Staff Software Engineer, Data Platform
Credit Acceptance is proud to be an award-winning company with local and national workplace recognition in multiple categories! Our world-class culture is shaped by dedicated Team Members who share a drive to succeed as professionals and together as a company. A great product, amazing people and our stable financial history have made us one of the largest used car finance companies nationally. Our Engineering and Analytics Team Members utilize the latest technology to develop, monitor, and maintain complex practices that help optimize our success. Our Team Members value being challenged, are encouraged to express their ideas, and have the flexibility to enjoy work life balance. We build intrinsic value by partnering with all functions of our business to support their success and make strategic business decisions. We focus on professional development and continuous improvement while enjoying a casual work environment and Great Place to Work culture! Outcomes and Activities: Own architecture and implementation of key components of the modern data platform (e.g., data lake, streaming infrastructure, DaaS, DAL, data catalog), ensuring production reliability and technical soundness. Drive technical innovation by contributing to system design, implementation, and operational excellence in high-impact areas of the platform. Model strong engineering practices through hands-on work and code contributions, demonstrating how engineers should approach problems and uphold quality. Collaborate with peers across data and engineering teams to influence technology and architecture decisions, providing well-reasoned perspectives. Advocate for adoption of new technologies and demonstrate their value through prototypes, proofs of concept, and integration into team workflows. Align project execution with broader strategies by working with senior engineers and engineering leadership to support the company’s technical and business direction. Conduct impact analysis to proactively identify impact of a change across services and systems Evaluate third-party technologies and solutions through technical assessments and provide recommendations that balance technical fit with business needs. Experiment and validate ideas by testing assumptions, analyzing results, and recommending practical solutions to improve platform capabilities. Contribute to documentation of standards and best practices, making platform engineering approaches clear and maintainable for other teams. Debug and resolve complex production issues, applying technical expertise to restore stability across services and systems. Participate in continuous learning and improvement efforts, helping refine processes, design practices, and team workflows for better engineering outcomes. Grow talent by participating in hiring and mentoring team members Competencies: The following items detail how you will be successful in this role. Customer Empathy: Customer Empathy is the ability to understand the perspectives, pain points, and experiences of customers. It involves actively putting oneself in the customer’s shoes, comprehending their needs and challenges, and using that understanding to provide a better, more customer-centric experience. Engineering Excellence: Engineering Excellence is about bringing great craftsmanship and thought leadership to deliver an outstanding product that delights customers and solves for the business. This involves the pursuit and achievement of high standards, best practices, innovation, and superior solutions. One Team: A One Team mindset refers to a collaborative approach across the organization, where individuals work together seamlessly, without boundaries, as a single, cohesive team. Shared goals, open communication and mutual support create a sense of collective purpose. This enables teams to navigate challenges and pursue shared objectives more effectively. Owner’s Mindset: Owner’s Mindset involves adopting a set of behaviors that reflect a sense of responsibility, accountability, strategic thinking, and a proactive approach to managing your domain. As an owner, you understand the business and your domain(s) deeply and solve for the right outcome for the domain(s) and the business. Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a closely related field; or equivalent work experience Minimum 5 years of software engineering experience, with recent hands-on experience building and maintaining data platforms or distributed systems in cloud environments Strong knowledge of software engineering best practices, with practical experience building and operating data platforms, products, or solutions Experience developing and supporting cloud-native applications (AWS, Azure, or GCP), including containerized services (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS/EKS) Working knowledge of lakehouse technologies (Delta Lake, Iceberg, Hudi) with hands-on experience in schema evolution and optimization Strong understanding of observability practices (metrics, logging, tracing, alerting) and experience applying them with tools such as Dynatrace, Splunk, or CloudWatch to ensure platform reliability and performance. Applied experience with data storage and processing technologies, including object stores (S3, ADLS, GCS), relational databases, and NoSQL systems Awareness of data governance and security practices (e.g., access controls, encryption, compliance considerations), with the ability to design platform components that align with organizational standards Strong knowledge of distributed systems concepts (scalability, reliability, consistency, partitioning) and their application to large-scale data platforms Experience working with enterprise-class applications where uptime, reliability, and scalability are essential Strong programming skills in one or more languages commonly used for platform engineering (e.g., Python, Java, Scala, Go) Demonstrated ability to mentor and coach less experienced engineers, contributing to team growth and technical maturity Familiarity with Agile delivery practices and other software development lifecycle methodologies Preferred: Advanced expertise in lakehouse technologies (Delta, Iceberg, Hudi), including performance tuning and reliability at scale Hands-on experience with workflow orchestration frameworks (Airflow, Dagster, Prefect, Databricks Workflows) Strong background in CI/CD pipelines for platform services Deep familiarity with observability and SRE practices (SLAs/SLOs/SLIs, distributed tracing, advanced monitoring tools) Experience with performance tuning and cost optimization for large-scale data platforms Financial services or FinTech industry experience Knowledge and Skills: Designs and implements major components of the data platform that are scalable, reliable, and aligned with platform strategy Provides technical direction for a team or project, mentors less experienced engineers, and helps raise engineering standards Identifies gaps in current practices and proposes improvements that strengthen platform quality and delivery Collaborates with peers and cross-functional teams, encouraging diverse perspectives to inform decisions Applies strong knowledge of distributed systems, cloud-native services, and data storage technologies to deliver impactful solutions Connects platform initiatives to business value, making tradeoffs and outcomes visible Communicates technical decisions effectively to engineers and stakeholders, both verbally and in writing Operates with autonomy on complex projects, anticipating risks and dependencies while contributing to team-level planning and execution Target Compensation: A competitive base salary range from $185,805 – $206,450. This position is eligible for an annual variable bonus of cash and equity, between 10-20%. Bonus amounts are based on individual performance. Final compensation within the range is influenced by many factors including role-specific skills, depth and experience level, industry background, relevant education and certifications. Candidates who reside in the following major metropolitan areas may be eligible for a premium on top of the posted range based on their specific zone: San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, New York City, Los Angeles and San Diego. Benefits Excellent benefits package that includes 401(K) match, adoption assistance, parental leave, tuition reimbursement, comprehensive medical/ dental/vision and many nonstandard benefits that make us a Great Place to Work Our Company Values: To be successful in this role, Team Members need to be: Positive by maintaining resiliency and focusing on solutions Respectful by collaborating and actively listening Insightful by cultivating innovation, accumulating business and role specific knowledge, demonstrating self-awareness and making quality decisions Direct by effectively communicating and conveying courage Earnest by taking accountability, applying feedback and effectively planning and priority setting Expectations: Remain compliant with our policies processes and legal guidelines All other duties as assigned Attendance as required by department Advice ! We understand that your career search may look different than others. Our hiring team wants to make sure that this would be a fit not just for us, but for you long term. If you are actively looking or starting to explore new opportunities, send us your application! P.S . We have great details around our stats, success, history and more. We’re proud of our culture and are happy to share why – let’s talk! Required degrees must have been earned at institutions of Higher Education which are accredited by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or equivalent. Credit Acceptance is dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive working environment for all. As part of our Culture of Compliance, we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and value our culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of the person’s age, race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status, criminal history, or any other legally protected characteristic. California Residents: Please click here for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) notice regarding the personal information Credit Acceptance may collect from you. Play the video below to learn more about our Company culture.
