Staff Software Engineer (relocate to UK)

About the role

The Founders' Lab is Airwallex's elite internal innovation hub. Operating like an agile startup backed by our global network, we partner directly with our CEO and Co-Founder to architect, build, and ship next-generation Fintech AI Innovations and 0-to-1 product lines. We don't build in isolation, nor do we over-engineer for theoretical problems. Our mandate is high-velocity validation: we take raw, ambitious, and ambiguous concepts from the executive suite, build the MVP, and deploy it onto our global financial infrastructure to test with real users. We look for High-Agency Builders. There are no layers of middle management or rigid ticketing queues here. You will hold complete end-to-end technical and product ownership-wearing the hat of a Product Manager to define the what and the why , and acting as a lead engineer to build the how .

Responsibilities

• Collaborate on 0-to-1 Products: Partner with the CEO and global leadership to translate high-level strategic visions and AI capabilities into functional, market-ready software.
• Drive Fintech AI Innovation: Lead the technical evaluation and implementation of emerging AI technologies and intelligent workflows, figuring out how they can best serve our financial platform.
• Balance Speed with Maintainability: Make pragmatic architectural decisions. You know when to build a quick prototype to validate an idea, and how to structure it so that it can be successfully handed off and scaled if it succeeds.
• Own the Full Stack: While steering backend architecture and systems design, you are comfortable working across the entire stack to deliver complete solutions, from data models to user interfaces.
• Bootstrap Future Teams: Help lay the technical foundation for successful incubation projects, ensuring a smooth transition as they grow into standalone product lines within Airwallex.

Requirements

• 10+ years of software engineering experience , with a background that includes operating at a Staff level or leading technical direction in fast-paced, greenfield environments.
• Strong Product Sense: You look at engineering through a commercial lens. You care about user experience, business impact, and why a product is being built, not just the code itself.
• Comfort with Ambiguity: You enjoy working in spaces where requirements aren't fully defined yet, and you can independently map out technical specs from high-level direction.
• Pragmatic Problem Solver: You are resourceful, self-directed, and focused on delivering outcomes, finding efficient ways to work through technical or institutional blockers.
• Deep Backend & Full-Stack Capabilities: Solid fundamentals in high-performance backend ecosystems alongside the practical ability to build frontend interfaces when moving quickly.
• Clear Communication: Ability to discuss deep technical trade-offs with core infrastructure teams and present clear, simplified product outcomes to executive stakeholders.
• Experience building software that leverages Generative AI, LLMs, or automated agent workflows.
• Experience in fintech, payments, multi-currency ledgering, or regulated financial systems.
• Prior experience as a founding engineer, tech lead of an R&D team, or technical co-founder.
• This role is based in London wit

Benefits

Additional Information

About Airwallex Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 200,000 businesses worldwide - including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more - with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,200 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$8 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you're ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. Attributes We Value We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you're motivated by our mission and operating principles . You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you "get stuff done" end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you'll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let's build what's next.

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