Backend Engineer

Layer (Headquarters: San Francisco)

Backend API Data Modeling Scaling AI Systems Design Fintech SMB Accounting Bookkeeping Data Engineering Back End Engineer Data Engineer

Join Layer, an early-stage startup in San Francisco, revolutionizing accounting and bookkeeping for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs). We embed our AI-powered accounting solutions directly into the platforms SMBs already use, making financial management seamless and affordable. We're backed by a strong mission to support American SMBs and promote economic mobility. Our approach involves direct platform integration, managing data sync & reconciliation, and leveraging real humans with AI tooling for efficient bookkeeping at a lower cost.

Our adoption is accelerating, and our team of 5 needs passionate engineers to tackle serious technical challenges in scaling systems, data modeling, and building AI-driven automations. We foster a culture of high ownership, high throughput, and direct engagement with customer problems every day.

Role: Backend Engineer

As an early Backend Engineer, you will be instrumental in building the core infrastructure, APIs, and data processing pipelines that power Layer's embedded accounting platform. You'll contribute significantly to setting the technical direction, culture, and standards of the engineering organization. Your focus will be on tackling challenges related to scaling systems, designing robust and accurate data models for financial information, building reliable APIs for platform integration, and implementing AI-driven automations to streamline complex bookkeeping processes.

Responsibilities:
- Design, build, and maintain scalable, reliable, and secure backend services and APIs.
- Develop and optimize complex data models and database interactions for accounting data.
- Architect and implement solutions for data integration (syncing, reconciliation), processing, and storage.
- Build and maintain AI-driven automation features for tasks like transaction categorization.
- Ensure system performance, reliability, and security under increasing load.
- Collaborate closely with the team, contribute to architectural decisions, and mentor future hires.
- Help establish backend engineering best practices, testing strategies, and operational standards.
- Go beyond excellent code to contribute to the overall company culture and direction.

Ideal Candidate:
- Proven experience as a Backend Engineer, particularly with scalable systems.
- Strong proficiency in backend programming languages and frameworks (adaptability is crucial).
- Deep understanding of system design, data modeling (especially for financial data), API development, and database technologies.
- Experience building and scaling distributed systems and data pipelines.
- Demonstrates a high trajectory of learning and growth, capable of handling ambiguity.
- Possesses the appetite and agency to contribute beyond coding (culture, practices, strategy).
- Passionate about solving real-world problems for SMBs and driven by customer success.
- Thrives in a high-ownership, collaborative environment.
- Experience with Fintech, accounting principles, or AI/ML is a significant plus.