As a Principal Software Engineer at Fetch, you'll design scalable systems for user engagement, drive experimentation, lead technical strategy, and mentor teams to improve engineering productivity and system reliability.
What we’re building and why we’re building it.
Fetch helps people live rewarded every day, with a vision to become the rewards destination for everyone. We turn everyday activities into meaningful rewards, whether it’s grocery shopping, grabbing a quick meal, or playing a favorite mobile game. To date, we’ve awarded more than $1 billion in Fetch Points to our users.
Each day, more than 13 million receipts are submitted on Fetch, providing visibility into over $212 billion in gross merchandise value. This creates the largest retail-agnostic, SKU-level view of household spending, powering Fetch as an outcomes-based advertising platform that helps brands acquire and retain lifelong consumers.
The Fetch app is available on the App Store and Google Play, with more than 6 million five-star reviews from a highly engaged and loyal user base.
It’s not just our users who believe in Fetch: with investments from Softbank, ICONIQ, DST, Greycroft, and partnerships ranging from challenger brands to Fortune 500 companies, Fetch is reshaping how brands and consumers connect in the marketplace. When you work at Fetch, you play a vital role in a platform that drives brand loyalty and creates lifelong consumers with the power of Fetch points. User and partner success are at the heart of everything we do, and we extend that same commitment to our employees.
At Fetch, we value curiosity, adaptability, and the confidence to explore new tools, especially AI, to drive smarter, faster work. You don’t need to be an expert, but you should be ready to learn quickly and think critically. We welcome learners who move fast, challenge the status quo, and shape what’s next, with us. Ranked as one of America’s Best Startup Employers by Forbes for two years in a row, Fetch fosters a people-first culture rooted in trust, accountability, and innovation. We encourage our employees to challenge ideas, think bigger, and always bring the fun to Fetch.
Meet Fetch Engineering
At Fetch, engineering is driven by curiosity, ownership, and a bias toward action. We operate in complex problem spaces where the right answer is not always clear, and success depends on adaptability, critical thinking, and informed decision-making. Our engineers are comfortable navigating ambiguity, understanding tradeoffs, gathering context, and turning uncertainty into progress while maintaining high technical standards.
Engineers at Fetch take pride in building reliable, scalable systems that serve millions of users. You will contribute directly to the codebase, collaborate closely with cross-functional partners, and help shape best practices that elevate the quality of our work. We foster a culture of mentorship and collaboration, where engineers grow by learning from one another and holding a high bar for quality, reliability, and impact.
About the Role:
Fetch is entering a pivotal phase where user lifecycle growth is the company’s north star for 2026. The Growth Engineering organization owns the platforms and product systems that drive acquisition, activation, engagement, retention, and reactivation across the Fetch consumer ecosystem. This team focuses on accelerating experimentation, improving user journeys, and building the engagement infrastructure that systematically increases MAU growth, retention, and lifetime value.
As a Principal Engineer in Growth, you will operate as a senior technical leader responsible for shaping the architecture, scalability, and evolution of these platforms. You will partner closely with Engineering, Product, Growth Marketing, and Data to design systems that enable faster experimentation, stronger engagement loops, and measurable growth outcomes.
This is a hands-on technical leadership role with influence across multiple teams. You will guide system design, define technical standards, and mentor engineers while helping the organization move faster without sacrificing reliability or long-term system health.
This is a full-time role that can be held from one of our US offices or remotely in the United States.
What you’ll do at Fetch (Role Responsibilities):
- Architect and Scale Growth Platforms
- Design and evolve the systems that power Fetch’s core engagement experiences, including loyalty mechanics, notifications, gaming systems, and retention-driving product features. Ensure platforms scale reliably to support millions of users and high event throughput.
- Enable Rapid Experimentation and Learning
- Shape the experimentation infrastructure used by Growth teams, enabling faster A/B testing, iteration, and measurement. Help engineering teams balance experimentation velocity with platform stability and maintainable architecture.
- Lead System Design and Technical Strategy
- Guide architecture decisions across Growth systems, ensuring services remain scalable, observable, and resilient. Identify opportunities to simplify systems, reduce operational complexity, and improve developer velocity.
