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Staff Software Engineer, Financial Platform - Issuing

Block· 10414 Engineering - Fintech Platform
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Seattle, WA$263.6k - $395.4kfull-timePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Staff-level role focused on card issuing platform for Block brands, including Cash App Card and Square Card. Hands-on engineering at the network boundary with card networks, shaping certification, conformance, and production behavior across issuance, fulfillment, activation, and real-time processing.

Responsibilities

  • Be a deep technical expert on global card networks, helping Issuing teams interpret network specifications, message flows, certification requirements, mandates, and production behavior — and working directly with the networks to influence requirements, resolve ambiguity, and secure outcomes that matter for Block.
  • Lead complex, ambiguous engineering problems at the network boundary that span multiple teams, systems, or domains.
  • Partner with technical leads, program DRIs, and senior stakeholders to shape solutions where card-network requirements intersect with Block's issuing platform.
  • Stay deeply hands-on: write production code, build certification and conformance tooling, analyze network messages, review designs and code, and debug issues down to the protocol and field level.
  • Drive network certification and mandatory release cycles end to end, and translate network requirements into clear, pragmatic engineering decisions.
  • Establish shared frameworks, standards, tooling, and practices that make network expertise durable and enable teams to operate independently.
  • Raise the technical capability of engineers around you through design guidance, code reviews, mentorship, documentation, and clear technical judgment.
  • Apply AI-powered tools throughout the engineering lifecycle to improve velocity and quality, and help establish effective patterns for broader team use.
  • Share operational ownership of critical financial systems through on-call, incident response, and continuous improvements to reliability and correctness.

Qualifications

  • Deep, current expertise with at least one major card network, ideally Visa, including direct connectivity, ISO 8583, authorization and clearing flows, stand-in processing, specifications, certification, and mandate cycles.
  • Personally built, certified, or operated a live direct network connection — not only integrated through a processor.
  • Experience working directly with card networks to land concrete outcomes, such as rulings, exceptions, extensions, configuration changes, defect fixes, or certification outcomes.
  • Strong hands-on software engineering experience building and operating highly reliable financial or payments systems at scale.
  • A track record of leading technically complex, ambiguous work across team boundaries and influencing technical direction beyond your immediate area of ownership.
  • Experience creating durable technical leverage — frameworks, standards, tooling, architecture, or practices that other engineers and teams adopt.
  • Broad understanding of the card lifecycle, with depth in areas such as issuance and fulfillment, provisioning and activation, authorization, ledgering, clearing and settlement, reconciliation, disputes, or fraud.
  • Working knowledge of Mastercard and American Express, alongside deep expertise in at least one major network.
  • Fluency with AI-assisted engineering workflows and sound judgment in evaluating and applying AI-generated output.
  • Willingness to participate in an on-call rotation for critical financial systems.

Skills

Required:Card network expertiseNetwork certification & conformanceProduction software engineering

Benefits

  • Remote work, medical insurance, flexible time off, retirement savings plans, and modern family planning are among benefits offered (per job description).
Last updated Sep 16, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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About Block

Block builds technology to increase access to the global economy.

Made up of Square, Cash App, Afterpay, TIDAL, Bitkey, and Proto, Block, Inc. builds technology to increase access to the global economy.

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