Staff Backend Engineer

Summary

Join Astra, a high-impact engineering team building mission-critical financial infrastructure for a fintech platform processing 100M+ in weekly transaction volume. As a Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, you will architect and build complex financial systems processing millions of dollars daily. You will lead cross-domain solutions coordinating payments, fraud detection, compliance, and user management across a distributed microservices architecture. This role demands deep systems thinking, technical leadership, and problem-solving skills across multiple domains and external integrations. You will also mentor junior engineers and establish engineering best practices. The position offers competitive compensation, a remote-first culture, and opportunities for professional growth within a growing fintech company.

Requirements

• 8+ years of software engineering experience building complex, production systems
• 3+ years of technical leadership experience (mentoring, architecture decisions, cross-team coordination)
• Demonstrated systems engineering experience solving complex, cross-domain challenges
• Strong foundation in algorithms, data structures, and computer science fundamentals
• Experience with distributed systems, event-driven architectures, and microservices
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field required
• Backend Development: Python (we use Python 3), strong understanding of web frameworks and APIs
• Database Design: Experience with NoSQL and SQL databases
• Cloud Infrastructure: Google Cloud Platform, or similar cloud platforms
• Architecture Patterns: Domain-driven design, clean architecture, CQRS
• System Design: Ability to design systems that balance performance, maintainability, and business requirements

Responsibilities

• Architect Critical Financial Systems: Design and implement payment processing, fraud detection, and compliance systems that handle millions of dollars daily with strict regulatory requirements
• Lead Cross-Domain Solutions: Coordinate complex interactions between payments, fraud detection, user management, and compliance systems
• Drive Technical Decisions: Lead architecture decisions that impact our entire platform and establish best practices for a growing team
• Mentor Engineers: Guide junior engineers and establish coding standards, design patterns, and engineering practices
• Optimize System Performance: Improve reliability and performance across our distributed microservices architecture
• Collaborate Across Teams: Work closely with product and compliance teams to design systems that meet business and regulatory requirements

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science or Engineering from an accredited university highly preferred
• Financial Systems: Payment processing, fraud detection, or compliance systems
• Financial Regulations: Understanding of AML, KYC, PCI DSS, or similar regulations
• Banking Integrations: Experience with financial APIs and money movement systems
• High-Scale Systems: Experience with systems processing high transaction volumes
• Third-Party Integrations: Experience coordinating multiple external service integrations

Benefits

• Competitive compensation with equity in a growing fintech company
• Remote-first culture with flexible working arrangements
• Professional growth - lead technical decisions and mentor team members
• Modern tech stack - work with cutting-edge cloud technologies
• Mission-driven - build systems that power financial innovation