Senior Software Engineer — Product‑Driven Startup Builder

Modern Life; New York (NY); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Modern Life is seeking a software engineer in New York to write high-quality code and lead projects. The ideal candidate has over 5 years of programming experience, a strong sense of ownership, and thrives in dynamic environments. Responsibilities include upholding engineering standards and shaping company culture.

The position offers an opportunity to tackle innovative technical challenges in a fast-growing startup focused on insurance technology.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in strong programming.
• Product-minded with curiosity and empathy for users.
• Excellent self-management and organizational skills.
• Experience in a fast-growing technology startup.
• Excited about tackling technical and product problems.

Responsibilities

• Write high-quality, well-tested code for production.
• Lead complex projects and decision-making.
• Focus on value delivery through trade-offs.
• Uphold engineering standards and consistency in processes.
• Shape company culture and best practices.

Skills

Programming

Self-management

Ownership

Organizational skills

Adaptability

Empathy for users

Job description

Requirements

• You have 5+ years of experience as a builder shipping to production
,
• You're product-minded and deeply curious and empathetic about your users
,
• You've shipped AI agents and automations to production and understand what it takes to operate them reliably at scale, including observability, evaluation, and monitoring
,
• You thrive in a dynamic and fast-growing environment with a high degree of ambiguity
,
• You're genuinely excited about tackling hard technical and product problems
,
• (Desirable) You’ve worked as (and loved being) a founding or early engineer
,
• (Desirable) You have experience at an insurtech, healthtech or broader fintech company
,
• (Desirable) You’ve helped build a successful, fast-growing, product-focused startup
,
• (Desirable) You’re excited to share your side projects with us and what you learned from them

What the job involves

• Build and scale AI-powered products that are transforming how insurance advisors work — from intelligent case management to automated underwriting workflows
,
• Write high-quality, well-tested code that runs smoothly in production
,
• Contribute to and lead complex projects, and make business vs technology decisions during all phases of the project lifecycle
,
• Weigh trade-offs and focus on value delivery. A fast-paced startup demands making trade-offs that balance the near term and long term value add of solutions
,
• Help create and uphold our engineering standards and bring consistency to the codebases and processes you build and encounter
,
• Shape the best practices, product, and more broadly the culture of the company from an early stage. Your DNA will be deep into what and how we build
,
• Help define and build the AI platform that is setting the standard for how technology transforms insurance distribution
,
• Create intelligent, agent-driven solutions that help insurance advisors across the full stack of advice and distribution
,
• Set the standard for quality and design in an industry that is ripe for innovation