Staff Software Engineer

Job Description: Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc., a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo, California with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce, digital marketing, advertising, communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community. Rakuten is the most rewarding way to shop, giving millions of members Cash Back when they buy from their favorite brands. As a leading shopping platform, Rakuten partners with thousands of top brands across apparel, beauty and wellness, grocery, travel, on-demand services, subscriptions, and dining, helping members save on everyday purchases. Since 1999, Rakuten members have earned more than $4.6 billion in Cash Back, making it the largest Cash Back platform of its kind. Learn more at Rakuten.com. Job Summary: Rakuten Rewards is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join the Bastion Privacy Engineering team, which is responsible for building and maintaining systems that protect user data and ensure compliance with global privacy regulations. In this role, you will act as a technical leader, designing and implementing scalable privacy-focused systems that support secure data processing, regulatory compliance, and responsible data governance. You will collaborate closely with product, legal, and privacy teams to translate regulatory requirements into practical engineering solutions. This role offers the opportunity to drive architectural decisions, mentor engineers, and build privacy-by-design infrastructure that safeguards millions of users worldwide. Key Responsibilities: Lead the design, development, and implementation of scalable, reliable software for user data privacy and compliance. Drive architectural decisions for sensitive data systems, embedding privacy-by-design principles. Partner with product, legal, and privacy teams to define technical specifications from regulatory inputs. Ensure privacy considerations throughout the SDLC for complex programs. Mentor engineers in secure coding, privacy principles, and compliance. Identify and remediate performance, scalability, security, and privacy issues. Participate in on-call rotations, resolving incidents while maintaining security and privacy standards. Champion engineering best practices, including secure code reviews and privacy-focused testing. Research and evaluate new privacy-enhancing technologies. Lead tooling and processes for automating Data Subject Rights (DSR) requests. Conduct Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and threat modeling. Own end-to-end architecture for privacy-critical services. Qualifications: Technical Expertise: Strong proficiency in Java, Spring Boot, JPA, and cloud-native services. Extensive hands-on experience with AWS (S3, SQS, Lambda, DynamoDB, IAM), Docker, and Kubernetes. Privacy Knowledge: Solid understanding of data privacy principles and regulations (GDPR, CCPA; HIPAA a plus). Practical expertise in encryption, anonymization, and pseudonymization. Database & Distributed Systems: Proficiency with OLTP databases (Postgres/MySQL) and/or OLAP platforms (Snowflake). Familiarity with distributed system components (Kafka, Redis, Elasticsearch). Architecture: Experience designing microservices and event-driven architectures. Methodology: Track record of mentoring engineers and working in Agile environments. Minimum Requirements: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field (Master's preferred). 10+ years of professional software engineering experience building scalable, reliable systems (Staff-level scope). Preferred: CIPP, CISSP certifications; experience in regulated industries (FinTech, Healthcare); deep IAM experience; hands-on PIA/threat modeling; open-source contributions; strong communication and collaboration skills. Five Principles for Success Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success. Always improve, Always Advance - Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen Passionately Professional - Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best Hypothesize - Practice - Validate – Shikumika - Use the Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! - Always be conscious of time - take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team Rakuten is an equal opportunity employer. Accessibility accommodations for candidates with disabilities participating in the selection process are available on request. Any information received related to accommodation needs of applicants will be addressed confidentially. Rakuten would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this role however only qualified candidates will be shortlisted. Beware of fraudulent job offers claiming to be from Rakuten. Rakuten does not send unsolicited job offers or request money during the recruitment process. Learn more: https://rakutenemploymentalert.com/ At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the Compensation (base salary + discretionary bonus) for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job-related factors, including the skills, qualifications, and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location. The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for stock options, health, vision, dental insurance, RRSP matching, Personal Time Off (PTO), Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements. Rakuten International oversees 7 businesses with over 4,000 employees globally. The brand is recognized for its leadership and innovation in e-commerce, digital content, advertising, entertainment, and communications, bringing the joy of discovery and access to more than 1 billion members across the world. Everyday team members deliver on the company’s mission to delight merchants and customers through innovation, optimism, and teamwork. Rakuten Rewards is a leading e-commerce company that enhances the way people shop by offering Cash Back, deals and rewards from more than 3,500 merchants. Founded in 1999, Rakuten has grown to become the go-to shopping destination for consumers, having paid out nearly $2 billion in Cash Back to its 15 million members. The company also operates ShopStyle, a leading fashion discovery destination, and Cartera Commerce, a top rewards platform for airlines and banks. For more information, visit www.rakuten.com. The Consolidated Appropriations Act’s Transparency in Coverage Rules require group health plans to disclose on a public website information regarding in-network provider rates and historical out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges for covered items and services in two separate machine-readable files (MRFs). The MRFs for Rakuten’s Aetna benefit plan are provided in the link below. Aetna Transparency in Coverage: Machine-Readable Files | Rakuten