Sr Specialist - Technology

Ground Zero; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 2,400,000 - 4,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Ground Zero in Bengaluru is seeking a Senior Specialist - Technology to own the technology stack end-to-end for our frontline micro-entrepreneur users. The role focuses on building offline-first web and mobile applications, voice-first vernacular interfaces, AI deployment, and a robust data layer for impact measurement.

You will work with program leadership to set the product and engineering roadmap, estimate technical scope, and deliver high-quality outcomes in a challenging, low-resource

Qualifications

• 4–7 years building software with strong programming fundamentals.
• Solid database work: schema design, query design and performance.
• Fluency with agentic coding tools to ship high-velocity code.
• Good grasp of web application design: APIs, authentication, state.
• Clear written and spoken communication; able to explain tradeoffs.
• Must operate in low-bandwidth or intermittently connected contexts when needed.

Responsibilities

• Design and build web and mobile apps for low-bandwidth and offline use.
• Create voice-first and vernacular interfaces for users with low digital literacy.
• Identify where AI meaningfully improves field operations including evaluation and inference cost control.
• Build the data layer powering impact measurement and funder reporting.
• Do code reviews, testing, documentation & incident response.
• Help set product and engineering roadmap with program leadership.

Skills

Software development

Database design

Web APIs

Programming fundamentals

Clear communication

Low-bandwidth thinking

Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

WhatsApp Business API

Job description

Job Summary

Role name: Senior Specialist - Technology, Bangalore. Experience: 4 to 7 years.

About the role

Our technology initiatives serve micro-enterprises-small retail shop owners, local vendors, and home-based producers. These users operate on thin margins, in patchy network conditions, often with limited digital literacy, and almost exclusively in regional languages. Very little off-the-shelf software fits their unique context and operational realities.

We are looking for an individual to own that technology stack end-to-end:

• Field Data Collection: Supporting our frontline community partner network.
• User Delivery: WhatsApp-first interfaces and workflows built directly for micro-business owners.
• Localization: Voice-enabled and vernacular user interfaces.
• Data Architecture: The underlying data layer driving core impact measurement and analytics.
• Production AI: Deploying and scaling AI systems into active production workflows.

This is a hands-on technology role. You will work on setting the product and engineering roadmap alongside program leadership, help decide what to build, estimate technical scope, and deliver high-quality outcomes.

What you'll own

• Design and build web and mobile applications that hold up in low-bandwidth and intermittently connected areas - offline-first, low-data, low-end Android
• Build voice-first and vernacular interfaces for users with low digital literacy
• Identify where AI meaningfully improves field operations including evaluation, guardrails, and inference cost control
• Build the data layer that powers impact measurement and funder reporting: pipelines from Saathi field collection through to defined metrics, with data quality and lineage
• Do code reviews, testing, documentation & incident response

Data responsibility

Own privacy and consent design for data, including obligations under Indias DPDP Act and the data commitments we make in grant agreements

Skills and experience

Essential

• 4 - 7 years building software, with strong programming fundamentals and real problem-solving depth - able to go deep in at least one language and pick up others quickly
• Solid database work: schema design, query design and performance, and modelling for
• Fluency with agentic coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, or similar) to ship quality code at high velocity
• Good grasp of web application design - APIs, authentication, state, caching, failure modes
• Clear written and spoken communication, and the ability to explain a technical tradeoffs

Nice to have

• Built for low-bandwidth, rural, or offline-first contexts in India
• Production experience with AI-native applications - systems real users depend on
• WhatsApp Business API or comparable messaging platforms at scale
• Speech technology (ASR/TTS) or Indic-language NLP
• Data engineering and analytics pipeline ownership
• Cloud infrastructure ownership on AWS or GCP, infrastructure-as-code, and cost management

Mindsets we're looking for

• A genuine pull towards social impact - one that shows up in the tradeoffs you make, not only in your interest in the sector
• Comfort with ambiguous and shifting requirements, and a habit of helping set the requirements rather than waiting to receive them
• Appetite for field immersion. You will spend time in markets with Saathis and Vyapaaris. This is not optional color - it is how you will know what to build