
- Location: Palo Alto, United States.
- Work model: Hybrid 2–3 times/week – our hybrid work model brings us to the office at least twice a week, on strategic days designed to maximize team connection and collaboration. For more details, visit https://building.nubank.com/nu-hybrid-work-model/.
OUR BENEFITS
Our benefits program is designed to support your well‑being and performance while you enjoy life and work. For roles based in the United States, our current benefits include:
- Opportunity of earning equity at Nu
- Total compensation includes base salary, RSUs and benefits. Base salary range: $230,000 - $276,000
- Medical Insurance
- Dental and Vision Insurance
- Life Insurance and AD&D
- Extended maternity and paternity leaves
- Nucleo – our learning platform of courses
- NuLanguage – our language learning program
- NuCare – our mental health and wellness assistance program
- 401K
- Saving Plans – Health Saving Account and Flexible Spending Account
- Work‑from‑home Allowance
- Relocation Assistance Package, if applicable
Explore how we build technology at Nubank: building.nubank.com.br, youtube.com/@building.nubank, and our podcast on Spotify.
Our recruitment process may involve the use of artificial intelligence–enabled tools, such as automated interview transcription and analysis, to support the evaluation process. Artificial intelligence is not used to make final hiring decisions; all decisions are made by human reviewers.
To maintain a consistent and fair process for every candidate, Nu does not provide individualized technical feedback. See how our policy works here https://script.google.com/a/macros/nubank.com.br/s/AKfycbwvrewE58oGSbRWIVv8CyCWN68GLxpPVsfYYXv-ZHg94QFsTJmi82rF1x0yt-OTs2W0DQ/exec