Staff Software Engineer, Catalog Foundations

Since we opened our doors in 2009, the world of commerce has evolved immensely, and so has Square. After enabling anyone to take payments and never miss a sale, we saw sellers stymied by disparate, outmoded products and tools that wouldn't work together.

So we expanded into software and started building integrated, omnichannel solutions – to help sellers sell online, manage inventory, offer buy now, pay later functionality, book appointments, engage loyal buyers, and hire and pay staff. Across it all, we've embedded financial services tools at the point of sale, so merchants can access a business loan and manage their cash flow in one place. Afterpay furthers our goal to provide omnichannel tools that unlock meaningful value and growth, enabling sellers to capture the next generation shopper, increase order sizes, and compete at a larger scale.

Today, we are a partner to sellers of all sizes – large, enterprise-scale businesses with complex operations, sellers just starting, as well as merchants who began selling with Square and have grown larger over time. As our sellers grow, so do our solutions. There is a massive opportunity in front of us. We're building a significant, meaningful, and lasting business, and we are helping sellers worldwide do the same.

The Role

The Catalog Foundations team owns the core services that power how Square sellers manage their catalogs. We ensure the platform is reliable, performant, and scalable, while enabling internal teams and sellers with superior support and extensibility.

We’re looking for a Staff Software Engineer to define technical direction, champion best practices, and make high-impact investments in the foundations that accelerate Square’s ecosystem. You’ll collaborate across teams, drive architecture and design decisions, and mentor engineers to deliver resilient, future-ready systems.

You Will

• Design, build, and evolve Square’s catalog systems and APIs
• Lead cross-team initiatives and guide technical direction
• Solve complex performance and scalability challenges at scale
• Clearly communicate tradeoffs and advocate for long-term solutions
• Set high engineering standards and mentor engineers across the team

You Have

• 12+ years of software development experience
• Expertise in large-scale distributed systems
• Familiarity with Go and strong data modeling/management skills
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and make data-driven decisions
• Experience across the full development lifecycle, from product definition to delivery

Even Better

• Background in unified catalog or marketplace systems
• Experience supporting internal and external developers in large, complex organizations

Technologies We Use and Teach

• Golang
• MySQL, DynamoDB, OpenSearch, Redis
• Protocol Buffers, gRPC, Kafka, Terraform, Kubernetes, Temporal IO, Envoy
• AWS and other cloud platforms

We're working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is an equal opportunity employer evaluating all employees and job applicants without regard to identity or any legally protected class. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, and always assess candidates on an individualized basis. We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require an accommodation, let your recruiter know. Want to learn more about what we're doing to build an inclusive workplace? Check out our Inclusion & Diversity page.