Solutions Engineer

Ascend; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Meaningful equity

Dog friendly office

Commuter benefits

Free lunch in office everyday

Health care for you and your dependets

Job summary

Ascend is hiring a Solutions Engineer (Contract) to take ownership of a critical AI-driven data extraction workflow in our San Francisco office. You’ll shape how automation powers the insurance industry by improving accuracy, scalability, and customer experience across the product, operations, and engineering teams.

You’ll dive into complex data problems, fine-tune prompts, and build systems that support reliable automation.

Qualifications

• Experience with AI-powered document processing and data extraction.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to translate complex concepts for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience working with large unstructured datasets.
• Familiarity with prompt engineering and AI workflow optimization.

Responsibilities

• Own and optimize prompt logic for AI-driven data extraction.
• Collaborate with Product, Operations and Engineering teams.
• Improve testing, monitoring, and refinement processes.
• Build reusable playbooks and prompt strategies.
• Track extraction accuracy metrics and identify improvements.

Skills

Prompt engineering

AI-powered data processing

Data extraction workflows

Analytical thinking

Communication

Tools

LLMs tooling

Prompt frameworks

Job description

What We Do

Insurance is a $10T industry still running on PDFs, email threads, and manual reconciliation. Ascend is changing that. We built the first and only complete financial operations platform purpose-built for insurance - combining accounting automation, payments, and premium financing in a single vertically integrated solution. In five years, we've become the market leader: over 4,000 businesses, including more than half of the 50 largest brokers in the country, trust Ascend to bring clarity to complex accounting operations from collection to close.

What We Do

Insurance is a $10T industry still running on PDFs, email threads, and manual reconciliation. Ascend is changing that. We built the first and only complete financial operations platform purpose-built for insurance - combining accounting automation, payments, and premium financing in a single vertically integrated solution. In five years, we've become the market leader: over 4,000 businesses, including more than half of the 50 largest brokers in the country, trust Ascend to bring clarity to complex accounting operations from collection to close.

How We Do It

Ascend automates the financial operations that insurers, MGAs, and agencies run every day and embeds directly into the transactions where money actually moves. Point solutions are easy to build and even easier to copy. The companies that win won't just sell tools - they'll capture value where the money actually moves. Ascend is built for exactly that moment. Our customers don't just adopt software, they unlock measurable efficiency with a proven 5-7x return on investment. Our team is onsite in San Francisco. We bring deep expertise in insurance, fintech, and financial infrastructure to build what the industry has never had.

Why We Do It

The insurance industry intermediates trillions of dollars - and almost none of that infrastructure was built for the modern era. Legacy systems aren't just inefficient; they're a ceiling on what the industry can become. Ascend's mission is to become the leading financial automation platform for insurance by 2030 - powering the financial operations of the entire industry and transforming the way trillions of dollars move. We're not building another point solution, we're building the financial backbone of insurance.

Your Role

Ascend is hiring a Solutions Engineer (Contract) to take full ownership of a critical AI-driven data extraction workflow. You'll shape how automation powers the insurance industry - improving accuracy, scalability, and customer experience at every step. You'll dive deep into complex data problems, fine-tune prompts, and refine systems that power the automation layer behind Ascend's financial infrastructure. This role is a mix of hands‑on problem-solving, experimentation, and collaboration with Product, Operations, and Engineering teams to make our automation more reliable and intelligent.

This is a contract role based on-site at our San Francisco office, 40 hours per week for three months, starting in October.

Responsibilities

Own and optimize prompt logic

• Identify and resolve data extraction issues using prompt engineering and analytical problem-solving.
• Design systems that enable scalable, high-accuracy iteration on prompt workflows.

Technical implementation & tooling

• Partner with internal teams to improve testing, monitoring, and refinement processes.
• Support new customer and organization onboarding through internal tooling improvements.
• Provide feedback and insights to shape the broader product roadmap.

Customer & stakeholder collaboration

• Work closely with internal and external users to gather context, troubleshoot challenges, and deliver consistent, high-quality results.

Quality assurance & reporting

• Track and analyze extraction accuracy metrics, uncovering trends and root causes.
• Recommend process improvements to reduce manual work over time.
• Build reusable playbooks and prompt strategies to support future automation efforts.

Why This Role Matters

This is a chance to own a critical piece of Ascend's AI-powered automation systems and see your work directly impact product performance, customer satisfaction, and company growth. You'll thrive here if you love solving tough technical problems, moving quickly, and building systems that scale intelligently. This role is perfect for someone who operates at the intersection of data, engineering, and product thinking - and takes pride in turning complexity into clarity.

What We’re Looking For

• Exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills, with a track record of breaking down complex problems into actionable solutions.
• Experience with AI-powered document processing, prompt engineering, or data extraction workflows.
• Proven ability to work with large, unstructured datasets to identify patterns and improve accuracy.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Bonus: Familiarity with large language models (LLMs) and their applications in automation or data systems.

Contract Details

• Location: On-site in San Francisco (SoMa)
• Schedule: Full-time, 40 hours per week
• Type: Contract to hire as a full time software engineer (6 months)
• Benefits: Please note, this role does not include benefits during the contract period. In the event the candidate is converted to a full time role post contract benefits are listed below.

Benefits

• Unlimited PTO
• Meaningful equity
• Dog friendly office
• Commuter benefits
• Free lunch in office everyday
• Health care for you and your dependents

Equal Opportunity

We are committed to equal opportunity employment and embrace diversity within our organization. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We encourage candidates to apply even if their experience doesn't precisely match this opportunity. We value diversity and are dedicated to equal opportunity employment.