Staff Software Engineer

Staff Software Engineer

Western Union is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to play a key technical team leadership role in building and scaling our modern API platform that powers integrations with external partners and internal channels worldwide. This role requires deep expertise in cloud-native architecture, backend engineering, and DevOps practices, along with the ability to influence design decisions and mentor engineers across teams.

You will work closely with Product, Architecture, Security, and Operations to deliver secure, scalable, and highly available APIs supporting Western Union's global money movement ecosystem.

Role Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical team leader and subject-matter expert for the API platform, owning architecture and design decisions for complex systems and services.
• Lead the design and implementation of scalable, resilient solutions, balancing short-term delivery needs with long-term platform sustainability.
• Partner closely with Product, Architecture, Security, and Operations to translate business requirements into high-quality technical solutions.
• Drive engineering excellence by defining and enforcing best practices around system design, testing (including TDD), security, performance, and operational readiness.
• Provide hands-on guidance through design reviews, code reviews, and technical deep dives, raising overall code quality and consistency.
• Act as a technical mentor to senior and mid-level engineers, supporting growth in system thinking, ownership, and problem solving.
• Influence platform direction by identifying opportunities to improve scalability, reliability, developer experience, and cost efficiency.
• Serve as a key escalation point for complex production issues, contributing to root cause analysis and long-term corrective actions.
• Collaborate across teams to ensure alignment with enterprise standards while enabling teams to deliver efficiently and independently.

Role Requirements

• Bachelors in computer science or related fields with 8+ years of professional experience or master's with 6+ years of experience. Equivalent work experience.
• Proven expertise in Java and Spring Boot, with experience building and supporting production-grade APIs.
• Strong experience designing and delivering RESTful APIs, including API contracts, versioning, and backward compatibility.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate business and product requirements and translate them into scalable, resilient technical solutions.
• Hands-on experience working in an Agile development environment, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, and iterative delivery.
• Strong experience partnering with Product Managers to shape solutions, clarify requirements, and prioritize work.
• Solid experience with AWS cloud services and cloud-native application design.
• Experience implementing and leveraging caching frameworks to improve system performance and scalability.
• Strong understanding of non-functional requirements, including scalability, performance, reliability, security, and availability.
• Hands-on experience with Test-Driven Development (TDD) and automated testing practices.
• Proven experience leading technical design and code reviews and enforcing engineering best practices.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex production issues and drive root-cause analysis.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence technical decisions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure automation, and modern DevOps practices.
• Experience operating systems in high-availability and high-throughput environments.
• Familiarity with API gateways, authentication, and authorization frameworks.
• Experience defining or contributing to platform-level standards and reusable components.
• Prior experience working on enterprise-scale or integration platforms.

Work Shift

HYBRID - Western Union values in-person collaboration, problem solving, and ideation whenever possible. We believe this fosters common ways of working and supports how we execute initiatives for our customers. The expectation is to work from the office a minimum of three days a week.

Benefits

You will also have access to short-term incentives, multiple health insurance options, accident and life insurance, and access to best-in-class development platforms, to name a few. Please see the location-specific benefits below and note that your Recruiter may share additional role-specific benefits during your interview process or in an offer of employment.

Your United States – Specific Benefits Include

• Paid Time Off
• Medical, Dental and Life Insurance
• Tuition Assistance Program
• Student Loan Repayment (below manager level only)
• Parental Leave
• One day volunteer time off
• $0 Money Transfer Fee Discount Code – Quarterly
• Recognition Program "Game Changers"
• Employee Discount Program
• Global Adoption Assistance
• Global Scholarship Awards Program
• 401K plan

Annual base salary range is $130,000 – 150,000 USD per year. Total on-target compensation includes a base salary and short-term that align with individual and company performance. Actual salaries will vary based on candidates' qualifications, skills, and competencies.

As part of the application process, all applicants are required to take assessments. Western Union has partnered with a 3rd party provider to administer these tests. Applicants will need to provide their name and email address in order to process the assessments.

We are passionate about honoring our employee's identity and fostering a feeling of belonging. Our commitment is to provide an inclusive culture that celebrates the unique backgrounds and perspectives of our global teams while reflecting the communities we serve. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, political affiliation, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or veteran status. The company will provide accommodation to applicants, including those with disabilities, during the recruitment process, following applicable laws.