Senior Python Ai Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

About the role
Chime Engineering is growing rapidly as we scale to meet the financial needs of our members-and that growth depends on strong, secure, and efficient engineering foundations. We're hiring a Senior Python Core Engineer- to join the Languages & Frameworks team within Engineering Services, with a mission to standardize and strengthen Chime's Python ecosystem.
Python is increasingly foundational to our data engineering, analytics, machine learning, and emerging AI initiatives. As Python adoption expands, we need clear ownership and stewardship over Python releases, packaging, base images, and shared libraries to reduce security risk, eliminate duplicated effort, add guardrails against AI generated code, and make builds and runtimes more reliable and reproducible.
In this role, you'll be the technical leader for Python foundations across the company responsible for owning the lifecycle of Python versions, defining best practices, improving build and dependency workflows, and maintaining key internal Python libraries. You'll partner closely with platform teams, CI/CD stakeholders and data/ML orgs to drive improvements that make Python development faster, safer, and more scalable.
The base salary offered for this role and level of experience will begin at $187,000 and up to $259,000. Full-time employees are also eligible for a bonus, competitive equity package, and benefits. The actual base salary offered may be higher, depending on your location, skills, qualifications, and experience.
In this role, you can expect to

• Own Chime's Python version standards, upgrade cadence, and compliance, reducing EOL exposure and security patch lag
• Design and drive safe, repeatable Python upgrade processes across services and shared libraries, enabling teams to adopt new versions with minimal friction
• Establish clear dependency management practices (e.g., version locking policies, upgrade safety, library compatibility strategies)
• Partner with CI/CD stakeholders to improve build performance, reliability, and developer experience for Python projects
• Maintain and develop critical internal Python libraries including roadmap, quality, and adoption
• Define and evangelize Python best practices ("the Chime way"), aligned with community standards, and support teams through documentation and enablement
• Identify and drive opportunities to maximize returns from the Python + AI ecosystem, evaluating tools, practices, and vendor options that improve iteration speed and outcomes

To thrive in this role, you have

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, with deep hands-on expertise in Python in production
• Strong experience with Python build tooling, and an understanding of tradeoffs in versioning and distribution
• Understanding of asynchronous and synchronous data-sharing patterns (pub/sub, RPC, caching, etc.).
• Solid knowledge of containerized environments and build systems (Docker images, CI pipelines, caching, reproducible builds)
• Experience building and maintaining shared libraries used by multiple teams, including API design, backwards compatibility, and release management
• A security- and reliability-first mindset, especially around EOL management, patching and build integrity
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills-able to influence without authority and align multiple teams around standards and migrations
• Comfort operating with ambiguous requirements, creating clarity through docs, prototypes, and incremental rollout plans
• Bonus: experience working in/supporting data engineering and ML
• Engineers are required to participate in on-call rotation. Being on call may include responding to incidents outside of regular working hours when necessary.

#LI-Remote #LI-GC1
A little about us
At Chime, we believe that everyone can achieve financial progress. We created Chime-a financial technology company, not a bank*-on the premise that core banking services should be helpful, easy, and free. Through our user-friendly tools and intuitive platforms, we empower our members to take control of their finances and work towards their goals. Whether it's starting a savings account, purchasing a first car or home, launching a business, or pursuing higher education, we're proud to have helped millions unlock their financial potential.
We're a team of problem solvers, dreamers, and builders with one shared obsession: our members. From day one, Chimers have worked tirelessly to out-hustle and out-execute competitors to bring our mission to life. Their grit and determination inspire us to work harder every day to deliver the very best experience possible. We each bring an owner's mindset to our work, refusing to be outdone and holding ourselves accountable to meet and exceed the highest bars for our teams, our company, and our members.
We believe in being bold, dreaming big, and taking risks, while also working together, embracing our diverse perspectives, and giving each other honest feedback. Our culture remains deeply entrepreneurial, encouraging every Chimer to see themselves as stewards of our mission to help everyday Americans unlock their financial progress.
We know that to achieve our mission, we must earn and keep people's trust-so we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in everything we do. These aren't just words on a wall-our values are embedded in every aspect of our business, serving as a north star that guides us as we work to help millions achieve their financial potential.
Because if we don't-who will?
*Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.
What we offer for our full-time, regular employees

• Our in-office work policy is designed to keep you connected - with four days a week in the office and Fridays from home for those near one of our offices, plus team and company-wide events depending on location. Whether you're coming in regularly or are part of our fully remote program, you'll stay engaged with your work and teammates.
• In-office perks including backup child, elder, and/or pet care, plus a subsidized commuter benefit to support your regular commute
• Competitive salary based on experience
• 401k match plus great medical, dental, vision, life, and disability benefits
• Generous vacation policy and company-wide Chime Days, bonus company-wide paid days off
• 1% of your time off to support local community organizations of your choice
• Annual wellness stipend to use towards eligible wellness related expenses
• Up to 24 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents and 12 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birthing parents
• Access to Maven, a family planning tool, with $15k lifetime reimbursement for egg freezing, fertility treatments, adoption, and more.
• In-person and virtual events to connect with your fellow Chimers-think cooking classes, guided meditations, music festivals, mixology classes, paint nights, etc., and delicious snack boxes, too!
• ♥ A challenging and fulfilling opportunity to join one of the most experienced teams in FinTech and help millions unlock financial progress

We know that great work can't be done without a diverse team and inclusive environment. That's why we specifically look for individuals of varying strengths, skills, backgrounds, and ideas to join our team. We believe this gives us a competitive advantage to better serve our members and helps us all grow as Chimers and individuals.
Chime is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis under provincial, federal, state, and local laws, regulations, or ordinances. We will also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of state and local laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Cook County Ordinance, NYC Fair Chance Act, and the LA City Fair Chance Ordinance, and consistent with Canadian provincial and federal laws. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during any stage of the application process, please contact: benefits@chime.com.
To learn more about how Chime collects and uses your personal information during the application process, please see the Chime Applicant Privacy Notice.