Software Engineer (Backend)

Yuzu; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Yuzu is a NYC-based health-insurance startup hiring an early engineer to help shape the engineering culture and product strategy. You will write in TypeScript using modern frameworks like SvelteKit and NestJS, and design data structures to tackle healthcare complexities.

As an early employee, you will contribute across the entire codebase, help set our technology direction, and play a key role in directing the product from an engineering perspective.

Qualifications

• Experience building software projects, ideally independently or as part of a small team or early-stage startup.
• In-person 5 days/week in Flatiron NYC office required.
• Self-directed, curious, fast-paced personality with strong communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Contribute across the entire codebase.
• Set a large part of Yuzu’s company culture.
• Direct the focus of our product from an engineering perspective.

Skills

Software development

Startup experience

Communication skills

Self-directed

Tools

Typescript

CDK

AWS

Job description

Background

At Yuzu, we’re building the next-generation health insurance company. We are NOT building a digital brokerage or an AI wrapper - we are going deeper to build the foundational infrastructure required to power tomorrow’s health plans. We believe that software can unlock the ability to build health insurance that is affordable, adaptable, and scalable. Yuzu’s platform will be core to this future.

So how does this actually work? Over 70% of employer-sponsored health plans are self-funded, meaning the employer acts as the insurer and directly covers employees’ healthcare costs. This allows companies to customize benefits, gain flexibility, and save money. Self-funded employers partner with a Third-Party Administrator (TPA) to handle the behind-the-scenes plan administration, like processing claims and managing benefits.

The TPA industry is a $500bn sleeper industry that has historically been seen as a services business, bogged down by manual processes and legacy systems (for context, our team couldn’t even access these on our Macs).

Yuzu is a vertically integrated & tech-enabled TPA, currently servicing thousands of employees. We differentiate by helping innovative health plans come to life by facilitating new ways to pay for and access healthcare covered by insurance. Yuzu’s goal is to make it as easy for any business to create and manage a custom health plan as it is to create a storefront on Shopify.

We’re backed by top VC firms and 10+ unicorn founders, including leaders at Stripe, OpenAI, Brex, Deel, Mercury, and Notion, and we’re building a formidable team to tackle the massive opportunity ahead.

Role

• Write in Typescript using modern frameworks like SvelteKit and Nestjs

• Design data structures to tackle the intricacies of healthcare.

As an early employee you will

• Contribute across the entire codebase

• Set a large part of Yuzu’s company culture

• Direct the focus of our product from an engineering perspective

Qualifications

• Experience building successful software projects, ideally independently or as a part of a small team or early-stage startup

• In-person 5 days/week in Flatiron NYC office required

• Self-directed, curious, fast-paced personality with strong communication skills

Nice to Haves

• Experience with Typescript, CDK, and/or AWS

• Experience in healthcare or fintech infrastructure

Our Commitment to You

• You will have significant ownership. Both equity and autonomy.

• We will invest in your learning and forgive your mistakes along the way.

• We will trust you and tell you everything you want to know about the business.

Compensation

$140k to $260k annual salary, plus a meaningful equity component commensurate with the level of role at a Series A company in NY/SF.

Process

If we interview you, you can expect the following process

• Initial 30 minute intro call

• A 45 min - 1 hr technical interview

• A 30 minute project deep dive

• An onsite loop incorporating a practical programming exercise, a system design interview and a product interview

• We may speak with 1-2 references you provide.