Job Description
About Upstart At Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence. As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 1,800 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress. We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City (opening Summer 2026), you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you. If you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you. The Team: Upstart’s Cash Line and Unsecured Installment teams are building and scaling mobile experiences across two important lending product surfaces. This role will help both teams drive Android migration work, strengthen Upstart’s mobile foundation, and support a newly approved Android app launch plan on an aggressive timeline. The work is highly cross-functional and high-visibility, with direct impact on product strategy, engineering execution, and the experience of future Android borrowers. As the Principal Software Engineer, Android at Upstart, you will lead critical Android initiatives across both the Cash Line and Unsecured Installment teams while helping shape the long-term mobile architecture across those product areas. You’ll serve as the senior technical owner for native Android work, partner across both teams to deliver against an ambitious roadmap, and continue as a mobile specialist after launch with enough React Native experience to influence frontend direction, delivery, and engineering quality across the broader stack. This is a high-impact individual contributor role with meaningful technical leadership, cross-team influence, and mentorship responsibility. How you’ll make an impact Lead Android migration and development efforts across Cash Line and Unsecured Installment product surfaces, making thoughtful technical decisions that improve product quality, scalability, and speed of execution. Help deliver against Upstart’s approved Android launch plan, translating aggressive business goals into pragmatic technical milestones and execution plans. Set technical direction for mobile architecture, helping the teams evolve a strong foundation across native Android and React Native surfaces while keeping Android expertise at the core. Partner closely with product, design, and engineering stakeholders across both teams to translate roadmap priorities into durable mobile solutions. Raise the bar for engineering excellence through technical leadership, design reviews, mentorship, and pragmatic execution in ambiguous, high-visibility problem spaces. After launch, continue as a mobile specialist who can support both the Cash Line and Unsecured Installment teams, bringing deep Android expertise alongside enough React Native fluency to contribute across shared mobile surfaces. Minimum Qualifications 8+ years of software engineering experience, including substantial experience building and shipping native Android applications in Kotlin and/or Java. Proven track record leading large, cross-team mobile initiatives, platform migrations, or new mobile product launches in production environments. Experience shipping consumer-facing mobile products at scale with strong attention to performance, reliability, and user experience. Native Android depth in Kotlin and/or Java, plus working experience with React Native and TypeScript to operate effectively across a mixed mobile stack. Demonstrated technical leadership as a senior individual contributor, including architecture ownership, mentorship, and influence across teams. Preferred Qualifications Experience serving as the mobile or frontend technical lead for a product team or business-critical product surface. Breadth across mobile platforms, including familiarity with iOS development, React Native, or cross-platform mobile architecture. Background in fintech, lending, or other consumer financial products with co
