Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform ($175k-$225k + Equity) at Fintech startup trusted by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan
Jack & Jill · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $225,000 / year
- United States
Job highlights
- Founding Engineer role for fintech startup.
- Architect backend and data platform infrastructure.
- Ingest financial data, build ML pipelines.
- High-impact role with equity upside.
- Requires senior backend and data experience.
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 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.
Company Description
Fintech startup automating mortgage lending for self-employed borrowers, backed by industry leaders and trusted by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley.
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?
Jack is an AI agent for job searching and career coaching. Jill is an AI Recruiter who talks to companies to understand who they're looking to hire. She recruits from Jack's network, making an introduction when she spots an excellent candidate. If it's a match and the company wants to meet you, they'll make the intro.
Key skills/competency
- Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform
- Data Engineering
- Backend Development
- Fintech
- Infrastructure Architecture
- SQL Migrations
- ML Pipelines
- TypeScript
- Startup Environment
- Postgres
Skills & topics
- Founding Engineer
- Backend Engineer
- Data Platform Engineer
- Fintech
- Startup
- TypeScript
- Postgres
- SQL
- Machine Learning
- Infrastructure
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight experience with data platforms, backend architecture, and early-stage startups. Emphasize your contributions to building products from inception.
- Showcase technical skills: Clearly list your proficiency in TypeScript, Postgres, SQL migrations, and ML pipeline development. Provide examples of systems you've designed and operated.
- Demonstrate startup readiness: Articulate your experience in fast-paced environments, your ability to work across the product lifecycle, and your comfort with ambiguity.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready to discuss system design, data modeling, and pipeline architecture. Practice coding challenges relevant to backend and data engineering.
- Understand the company: Research Jack & Jill's unique AI-driven recruitment process and the specific fintech company's mission in automating mortgage lending.
Technical preparation
Practice complex SQL and Postgres schema design.,Build a sample data ingestion pipeline.,Design a scalable backend architecture.,Simulate ML model integration via API.
Behavioral questions
Describe building a product from scratch.,How do you handle ambiguity in startups?,Discuss a time you influenced architecture.,Share experience with fast-paced development.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the salary range for the Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform role at Jack & Jill?
- The salary range for the Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform position is $175,000 to $225,000 annually, plus equity. This compensation reflects the senior nature and foundational impact of the role.
- What is the work arrangement for the Founding Engineer position?
- The Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform role offers flexibility with options for San Francisco, Austin, NYC, or remote work. This allows candidates to choose a location that best suits their needs.
- What kind of company is Jack & Jill hiring for?
- Jack & Jill is recruiting for a fintech startup that specializes in automating mortgage lending for self-employed borrowers. This company is backed by major financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley.
- What specific technical skills are most important for the Founding Engineer role?
- The role prioritizes deep experience in building data-centric products, complex Postgres schema design, SQL migrations, consuming ML models via APIs/SDKs, and building feature pipelines. Proficiency in TypeScript and modern backend architectures is also crucial.
- What is the unique recruitment process at Jack & Jill for this role?
- Jack & Jill utilizes an AI-driven process. Jack, an AI career coach, gets to know candidates, and Jill, an AI Recruiter, matches them with companies. The company then makes an introduction if there's a mutual interest.
- What does 'founding engineer' mean in the context of this role?
- As a founding engineer, you will have significant architectural influence and the opportunity to build greenfield infrastructure. You will be a key member of the initial technical team, shaping the core product from its early stages.
- What is the expected level of experience for the Founding Engineer - Backend & Data Platform position?
- The ideal candidate is a senior or staff-level engineer with a proven track record of building data-centric products from scratch. Experience in fast-paced, early-stage startup environments is highly valued.
- Will I be involved in Machine Learning development for this role?
- Yes, you will develop in-house feature extraction pipelines and productionize ML models for income categorization, anomaly detection, and automated financial insights. However, the focus is on engineering and productionization rather than pure research.