- Drive Cross-Team Technical Alignment
- Partner with Product, Data, Platform, and Growth Marketing teams to translate business growth goals into scalable technical systems. Influence technical direction across multiple teams and ensure architectural consistency.
- Improve Platform Performance and Reliability
- Establish standards for reliability, performance, and observability across Growth services. Improve system resilience under high traffic, and ensure services can support sustained user growth.
- Mentor and Elevate Engineering Teams
- Provide technical mentorship to senior engineers and emerging technical leaders. Raise the bar for system design, operational excellence, and engineering craftsmanship across the organization.
- Accelerate Engineering Productivity
- Champion tooling and development practices that increase engineering velocity, including AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot or Claude Code, improved CI/CD pipelines, and better observability.
- Model Technical Excellence
- Lead by example through thoughtful architecture, pragmatic decision making, and strong engineering fundamentals. Promote a culture of ownership, accountability, and measurable impact.
In your Toolbox (Minimum Requirements):
- 10+ years of software engineering experience, including deep experience building and operating distributed systems at scale
- Strong background in backend architecture, distributed systems, or high-scale platform infrastructure
- Proven ability to design systems that support high-throughput user-facing applications
- Experience building or scaling experimentation platforms, engagement systems, or growth-focused product infrastructure
- Demonstrated experience influencing technical strategy across multiple teams without direct authority
- Strong understanding of system reliability, observability, and operational best practices
- Experience partnering closely with Product, Data, and cross-functional stakeholders to deliver measurable business outcomes
- Ability to evaluate architectural tradeoffs and communicate complex technical decisions clearly
- Experience leveraging AI-assisted development tools to improve engineering productivity and system quality
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field. Equivalent practical experience may be considered
Nice to haves/Bonus Points (Preferred Requirements):
- Experience working on growth, retention, loyalty, marketplace, or monetization systems
- Experience supporting high-volume consumer mobile applications
- Familiarity with experimentation frameworks, event-driven architectures, and analytics pipelines
- Experience designing systems that support real-time notifications, messaging systems, or user engagement platforms
- Strong programming experience in Go, Java, Kotlin, or similar backend languages
- Experience improving developer velocity through platform improvements or internal tooling
- Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear explanations for non-technical partners
Compensation: At Fetch, we offer competitive compensation packages including base, equity, and benefits to the exceptional folks we hire. Discover our benefits and how our employees live rewarded at https://fetch.com/careers.
At Fetch, we'll give you the tools to feel healthy, happy and secure through:
- Equity: We offer full-time employees equity in Fetch, so that everyone can benefit from Fetch’s growth.
- 401k Match: Dollar-for-dollar match up to 4%.
- Benefits for humans and pets: We offer comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans for everyone including your pets.
- Continuing Education: Fetch provides ten thousand per year in education reimbursement.
- Employee Resource Groups: Take part in employee-led groups that are centered around fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace through events, dialogue and advocacy. The ERGs participate in our Inclusion Council with members of executive leadership.
- Paid Time Off: On top of our flexible PTO, Fetch observes 9 paid holidays, as well as our year-end week-long break.
- Robust Leave Policies: 20 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers, 14 weeks for secondary caregivers, and a flexible return to work schedule.
- Calvin Care Cash: Employees who are welcoming new family members will also receive a one time $2,000 incentive to assist employees with covering the cost of childcare, clothing, diapers and much more!
- Flexible Work Environment: Collaborate with your team in one of our stunning offices, or you can work fully remotely from anywhere in the US. We’ll ensure you are equally equipped with the hardware and software you need to get your job done in the comfort of your home. (applicable for most roles)
Fetch is an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity, inclusion, and respect for all individuals. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our commitment to inclusivity ensures that everyone is treated with dignity and has the opportunity to succeed based on their talent, skills, and potential.
Fetch also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities or those with sincerely held religious beliefs, as required by law. If you need assistance with the application process or require an accommodation, please contact us at [email protected].
Fetch Chicago, Illinois, USA Office
Fetch Rewards has offices or co-working spaces in Madison, WI (Our HQ), Chicago, Boston, New York, San Francisco (in transition). We have remote employees in 39 states, and growing!
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