Staff Backend Engineer

Who We Are

Sardine is a leader in fraud prevention and AML compliance. Our advanced platform leverages device intelligence, behavior biometrics, machine learning, and AI to proactively stop fraud. Over 300 banks, retailers, and fintechs globally trust Sardine to combat identity fraud, payment fraud, account takeovers, and social engineering scams. We have successfully raised $145M from prominent investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Activant, Visa, Experian, FIS, and Google Ventures.

Our Culture

While we maintain hubs in the Bay Area, NYC, Austin, Toronto, and São Paulo, Sardine operates with a remote-first work culture, embracing a #WorkFromAnywhere philosophy. We seek talented, self-motivated individuals who demonstrate extreme ownership and a high growth orientation. Our focus is on performance and impact, not on hours worked, promoting a healthy work-life balance for our team.

About The Role

As a backend-focused Staff Backend Engineer at Sardine, you will take ownership and lead the development of our crucial compliance and financial crime prevention platform. This pivotal role encompasses designing, building, and maintaining essential systems that power KYC onboarding, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring, and regulatory reporting capabilities. This multifaceted position involves developing new features at scale, driving technical strategy, refining internal tooling and processes, mentoring engineers, and assuming broad ownership across the platform. You will operate as a technical leader, influencing beyond your immediate team and collaborating with stakeholders across the organization to tackle complex challenges within a highly regulated domain. The ideal candidate possesses a proven track record in building highly available APIs, robust data integrations, and leading technical initiatives from conception to delivery. Prior experience in the AML/CFT compliance domain is beneficial but not strictly required.

You Will

• Architect, design, and implement robust, efficient, and reliable backend services for KYC workflows, sanctions screening engines, and alert management systems.
• Build and optimize case management and alert creation pipelines, enabling investigators to efficiently review and disposition suspicious activity.
• Develop and maintain integrations with regulatory reporting systems, including SAR filing and GoAML submissions.
• Collaborate closely with compliance stakeholders, product teams, and other engineering teams to translate regulatory requirements into scalable technical solutions.
• Contribute to developing new features and capabilities that enhance detection accuracy, reduce false positives, and streamline investigator workflows.
• Craft and maintain technical documentation for compliance systems, ensuring auditability and facilitating regulatory examinations.
• Play a pivotal role in shaping Sardine's engineering culture, ensuring the maintenance of high engineering standards across the organization.

An Ideal Candidate Has

• A minimum of 7 years of proven experience as a Software Engineer specializing in web backend development and complex system integrations.
• A track record of successfully delivering high-quality production services, particularly those involving high-throughput data processing and real-time screening.
• Proficiency in Golang is a significant advantage.
• Proficient in English—from casual chats to formal reports.

Nice To Have

• Experience in regulated industries such as financial services (AML/KYC), healthcare (HIPAA), background screening, payment security (PCI-DSS), or similar compliance-driven environments.
• Familiarity with SAR/STR filing processes and GoAML or similar regulatory reporting formats.
• Experience with case management systems, alert workflows, and investigation tooling.

Benefits We Offer

• Generous compensation in cash and equity.
• Early exercise for all options, including pre-vested.
• Work from anywhere: Remote-first Culture.
• Flexible paid time off and Year-end break.
• Health insurance, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents - US and Canada specific.
• 4% matching in 401k / RRSP - US and Canada specific.
• MacBook Pro delivered to your door.
• One-time stipend to set up a home office — desk, chair, screen, etc.
• Monthly meal stipend.
• Monthly social meet-up stipend.
• Annual health and wellness stipend.
• Annual Learning stipend.

Join a fast-growing company with world-class professionals from around the world. If you are seeking a meaningful career, you found the right place, and we would love to hear from you.

To learn more about how we process your personal information and your rights in regards to your personal information as an applicant and Sardine employee, please visit our Applicant and Worker Privacy Notice.

Key skills/competency

• Fraud Prevention
• AML Compliance
• Backend Development
• Golang (Go)
• Distributed Systems
• API Development
• Microservices
• Data Integration
• Machine Learning
• Regulatory Reporting
• KYC
• Sanctions Screening
• Transaction Monitoring