Senior Privacy Engineer
Upstart · Remote · United States · 2mo ago
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 3,000 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, 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 Privacy Engineering team builds the systems, tools, and technical controls that help protect borrower, applicant, partner, and Upstarter data across our products and platforms. The team works across Engineering, Security, Legal, Compliance, Product, Data, and Machine Learning to make privacy-by-design practical and scalable.
As a Privacy Engineer II at Upstart, you will build software and services that embed privacy controls into the core architecture of Upstart’s products and technical systems. You will help implement privacy-enhancing technologies, data minimization patterns, and governance tooling that support responsible data use across Upstart’s AI lending marketplace.
How you’ll make an impact
- Design, build, and operate privacy engineering services that support user control, data governance, anonymization, pseudonymization, retention, deletion, and auditability
- Implement privacy-by-design patterns and data minimization controls across Upstart’s products, services, data pipelines, and machine learning systems
- Build APIs, libraries, services, and developer tools that help engineering teams standardize privacy enforcement across the technology stack
- Partner with Security, Legal, Compliance, Product, Data, Machine Learning, and Infrastructure teams to translate privacy requirements into clear technical specifications
- Support privacy reviews, data flow assessments, and technical risk assessments for new products, data uses, and platform capabilities
- Improve the reliability, observability, and maintainability of privacy systems through testing, monitoring, documentation, and thoughtful technical design
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience, and 3+ years of experience in software engineering
- Experience building and operating production software systems using programming languages such as Python, Go, Java, Scala, C++, Rust, or similar languages
- Experience building APIs, microservices, libraries, or backend services that support data governance, privacy controls, security controls, or data platform capabilities
- Experience with at least two privacy or security domains such as anonymization, pseudonymization, data retention, deletion, data lineage, access control, encryption, audit logging, or data minimization
- Experience translating privacy, security, compliance, or data protection requirements into software systems or technical workflows
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of privacy-by-design principles, privacy-enhancing technologies, purpose limitation, consent, retention, deletion, and data subject rights
- Experience with data governance systems, data catalogs, lineage tooling, personally identifiable information detection, redaction, or automated policy enforcement
- Experience supporting privacy reviews, threat modeling, data flow mapping, or technical risk assessments for production systems
- Experience working with machine learning systems, financial services, lending, or another regulated data environment
- Ability to communicate privacy engineering tradeoffs clearly across technical, legal, compliance, product, and business audiences
Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.
#LI-REMOTE
#LI-MidSenior --> use for L5, L6
At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).
What you'll love
At Upstart, our benefits are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here’s what you can expect:
- Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
- Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada)
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)
- Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.
- Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)
- Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security
- Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements
- Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country)
- Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
- Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only)
- Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you
- Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from
- Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
- Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City
For roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec.
Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Just as we are dedicated to improving access to affordable credit for all, we are committed to inclusive and fair hiring practices.
If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email candidate_accommodations@upstart.com