Principal Engineer/Head of Engineering - Payments

Location:

Remote in Europe or in South America

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

Job Overview:

Are you a technical leader who loves building payment systems at scale? Do you want to architect a modern payment platform from scratch with the backing of a profitable, established company?

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.

About ThriveCart

ThriveCart is a high-converting cart platform trusted by tens of thousands of businesses. Since 2016, our customers have processed nearly $3 billion USD through our platform, and we're growing significantly year over year.

We're known for outstanding customer support, incredible value, and great software. We're profitable, remote-first, and committed to helping entrepreneurs succeed.

The Opportunity: ThrivePay

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.

The Challenge:

• 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.

What You'll Do

Technical Leadership (50%)

• 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

Team Leadership (35%)

• 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

Delivery & Execution (15%)

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

What You Bring

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.

Bonus Points:

• 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:

ThriveCart is the leading no-code sales platform for digital course creators, coaches, entrepreneurs, and online businesses looking to boost revenue, drive conversions, and scale audiences. ThriveCart powers over 65,000 businesses and 12 million enrolled students, generating over $2 billion in annual sales. The platform provides all the tools businesses need to create high-converting checkout experiences, manage powerful affiliate campaigns, and deliver seamless student experiences with its built-in learning management system, Learn/Learn+.

Our Values are:

Commit to Excellence
Find a Way
Help Each Other
Keep Growing
Data First