Software Engineer 2 at PayPal
San Jose, CA
$149,365–$198,500from the description
Jul 16, 2026
San Jose, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A mid-level software engineering role focused on building and maintaining both front-end and back-end systems, including web applications with React/Node and back-end services in Java, SQL, and REST. The work involves designing large-scale APIs, working with Kubernetes-based pipelines, AWS cloud architectures, and database optimization, in close collaboration with product and cross-functional teams. A Master's degree in a technical field is required.
Mid level · Remote · Master's required · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 18,000 people nationally plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 10,800–26,900
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $138,970 (middle half $107,524–$175,762). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (10)
The job posting specifies San Jose, CA as the primary work location with only partial telecommuting permitted; however, per caller instruction, this role is being treated as fully remote with no metro assigned.
The posting lists a broad set of web technologies (HTTP, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, AJAX, Node.js, Java, C++, Python) under the 'Minimum Requirements' section as 'Special Skill Requirements,' so all are marked required. In practice, it is unlikely a single candidate would be rejected for lacking C++ or Python specifically — these may be aspirational stack context — but the JD's placement under minimum requirements gates them as hard requirements.
AWS is listed as required but qualified with 'specifically AWS,' implying cloud experience generally is the gate; common alternatives (Azure, GCP) are noted.
TDD (Test-Driven Development) is listed as a required practice ('designing and developing large-scale backend APIs using TDD') but names no specific tool, so it is omitted from the skills list per extraction rules.
Agile is listed as a required environment but names no specific tool or framework, so it is omitted from the skills list.
Database optimization knowledge is required but names no specific database technology beyond SQL (already captured), so no additional skill is emitted.
The title 'Software Engineer 2' maps to a Mid-level band; the Master's degree requirement and scope of work are consistent with Mid seniority.
The posting states no overall years-of-experience requirement at the role level.
Compensation is stated as $149,365–$198,500 per annum for the San Jose, CA location; actual pay for a remote arrangement may differ.
Caller marked this a fully-remote role — scored against the national candidate pool.
Read the full posting
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