Member of Technical Staff

Zuba; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Zuba is building a global payment network for money moving into, across, and out of emerging markets, with AI-native infrastructure and a flat, founder-led culture. You’ll own products end-to-end, including architecture, integrations, and live transactions, working in London's high-intensity environment.

The team values problem solvers, AI tooling adoption, and strong payments experience. This role is in-person in London, with no ticketing bureaucracy and direct founder interaction.

Qualifications

• Problem solver who takes ownership and ships end to end.
• AI proficiency and hands-on with AI tooling.
• Payments experience or strong interest in payments and money movement.
• Proficient in full-stack development: TypeScript, React, Node, PostgreSQL.

Responsibilities

• Build reliable services on unreliable infrastructure.
• Take products from zero to first transaction.
• Own production monitoring and incident response.
• Bridge fiat and stablecoin rails across systems.
• Design for low-end devices and intermittent connectivity.

Skills

Problem solving

AI proficiency

Payments experience

Full-stack development

Fast shipping

Clear communication

Custody/wallet infrastructure

Emerging-market payments

Tools

TypeScript

React

Node.js

PostgreSQL

Job description

We're building the global payment network for money moving into, across, and out of the world's emerging markets: instant, transparent, and affordable, with stablecoin rails under the hood. We're backed by multiple unicorn fintech founders and some incredible investors like EWOR, Triple A, Digital Currency Group, Entourage, and Raba.

We're early enough that the people joining today define how this company works, and proven enough that the work is real from day one: live partners, live corridors, real money. The problems are hard, the surface area is global, and the prize is a rebuild of how money moves between the fastest-growing markets on earth.

We're growing our team to help us shape the future of our industry together. If you see a role that could be a fit for you, please reach out to [e-mail], and let's talk!

About the role

We're looking for Members of Technical Staff to build the infrastructure our money moves through. The title comes from Bell Labs, where a fresh graduate and a Nobel laureate carried the same one, and we use it the same way. Zuba is deliberately flat: the team is mostly ex-founders, former professional athletes, and generally high achievers, none of that buys anyone rank here. What you did before matters less than what you ship here. We hire problem solvers, not specialists. One month you might be hardening the API institutions use to move money into emerging markets; the next you might be taking our new bet from zero to its first live transaction. Whatever you take on, you own it end to end: product decisions, architecture, partner integrations, rollout to customers, and the client call if something breaks.

Two things to know before you apply. First: perhaps unconventional for a financial institution, but we are AI-native. We've realised the goal is no longer to build the car, it's to build the factory that builds the car, and agent orchestration is the default way we build. Few teams run LLMs this deep inside regulated financial infrastructure; we hire engineers who want to work at that edge. Second: we work in person in London, at very high intensity, and we have fun doing it. Mostly type 2 fun: hard while it's happening, the best stories afterwards, with a healthy dose of type 1 along the way. Neither of these is for everyone.

Why this might excite you

• Real money from day one. This isn't a greenfield experiment. Institutional clients move money through what you build, across live corridors, every day.
• Deep technical problems. Reliable services on top of unreliable providers, each with their own quirks and failure modes. Custody that bridges banking rails and stablecoin rails. Products that work on low-end devices with intermittent connectivity.
• AI-native engineering. The best tools money can buy, and a team that expects you to multiply your own output with them. You'll work the way the best engineers will work in two years, now.
• Founder-level exposure. A team of ~15 with no layers. You work directly with the founders, your work shows up in the company's numbers within weeks, and nobody assigns you tickets.

What you'll do

• Build reliable services on unreliable infrastructure. Every payment provider has its own APIs, quirks, and documentation gaps. Clients should never feel any of it.
• Take products from zero to first transaction. Authentication, virtual accounts, balances, quotes, custody, withdrawals: you'll architect, ship, and iterate on real feedback.
• Own production. Build the monitoring and resilience layers that catch transaction failures before clients notice. Be on-call, debug live incidents, and talk to the client yourself.
• Bridge fiat and stablecoin rails. Wallet infrastructure, multi-sig custody, and withdrawal workflows at the intersection of traditional payments and crypto.
• Design for the real world. Low-end devices, poor connectivity, cost-sensitive users, manual processes. Build things that reinvent the market.

Who you are

• You're a problem solver with agency. You notice what's broken and start moving. "I can't because" becomes "I'll figure out how."
• You're AI-proficient, genuinely. You ship with AI tooling, you automate yourself out of repetitive work, and you're visibly curious about what's newly possible. If you write most of your code by hand at 2023 speed, we're not the right place for you.
• You're payments experienced, or payments obsessed. You've run money through production systems before, or you find how money moves fascinating enough to learn fast. Experience preferred, obsession accepted.
• You're full-stack in practice. TypeScript, React, Node, and Postgres preferred but not rigid. What matters is that you ship production code wherever the problem lives.
• You ship fast. What you commit to on Monday exists by Friday.
• You're a clear communicator. Be direct with us. Substance over ego.
• Experience with custody/wallet infrastructure or blockchain rails
• Familiarity with African or emerging-market payments

What we offer

Competitive salary + meaningful equity, and we'll show you the maths

Real ownership: your work shows up in the company's numbers within weeks

No layers: everyone works directly with the founders

Paid travel to the markets we serve

In past 8pm? Dinner and the ride home are on us

Our hiring process

We keep it fast and transparent.

• Intro chat (30 mins) with Max (CTO & Co-Founder): informal discussion about your experience, values, and what you're looking for. An opportunity to get a sense of the role, the team, and how we work.
• Work trial (2 days, paid). The best way to see if we're a good fit is to work together, and we pay for your time. You'll spend two days with us at our Central London office, building on a real problem alongside the team.
• Offer. If all goes well, we'll extend an offer and can't wait to welcome you aboard!