Software Engineer: Backend

Thatch; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 161,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Thatch, a fully distributed health-benefits software company, is seeking a Backend Software Engineer to design and build the core systems that power enrollments, payments, payroll, and benefits management.

You will own data models, fund flows, and integrations with external partners, focusing on correctness, scalability, and reliability while collaborating with product and operations teams to solve complex business problems.

Qualifications

• Experience building and maintaining backend systems in production.
• A track record of shipping systems with complex business implications.
• Ability to reason about data models, workflows and edge cases.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous problem spaces with cross-functional tradeoffs.
• Experience mentoring other engineers or setting technical direction.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evolve backend systems supporting enrollments, payments, payroll, and benefits management.
• Architect and maintain robust data models and fund flows handling large financial transactions.
• Build integrations with payroll providers, banks, insurance carriers, and partners.
• Improve operational rigor through automation, tooling, monitoring, and observability.
• Collaborate with product, operations, and engineers to solve complex business problems.
• Own production systems, including reliability, debugging, and long-term maintainability.

Skills

Backend systems

Production environment

Data modeling

Ambiguity handling

Mentoring

Tools

Ruby on Rails

React

TailwindCSS

Python

JavaScript

Job description

About the role

Thatch is rewiring how health benefits work. We build software that gives employees real control over how they use their benefits.

We’re looking for a Backend Software Engineer to design and build the core systems that power Thatch. This includes data models, fund flows, automations, and integrations that make healthcare benefits work reliably at scale. Your work ensures money moves correctly, benefits remain compliant, and complex processes work reliably. This work touches real money and real healthcare decisions. The systems you build must be correct, resilient, and built to scale.

We organize engineering around the people we serve: members, employers, and partners, so teams own end-to-end experiences and ship with speed and accountability.

What you'll do

• Design, build, and evolve backend systems that support enrollments, payments, payroll, and benefits management.
• Architect and maintain robust data models and fund flows that handle large volumes of financial transactions.
• Build integrations with payroll providers, banks, insurance carriers, and other external partners.
• Improve operational rigor through automation, tooling, monitoring, and observability.
• Partner closely with product, operations, and other engineers to solve complex business problems.
• Take ownership of production systems, including reliability, debugging, and long-term maintainability.

What we are looking for

• Experience building and maintaining backend systems in a production environment.
• A track record of shipping systems with complex business and operational implications.
• Strong ability to reason about data models, workflows, and edge cases.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous problem spaces with cross-functional tradeoffs.
• Experience mentoring other engineers or setting technical direction.

We hire engineers across multiple levels and care most about the scope you’ve owned, the impact you’ve had, and how you make decisions.

Tools and tech stack

• Ruby on Rails for backend systems.
• React and TailwindCSS for the frontend.
• Small amounts of Python and backend JavaScript where appropriate.

Prior Ruby experience is helpful but not required. We value engineers who can learn quickly and think clearly about systems.

Experience that stands out

• Work in healthcare, finance, or other complex or regulated domains.
• Experience with HR, payroll, payments, or partner-facing systems.
• Ownership of systems with real operational or financial impact.

How we work

• We move quickly and bias toward action.
• We ship early, learn from real usage, and iterate.
• We operate with trust, ownership, and high empathy.
• We value clarity over ceremony and quality over shortcuts.

What to expect

We aim to keep the process thoughtful, rigorous, and efficient. Most candidates complete it within three weeks. You can expect:

• An initial conversation with a recruiter.
• A collaborative pair programming session.
• A systems design interview and a separate conversation with one of our engineers about how we work together.
• A final conversation with engineering and company leadership.

Estimated Compensation Range

$161,000—$230,000 USD

About Thatch

We’re a fully distributed early stage company using technology to change the way America does healthcare. We’re a happy, friendly, high-velocity team. You can read more on Thatch here.