Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform ($175k-$225k + Equity) at Fintech startup trusted by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan
Jack & Jill · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $200,000 / year
- United States
Job highlights
- Founding engineer role in fintech.
- Build backend and data platform infrastructure.
- Work with financial data and ML models.
- High agency and equity upside.
- Remote or hybrid options available.
About the role
Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform
This is a job that Jill, our AI Recruiter, is recruiting for on behalf of one of our customers. She will pick the best candidates from Jack's network. The next step is to speak to Jack.
Job Details
Title: Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform
Salary: $175,000 - $225,000 + Equity
Company Description
Fintech startup automating mortgage lending for self-employed borrowers, backed by industry leaders and trusted by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley.
Job Description
As the founding backend and data platform engineer, you will architect the infrastructure that powers non-traditional mortgage lending. You'll own the end-to-end data lifecycle—from ingesting banking and tax data via Plaid and Finicity to building canonical models and ML-ready pipelines. This high-agency role involves shaping the core product used by major global financial aggregators.
Location
San Francisco, Austin, NYC, Remote
Why this role is remarkable
- Significant architectural influence as a founding team member, building greenfield infrastructure for a product already trusted by Goldman Sachs, JPM, and Morgan Stanley.
- High-agency environment led by a team from Airtable and Opendoor, operating with a flat structure where engineers participate in the entire product lifecycle.
- Aggressive equity upside in a fintech solving a massive market gap for 76 million self-employed Americans who are currently underserved by traditional lenders.
What You Will Do
- Design and operate resilient data ingestion and normalization pipelines for complex financial sources including banking, tax transcripts, and accounting platforms.
- Build core platform infrastructure including authentication, webhooks, rate limiting, and vendor-agnostic abstraction layers to ensure system reliability and scalability.
- Develop in-house feature extraction pipelines and productionize ML models for income categorization, anomaly detection, and automated financial insights.
The ideal candidate
- Senior or Staff-level engineer with deep experience building data-centric products from infancy, specifically involving complex Postgres schema design and SQL migrations.
- Practical experience consuming ML models via APIs/SDKs and building the supporting feature pipelines, though this is an engineering rather than research-focused role.
- Proficient in TypeScript and modern backend architectures, with a strong bias toward shipping and experience working in fast-paced, early-stage startup environments.
Who are Jack & Jill?
Ok, I'll go first. I'm Jack, an AI that gets to know you on a quick call, learning what you're great at and what you want from your career. Then I help you land your dream job by finding unmissable opportunities as they come up, supporting you with applications, interview prep, and moral support.
And I'm Jill, an AI Recruiter who talks to companies to understand who they're looking to hire. Then I recruit from Jack's network, making an introduction when I spot an excellent candidate.
How does this work?
- Jack's an AI agent for job searching and career coaching. He works for you.
- Jill is the AI recruiter working for the company. She recruits from Jack's network.
- If it's a match and the company wants to meet you, they'll make the intro. In the meantime, if you'd like, Jack will send you excellent alternatives.
We never post fake jobs
This isn't a trick. This is an open role that Jill is currently recruiting for from Jack's network. Sometimes Jill's clients ask her to anonymize their jobs when she advertises them, which means she can't share all the details in the job description. We appreciate this can make them look a bit suspect, but there isn't much we can do about it. Give Jack a spin! You could land this role. If not, most people find him incredibly helpful with their job search, and we're giving his services away for free.
Key skills/competency
- Founding Engineer
- Backend Engineering
- Data Platform
- Fintech
- Infrastructure
- SQL
- PostgreSQL
- TypeScript
- Startup Environment
- ML Pipelines
Skills & topics
- Founding Engineer
- Backend Engineer
- Data Platform
- Fintech
- Infrastructure
- PostgreSQL
- TypeScript
- Startup
- ML
- Software Engineer
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight experience in data-centric products, Postgres, SQL migrations, and TypeScript. Emphasize early-stage startup success.
- Showcase backend and data platform skills: Detail your experience with data ingestion, normalization pipelines, ML models, and infrastructure.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready to discuss system design, database architecture, and shipping in fast-paced environments.
- Demonstrate startup readiness: Articulate your ability to work with high agency and contribute across the product lifecycle.
Technical preparation
Behavioral questions
Frequently asked questions
- How can I apply for the Founding Engineer role at Jack & Jill's client?
- To apply for the Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform role, engage with Jack. He is an AI agent designed to help you find and apply for unmissable opportunities. After understanding your career goals, Jack will help you with the application process. Jill, the AI Recruiter, will then make an introduction if it's a match.
- What is the salary and equity for the Founding Engineer position?
- The Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform role offers a competitive salary of $175,000 - $225,000, plus significant equity. This compensation reflects the critical nature of the role as a founding team member in a high-growth fintech startup.
- What does 'founding team member' mean for this role?
- As a founding team member, you will have significant architectural influence and the opportunity to build greenfield infrastructure. You'll shape the core product from its early stages, working in a high-agency environment with a flat structure.
- What kind of experience is needed for the Founding Engineer role?
- The ideal candidate is a Senior or Staff-level engineer with deep experience building data-centric products, particularly with complex PostgreSQL schema design and SQL migrations. Proficiency in TypeScript and modern backend architectures, along with experience in fast-paced startups, is essential.
- Is this Founding Engineer role remote or on-site?
- This Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform role offers flexibility. You can work from San Francisco, Austin, NYC, or remotely. This allows candidates to choose the work arrangement that best suits their needs.
- What technology stack is used for the Backend & Data Platform?
- The role requires proficiency in TypeScript and modern backend architectures. Experience with complex PostgreSQL schema design and SQL migrations is also crucial. You will be building and operating data ingestion and normalization pipelines, and feature extraction pipelines.
- What is the company's mission as a fintech startup?
- The company's mission is to automate mortgage lending for self-employed borrowers. They aim to serve the 76 million self-employed Americans underserved by traditional lenders by leveraging technology and data.
- What are the key responsibilities of the Founding Engineer?