Senior Backend Engineer

Responsibilities

• Own and scale multi-rail payment systems (ACH, RTP, card networks) to ensure high reliability and transaction volume handling
• Design and build scalable backend services and distributed systems capable of low latency and high throughput
• Optimize background job infrastructure (Sidekiq, Resque) to process complex underwriting and collection workflows
• Lead architectural decisions for core financial systems, balancing speed, reliability, and cost
• Build robust data pipelines to power ML models and real-time decision engines
• Collaborate with product and data science teams to ship features that impact customer financial wellbeing

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience with modern backend frameworks and scaling production systems
• Strong systems design expertise with experience architecting distributed systems
• Proven experience with background job processing systems such as Sidekiq or Resque
• Solid understanding of database optimization, caching strategies, and performance tuning

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with payment systems, financial infrastructure, or regulated environments (ACH, RTP, card processing)
• Background in fintech, payments, or lending infrastructure
• Experience working with ML/data science teams to productionize models
• Strong system observability mindset including metrics, logging, and monitoring
• Ability to lead complex technical initiatives from design through implementation

About the Company

Kikoff is a profitable, pre-IPO fintech company on a mission to empower everyone to achieve financial security. We build products that help millions of people build credit, access liquidity, and save money. Our Grant team is revolutionizing financial access through intelligent cash advance products that provide fast, fair access to earned wages without predatory fees.