Staff Engineer

About the Company

Pay.com.au, established in 2019 and employing around 200 people, has secured about US$70 million in funding, including a US$28 million Series E round in August 2026 targeting expansion in the United States. The company operates from Windsor, Melbourne and follows a hybrid working approach with office presence required three days a week (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday).

Business Overview

PayRewards is the US division of pay.com.au, focused on enabling American small businesses to pay suppliers via card and earn rewards, including airline points, for expenditures they were already incurring. Since its 2021 launch, pay.com.au has onboarded over 100,000 Australian businesses, processed billions in payments, and earned accolades including #1 Smart50 and #3 AFR Fast Starters. The US market opportunity is approximately twelve times Australia's small business size, with ambitious growth plans underway.

Role Summary

This position is the initial growth engineering hire within the US team, acting as the senior-most engineer. Unlike traditional roles, there is no existing product roadmap; the engineer identifies opportunities, develops features, measures outcomes, and independently determines continuation or termination of initiatives. Responsibilities span registration, activation, referral and affiliate systems, in-product conversion, and landing page experiences. Features are deployed behind feature toggles, fully instrumented, reversible, and do not require pre-approval. Experiments must conclude decisively based on key metrics.

The underlying platform is licensed, PCI DSS compliant, and ISO 27001 certified. The candidate is expected to uphold rigorous architectural standards, provide code reviews, and mentor fellow engineers. The role reports to the Chief Technology Officer and collaborates closely with the US CEO and Product Manager. Rapid iteration is a hallmark, with experiments delivering measurable results within days.

Technical Approach and Environment

The team embraces AI-centered development tooling not just as assistance but as a core agentic loop for shipping software, where agents play integral roles in the production pipeline. Engineering practices are tightly integrated with this AI-driven approach.

Why Join

This role offers a unique blend of product decision-making, growth accountability, and AI-native delivery within an early-stage US business backed by a proven Australian model. The engineer will define the growth surface and experiment framework from the ground up, enjoying autonomy and responsibility. The Australian branch has scaled from under 10 engineers to 47 and 100,000+ customers over five years; the US side is poised for similar growth with Melbourne-based leadership.

Candidate Profile

Ideal applicants are engineers at Staff, Technical Lead, Principal, or Engineering Manager levels who have owned architecture, conducted peer reviews, and accepted accountability for stability. The candidate should be a full-stack developer capable of independently delivering customer-facing features. Fluency with AI development tools is essential, as is competence in analytics and experimental design to objectively assess results, including negative outcomes. Experience in B2B SaaS or service businesses is highly preferable; payments domain knowledge is beneficial but not mandatory. Self-direction is crucial since tasks and priorities are largely self-generated.

Contact

Interested candidates are invited to engage with the recruiting representative for further discussion about the company's vision and fit.