Backend Software Engineer

Self Financial, Inc.; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 105,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability coverage

Relocation bonus

Stock options

Flexible vacation

Hybrid work arrangement

Gym membership

Education reimbursement

Parental leave

Team building events

Inclusion opportunities

Job summary

Self Financial, Inc. is seeking a Backend Software Engineer to join the Credit Card team in Austin. You will build and maintain backend services and APIs powering Self's credit card products, collaborating with engineers across product, design, frontend, QA, and management.

The role emphasizes scalable, secure systems, integration with third-party partners, and ownership growth. A solid foundation in Python backend development and REST APIs is essential; relocation to Austin is encouraged.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of professional software engineering experience with backend services.
• Strong Python knowledge and web app fundamentals.
• Experience designing REST APIs and client-service communication.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain backend services and APIs powering credit card features.
• Design for scalability, performance, and reliability in production.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, Frontend, QA, and Engineering Manager.
• Integrate with third-party partners and monitor data exchanges.
• Write clean, tested, secure, maintainable code and participate in code reviews.
• Contribute to testing, security, and deployment best practices.

Skills

Backend development

Python

REST APIs

Git workflows

Testing & security

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/SE or related field

Tools

Flask

FastAPI

PostgreSQL

MySQL

AWS

Docker

Job description

Anticipated salary range for this level position: $105,000 - $130,000 annually. Individual pay and level is based on factors unique to each candidate, including skill set, experience, and other job-related reasons.

Self Financial is a venture-backed, high-growth FinTech company with a mission to increase economic inclusion and financial resilience by empowering people to build credit and build savings. We're looking for people who share our passion and are driven to tackle challenges, find solutions and make the financial space better for the communities we serve. Our team is passionate about challenging the status quo of the credit industry by providing people accessible tools to take control of their credit. Executing on our mission requires deep collaboration across our teams to ensure our products reach the people who can benefit from them the most, particularly the 100 million+ Americans who have no or low credit.

Backend Software Engineer

Please note: we are only able to consider candidates who are U.S. citizens or current green card holders, and we are not able to provide visa sponsorship of any kind at this time, including for current or future employment.

Software Engineer, Backend - Credit Card Team

This role is on our Credit Card team, which builds and supports the systems behind Self's credit card products. Interviews will be conducted in-person out of our Austin, TX headquarters.

About the role

As a Software Engineer on Self's Credit Card team, you'll help build and maintain the services and APIs that power our credit card experience across Self Financial's mobile app and web platforms, working alongside a high-performing team of engineers. Much of the team's work involves integrating with the third-party partners and platforms that our credit card products depend on, so you'll learn how external systems connect with our own and how to make those integrations reliable and secure. This role is a good fit for someone with a solid foundation in backend development who wants to grow their skills, take on more ownership over time, and learn from experienced engineers. You'll contribute to backend services and APIs, build your understanding of distributed systems and scalability, and ship high-quality software in a fast-paced, collaborative environment with frequent releases.

We care deeply about creativity, quality, learning, and delivering reliable, secure systems to a large customer base.

What you'll do

• Build and maintain backend services and APIs using Python, Flask, and FastAPI, taking on more ownership of your area of the system as you grow.
• Implement REST endpoints consumed by web and mobile clients, learning to design for scalability and long-term maintainability.
• Work with relational databases (PostgreSQL/MySQL) to model data, write efficient queries, and contribute to schema and indexing decisions.
• Build and support integrations with third-party partners and services, including handling data exchange, error cases, and monitoring to keep them running smoothly.
• Write clean, maintainable code, take part in code reviews, and use reviewer feedback to improve your work.
• Follow and help uphold the team's best practices for testing, security, performance, and safe releases.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, Frontend Engineering, QA, and your engineering manager to scope and ship user-focused improvements.
• Debug issues, explore unfamiliar parts of the codebase, and build your understanding of Self's backend architecture.
• Contribute to team rituals, documentation, and continuous improvement.

What you bring

• 2+ years of professional software engineering experience, including work on backend services.
• Working knowledge of Python and a solid grasp of web application fundamentals.
• An understanding of REST APIs and how backend services communicate with clients and other systems.
• Comfort with Git and common software development workflows, including code review and collaborative development.
• A commitment to writing reliable, tested, secure, and maintainable code.
• Clear communication skills, the ability to manage your own tasks, and a habit of asking for help when you need it.

What makes you stand out

• Experience with Flask or FastAPI.
• Knowledge of the credit card or payments industry.
• Experience integrating with third-party APIs or external partner systems.
• Experience using agentic engineering tools (e.g., Claude, OpenAI/Codex, Copilot) to speed up development workflows.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience preferred.
• Experience with SQL and relational database design.
• Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS preferred), containers (Docker), or message queues.
• Curiosity and a track record of picking up new technologies quickly.
• Personal, professional, or open-source projects that show your backend skills.

Benefits & Perks

• Generous health, dental, and vision insurance coverage
• Employer-paid benefits including life, disability, and cost-containment resources
• Gym membership options through ClassPass or monthly reimbursement
• Education reimbursement program
• Paid parental leave
• Relocation bonus to move to Austin
• Referral program
• Company equity in the form of stock options
• Company performance-based bonuses
• Flexible vacation
• Hybrid work arrangement
• Casual dress code
• Team building events and activities
• ERG and inclusion opportunities

Self Financial requires all employees hired to successfully pass a background check.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

At this time, we are only able to consider applicants who are U.S. Citizens or Green Card Holders for employment opportunities. We appreciate your understanding.