Principal Engineer/Head of Engineering - Payments

🌍 Remote, USA 🎯 Full-time 🕐 Posted Recently

Job Description

About ThriveCart:

ThriveCart is a leading no-code platform used by over 50,000 creators, coaches, and entrepreneurs worldwide to generate over $2Bn in annual sales. Included within the ThriveCart platform is a powerful landing page builder, affiliate management, cart and checkout functionality and learning management system (LMS), making it a top solution all-in-one solution for digital product sales.

Location:

Remote (Europe or in South America)

Must have full authorization to work in country of residence being in Europe or in South America.

Job Overview:

We're looking for a Principal Engineer/Head of Engineering to lead ThrivePay—our next-generation payment service that will process billions of dollars for tens of thousands of businesses worldwide.

ThrivePay is our strategic initiative to extract and rebuild ThriveCart's payment processing engine as a standalone, modern payment platform. This isn't just a refactor—it's a greenfield opportunity to build something exceptional.

Migrate from monolithic PHP to distributed Node/TypeScript microservices
Build a PCI DSS compliant payment service that reduces compliance scope
Support multiple payment processors with a unified API
Handle high-volume transactions at scale on AWS
Execute a careful rollout strategy with zero customer disruption

You'll have 3 teams of 3-4 engineers (9-12 people total), the resources of an established company, and the autonomy to make this project successful.

Key Responsibilities:

Design ThrivePay's distributed microservices architecture
Make hands-on technology decisions (Node/TypeScript, AWS services, infrastructure)
Establish CI/CD pipelines and automated quality standards
Ensure PCI DSS compliance from day one
Contribute code strategically when it matters most

Build and lead 3 high-performing engineering teams
Mentor engineers and develop future leaders
Create a culture of ownership and excellence
Remove blockers and enable your teams to ship

Execute on roadmap and deliver incrementally
Manage phased rollout strategy
Establish monitoring and reliability practices

Deep Payment Systems Expertise
You've built payment integrations with Stripe, PayPal, or similar. You understand authorization, capture, refunds, webhooks, tokenization, and fraud prevention.
PCI DSS Compliance Experience
You've built or maintained PCI compliant systems. You know the requirements, scope reduction strategies, and secure coding practices.
AWS Cloud Expertise
Production experience architecting systems on AWS (EC2, Lambda, RDS, S3, etc.). You understand cloud security, networking, and infrastructure as code.
Distributed Systems Architecture
You've designed and built microservices at scale. You know the patterns, the pitfalls, and how to build for reliability.
High-Volume Systems Experience
You've optimized for scale, debugged production incidents, and built systems that handle serious traffic.
Engineering Leadership (3-5+ years)
You've built and led engineering teams. You know how to hire, develop talent, and ship complex projects on time.
Technical Depth
You can contribute code when needed (Node.js/TypeScript preferred), but this isn't a full-time coding role. You're technical enough to earn your team's respect and make sound architecture decisions.

Production experience with Node.js/TypeScript microservices
Fintech, payments, or e-commerce background
Experience with feature flags and gradual rollouts
Remote/distributed team experience

Learn More About ThriveCart:

Commit to Excellence – We believe in delivering high-quality work and continuous improvement.
User-Focused Problem Solving – Every design should contribute to solving a real problem for our users.
Team Collaboration – We work better together, valuing input from every team member.
Growth Mindset – We embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and grow.

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