Backend / Platform Engineer, AI-Powered Consumer Fintech (San Francisco)
Company Overview
A stealth-mode consumer fintech startup is building an AI-native companion designed to transform how individuals make real-time spending decisions.
Moving beyond traditional "after-the-fact" budgeting apps, the platform lives within iMessage to provide instant context, trade-off analysis, and financial guidance at the exact moment of purchase.
The company is led by two founding team members from Chime and is backed by top-tier investors including Crosslink Capital, Fiat Ventures, and Blueprint (Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey's fund).
They are currently in a high-velocity, pre-launch phase, focused on building the next iconic consumer brand in finance.
What Makes It an Awesome Place to Work
Founding Team Pedigree:
Work alongside early leaders from Chime who have successfully scaled fintech products to millions of users.
Top-Tier Backing:
Secured funding from prestigious investors like Crosslink Capital and Blueprint, providing both stability and a massive network.
High Autonomy:
A true 0 → 1 environment where you have a direct voice in product strategy and architectural decisions.
Relocation Support:
Committed to an in-person culture in San Francisco with assistance provided for moving expenses.
Meaningful Ownership:
Offers significant equity stakes and the opportunity to scale into a leadership role as the engineering organization grows.
Scope of Role and Experience
As a Backend / Platform Engineer, you will:
Become a core contributor to the Ruby-on-Rails backend systems powering a commerce-enabled AI companion.
Ship high-impact features, integrations, and data pipelines weekly to maintain rapid development velocity.
Design and implement reliable integrations with financial APIs and LLMs to create a seamless, "magical" user experience.
Handle complex data modeling for transactions, user context, and AI retrieval systems (RAG).
Establish the foundation for backend architecture, monitoring, and deployment processes.
Collaborate closely with product and design to translate ambitious concepts into scalable technical reality.
You have:
Strong experience in Ruby and Ruby on Rails development (core development and architecture).
Deep knowledge of PostgreSQL performance tuning and query optimization.
A track record of thriving in 0 → 1 environments with high autonomy and ambiguity.
A "builder" mindset—you prioritize shipping and craft over bureaucracy and bloat.
The ability to take end-to-end ownership of technical projects from ideation to production.
Nice to have:
Experience shipping fintech products or working with financial APIs (e.g., Plaid, Quiltt).
Hands-on experience integrating AI/LLMs into production-grade systems.
A desire to move into a lead or management role as the company scales.
Location:
In-person (San Francisco, CA)
Perks:
Competitive startup salary, meaningful equity, and comprehensive medical/dental benefits.
