Principal Engineer/Head of Engineering - Payments

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.

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.

Key Responsibilities:

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

Required Skills:

• 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.

Nice to Haves:

• 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:

Our team thrives on collaboration, innovation, and continuous growth. We foster an open environment with regular knowledge-sharing sessions and encourage active participation in shaping the platform. Our values include:

• 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.