Software Engineer, Experimental Projects
- Your creativity and ability to spot new possibilities make you ideal for experimenting with novel ideas.
- You energize the team with your enthusiasm and love for collaborative brainstorming.
- You connect quickly with user needs, making user feedback sessions natural and effective.
- Your tendency to start new projects may clash with the need to follow through and maintain quality standards.
- The requirement to build robust backend systems and APIs may feel too detail-oriented for your big-picture style.
Who we are
About Stripe
Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies—from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups—use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone’s reach while doing the most important work of your career.
About the team
Stripe's Experimental Projects team is our in-house innovation lab where we rapidly transform ideas into working prototypes. We operate as an idea incubator, building and testing new concepts with real users, sometimes going from concept to functional prototype in just days.
What you’ll do
As a Software Engineer on the Experimental Projects team, you'll be at the forefront of innovation at Stripe, turning promising ideas into tangible solutions that could shape the future of our platform. You'll have the autonomy to identify opportunities, rapidly build prototypes, and work directly with users to validate and iterate on your solutions.
This role combines technical excellence with creative problem-solving – you'll work across our entire technology stack to bring ideas to life, sometimes in just days.
Your work will help us discover new ways to empower businesses worldwide, contributing directly to Stripe's mission of increasing the GDP of the internet. Whether it's creating new developer tools, exploring novel payment experiences, or inventing entirely new products, you'll have the freedom to experiment and the resources to make a significant impact.
Responsibilities
- Drive projects from ideation to implementation, taking ownership of the full development lifecycle
- Build full-stack solutions including intuitive web frontends, clean APIs, and robust backend systems
- Work across various technologies and languages (TypeScript, Ruby, Python, Java, etc.) based on project needs
- Collaborate directly with users to understand their needs and gather feedback
- Prototype and validate ideas quickly, pivoting or adjusting based on real-world usage
- Partner with teams across Stripe to integrate with existing systems and infrastructure
Who you are
We’re looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement.
Minimum requirements
- 5+ years of professional, hands on full-stack development experience with languages such as JavaScript, TypeScript, Ruby, Python, Go, or Java
- Excel at rapid prototyping while maintaining appropriate quality standards
- Demonstrate strong product intuition and user empathy
- Have experience building and shipping customer facing products from scratch
Preferred qualifications
- Comfortable with ambiguity and fast-paced environments
- Have a passion for working on side-projects, open source, or similar self-driven initiatives you’re proud of
- Bring energy and enthusiasm that inspires collaboration
Best personality fits for this role
Your ability to brainstorm and rapidly turn ideas into prototypes is a perfect match for this role.
Read the ENTP career guide →Your strategic mindset helps you envision long-term impact and structure experiments effectively.
Read the INTJ career guide →Your intellectual curiosity drives you to explore novel payment experiences and creative prototypes.
Read the INTP career guide →