Founding Product Engineer – Backend Systems

TechRivo; Portugal; On-site; EUR 83,000 - 165,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Flexible hours

Job summary

A software consulting company based in Portugal is seeking a Founding Product Engineer to shape the product and technical foundations of a greenfield insurance platform. This role involves close collaboration with the CTO and designers to define system architecture and move the product forward. Candidates should have a strong background in backend development and system architecture, along with a proactive mindset. This position offers flexible hours and the possibility of a remote work arrangement.

Qualifications

• Experience with backend engineering and system architecture.
• Familiarity with Java and Spring framework.
• Ability to work with remote teams effectively.

Responsibilities

• Design and evolve the backend architecture of the insurance platform.
• Translate business ideas into technical capabilities.
• Implement core backend components for the system.
• Design and evolve backend architecture for complex workflows and long-running processes.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to clarify requirements.

Skills

System architecture

Backend development

Problem-solving

Collaboration with designers

Communication with stakeholders

Tools

Java (Spring ecosystem)

Workflow orchestration (Temporal / BPMN)

Keycloak

Terraform

GitHub (Actions)

Job description

Overview

TechRivo is a software consulting company based in Portugal working with clients across Europe, Australia and Africa. Our projects span multiple industries including fintech, education, and digital platforms. We work closely with our partners to design and build meaningful software products.

We are currently building a greenfield insurance platform and are looking for a Founding Product Engineer to help shape both the product and technical foundations of the system.

The Role

This is not a typical developer role. We are looking for an engineer who is comfortable operating between product, architecture, and engineering, and who enjoys working in environments with uncertainty while helping transform ideas into working systems. The platform we are building is a large insurance ecosystem with an ambitious vision. Many aspects will need to be explored and defined as development progresses, so the ability to ask the right questions, navigate uncertainty, and take ownership is essential.

This role is a good fit if you:

• Enjoy building systems from the ground up
• Are comfortable working with incomplete or evolving requirements
• Like making architectural decisions and implementing them
• Prefer ownership and impact over narrowly defined tasks

Day to Day

You will work closely with the CTO, designer, and frontend developers to define architecture, explore the domain, and move the product forward through hands-on engineering.

• Ask questions and challenge assumptions to clarify unclear requirements
• Help translate business ideas into technical capabilities and system features
• Seek to understand the problem before jumping to solutions
• Design and evolve the backend architecture of the platform
• Evaluate technical solutions and propose pragmatic approaches
• Reason about distributed systems and long-running workflows

Hands-on Engineering

• Implement core backend components to move the system forward
• Design systems capable of handling complex workflows and long-running processes
• Work comfortably with incomplete or evolving requirements
• Take accountability for moving the project forward
• Identify unknowns and reduce ambiguity
• Treat the product with a founder-like mindset

While mindset and architecture ability are most important, the current stack includes:

• Java (Spring ecosystem)
• Workflow orchestration (Temporal / BPMN)
• Keycloak
• Terraform
• GitHub (Actions)

Soft Skills

• Comfortable working closely with designers and engineers
• Able to explain technical ideas clearly to non-technical stakeholders
• Comfortable working remotely with video calls

Location: Remote

Commitment: Flexible hours depending on project stage and workload

Compensation: Hourly based

What you can expect from this process

1. Our team will carefully review your application, and if your experience and qualifications match our needs, we’ll invite you for an initial call
2. Technical Assignment on TestGorilla
3. Call with CTO
4. Final call

Submit your application using this form. Please note that applications made through other channels will not be considered.