Senior Backend Engineer

NALA; London; Remote; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company dedicated to transforming financial transactions across Africa and Asia. As a Senior Backend Engineer, you'll play a pivotal role in enhancing digital payment systems by developing robust APIs and collaborating with global teams. This innovative firm is committed to delivering world-class software, ensuring economic opportunities for working migrants. With a focus on community and innovation, you'll be part of a mission-driven team that values your contributions and empowers you to make a meaningful impact in fintech. Embrace this exciting opportunity to shape the future of payments!

Benefits

35 days off

Birthday leave

Enhanced parental leave

Global workspace access via WeWork

$1000 annual learning budget

Hybrid working

Themed snacks

Monthly socials

Free coffee

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in building scalable backend services using Go.
• Strong knowledge of cloud service deployment best practices.

Responsibilities

• Develop and design core components of the Rafiki web service API.
• Integrate with payment partners for reliable cross-country payments.

Skills

Go

Postgres

Kafka

Cloud Service Deployment

English (written and spoken)

Tools

AWS ECS

gRPC

Dart

Flutter

React

TypeScript

Redis

Vault

Terraform

Jira

Job description

4 weeks ago Be among the first 25 applicants

Our mission

At NALA, we're building payments for the Next Billion. This means transforming how money moves into Africa, Asia, and beyond. By building cutting-edge payment solutions, we're simplifying financial transactions for individuals and businesses alike—helping them thrive in a global economy.

We're driven by innovation, community, and the belief that everyone deserves access to reliable, efficient, and affordable financial services. If you're passionate about creating meaningful change and shaping the future of fintech in Africa, Asia, and beyond, join us and be part of a team that's revolutionising financial empowerment on a global scale.

Your mission

Help us enhance the digital payment systems and infrastructure for the African and Asian continent by contributing to the development & design of our core components and tools of our Rafiki web service API.

Your Responsibilities In This Role

We are looking for a Senior Backend Engineer experienced in Go to help us elevate NALA's product offerings. Following impressive growth, we are diversifying our services to increase economic opportunities for working migrants globally.

Specifically, we want to open NALA's payment rails to customers via API, enabling corporates to send, receive, and convert funds directly through NALA from their systems.

We are passionate about serving our communities and aim to deliver world-class software to achieve our ambitious goals.

In the first few months, you will likely be involved in:

• Building business-facing features with the frontend team
• Integrating with payment partners for reliable cross-country payments
• Implementing core business logic like KYC, ID verification, AML, and fraud detection
• Launching new countries with modular, adaptable code
• Using data for decision-making and customer insights
• Automating processes and partner failover to improve support and customer satisfaction
• Contributing to our REST API core functionalities

Our Tech Stack

• Services written in Go, deployed via AWS ECS, communicating with gRPC
• Mobile app in Dart with Flutter (Android & iOS)
• Web product in React and TypeScript
• Databases and tools: Postgres, Kafka, Redis, Vault
• Managed with Terraform on AWS
• Practices include unit/integration testing, code reviews, and multiple daily deployments
• Using Agile methodologies and Jira for project management

Must-have job requirements

• 5+ years building reliable, scalable backend services in Go
• Experience with RDBMS like Postgres or MySQL
• Experience with message brokers like Kafka or RabbitMQ in event-driven architectures
• Strong knowledge of cloud service deployment best practices
• Experience collaborating asynchronously with global teams via Slack/Teams/Jira
• Passion for our product and mission
• Fluent in written and spoken English

Nice-to-have job requirements

• Experience in Fintech and Payments
• Experience in startups
• Knowledge of infosec
• Experience developing robust server-to-server APIs (REST/GraphQL)

Interview Process

Our process includes four stages:

• [30 mins] Interview with Talent Team — discuss motivations and experience, review your application
• [1 hour] Coding Challenge — live pair programming with engineers
• [1 hour] Architecture Interview — solve a design challenge with Engineering Managers
• [30 mins] Final Interview — speak with the CTO or Hiring Manager about your motivation and ask questions

We also conduct reference checks for all hires and aim to provide timely feedback.

Benefits

Remote options within UK/EU, including:

• 35 days off (27 days + 8 bank holidays for UK-based)
• Birthday leave
• Enhanced parental leave
• Global workspace access via WeWork
• $1000 annual learning budget

For London office staff, additional perks include hybrid working, themed snacks, monthly socials, and free coffee.

Seniorities & Employment

• Mid-Senior level
• Full-time

Industries

• IT Services and Consulting