Hybrid Senior Software Engineer – Backend, Credit Builder Experience

at Kikoff

• Job title: Senior Software Engineer – Backend, Credit Builder Experience
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Senior
• Salary: $244,000 - $292,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: Ruby, Ruby on Rails
• Location requirements: Hybrid, San Francisco, United States

About the role

• Senior Backend Engineer shaping systems for Kikoff's credit-building experience. Designing user-centric workflows and collaborating on AI-driven financial insights.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement the backend systems that power Kikoff’s core credit-building experience, including credit actions, subscription flows, credit report processing, financial monitoring, and AI-driven coaching, while ensuring they scale reliably as we grow.
• Own key domains within the credit-building platform, driving architectural decisions and ensuring high reliability, performance, and a seamless user experience.
• Integrate with third-party credit bureaus, financial data providers, and internal services, building robust APIs and data pipelines that ensure accuracy, consistency, and intelligent insights at scale.
• Improve and evolve credit-building workflows through experimentation, iteration, and data-driven optimization to help users achieve stronger credit outcomes.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, data, and mobile partners to design features that simplify complex financial and credit concepts for users.
• Contribute across the stack on user-facing experiences tied to credit actions, subscription management, and related financial features.
• Extend the platform to incorporate external financial and credit data sources, helping users gain a holistic understanding of their financial health.
• Enhance observability and reliability across critical systems, introducing monitoring, alerting, and fault tolerance that support a trustworthy credit-building foundation.
• Support adjacent product areas and shared systems across the engineering team, contributing to Kikoff’s broader financial wellness platform beyond core credit building.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience building and scaling production systems.
• Experience with Ruby on Rails is a plus but not required; we value strong fundamentals and the ability to learn quickly.
• Deep understanding of system design, API development, and integrations, especially with third-party platforms or payment providers.
• Familiarity with large language models (LLMs), MCP, or AI system architecture is a strong plus — especially experience integrating AI capabilities into user-facing products.
• Experience with payment processing systems, ACH, cards, or other financial transaction flows is a major plus.
• Comfort working across the stack and collaborating closely with mobile and product engineers.
• Passion for experimentation and optimization, using data and iteration to improve customer outcomes.
• Strong product sense — you care about building the right thing, not just building it right.
• A builder’s mindset — thrives in ambiguity, takes initiative, and enjoys owning systems end-to-end.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage - Kikoff covers the full cost of health insurance for the employee!
• Meaningful equity in the form of RSU's
• 20 days of paid time off per year — we encourage taking real time away to recharge and do your best work
• 401(k) plan with a generous employer match to help you invest in your future
• Competitive pay based on experience consisting of base + equity + benefits