Senior Software Engineer (Backend): FinCrime

Lever, Inc.; South Africa; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Hybrid/remote working

Flexible hours

Global travel opportunities

Growth-focused culture

Autonomous squads and ownership

Job summary

Lever, Inc. in South Africa is seeking a Senior Backend Software Engineer (FinCrime) to build scalable financial infrastructure enabling fiat and digital currency movements.

You will design and maintain high-quality backend services and APIs within an autonomous squad, owning technical decisions and delivery. The role requires 5+ years of backend experience, strong Java and Spring Boot skills, and a track record delivering APIs at scale in FinTech or regulated settings.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend software engineering experience, ideally within FinTech or another highly regulated technology environment.
• Strong expertise in Java and Spring Boot.
• Proven experience building, operating, and maintaining APIs and backend services at scale.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within a team.
• Good understanding of financial services, particularly banking, payments, cryptocurrency, or related financial infrastructure.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Data-driven mindset with the ability to use analytical information to make pragmatic engineering decisions.
• Experience working in autonomous, fast-paced engineering teams with high levels of ownership and accountability.
• Familiarity with blockchain or distributed ledger technology is an advantage.
• Interest or experience in financial crime prevention, compliance, or related financial technology domains is valuable for this role.
• Comfortable participating in an out-of-hours on-call rotation.
• Ability to balance technical quality, delivery speed, simplicity, and long-term maintainability.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain high-quality backend services and APIs supporting cross-border financial products.
• Build reliable solutions for workflows involving fiat and digital currencies, including trading processes, liquidity management, and automation.
• Collaborate closely with product teams to iterate quickly, prioritize effectively, and deliver meaningful customer outcomes.
• Translate complex technical concepts into clear, accessible explanations for non-technical stakeholders across the business.
• Evaluate technical approaches and advocate for simple, effective solutions that address customer and business needs.
• Develop future-proof products with a strong focus on code quality, maintainability, reliability, and efficient delivery.
• Contribute to engineering standards, practices, documentation, and initiatives that improve the wider engineering culture.
• Use data and analytical insights to identify problems, evaluate solutions, and make pragmatic technical decisions.
• Work effectively within an autonomous squad, taking ownership of technical decisions and execution.
• Participate in an out-of-hours on-call rotation to help maintain the reliability and availability of critical services.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

APIs at scale

Problem solving

Communication

Data-driven

Autonomous teams

Blockchain familiarity

Financial crime awareness

Job description

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Senior Software Engineer (Backend): FinCrime based in South Africa.

As a Senior Backend Software Engineer, you’ll help build financial infrastructure that enables seamless movement between fiat and digital currencies. You’ll work on technically complex systems supporting cross-border payments, trading workflows, liquidity management, and financial crime prevention. The role combines hands-on backend engineering with close collaboration across product and business teams. You’ll design reliable APIs and services while helping create future-proof products that can operate at scale. Working within an autonomous engineering squad, you’ll have significant ownership over technical decisions and delivery. This is an opportunity to contribute to modern financial infrastructure in a fast-moving, globally distributed environment where simplicity, quality, and sustainable execution are highly valued.

Accountabilities

• Design, develop, and maintain high-quality backend services and APIs supporting cross-border financial products.
• Build reliable solutions for workflows involving fiat and digital currencies, including trading processes, liquidity management, and automation.
• Collaborate closely with product teams to iterate quickly, prioritize effectively, and deliver meaningful customer outcomes.
• Translate complex technical concepts into clear, accessible explanations for non-technical stakeholders across the business.
• Evaluate technical approaches and advocate for simple, effective solutions that address customer and business needs.
• Develop future-proof products with a strong focus on code quality, maintainability, reliability, and efficient delivery.
• Contribute to engineering standards, practices, documentation, and initiatives that improve the wider engineering culture.
• Use data and analytical insights to identify problems, evaluate solutions, and make pragmatic technical decisions.
• Work effectively within an autonomous squad, taking ownership of technical decisions and execution.
• Participate in an out-of-hours on-call rotation to help maintain the reliability and availability of critical services.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional backend software engineering experience, ideally within FinTech or another highly regulated technology environment.
• Strong expertise in Java and Spring Boot.
• Proven experience building, operating, and maintaining APIs and backend services at scale.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within a team.
• Good understanding of financial services, particularly banking, payments, cryptocurrency, or related financial infrastructure.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Data-driven mindset with the ability to use analytical information to make pragmatic engineering decisions.
• Experience working in autonomous, fast-paced engineering teams with high levels of ownership and accountability.
• Familiarity with blockchain or distributed ledger technology is an advantage.
• Interest or experience in financial crime prevention, compliance, or related financial technology domains is valuable for this role.
• Comfortable participating in an out-of-hours on-call rotation.
• Ability to balance technical quality, delivery speed, simplicity, and long-term maintainability.

Benefits

• Competitive salary aligned with experience, skills, and relevant certifications.
• Flexible working hours.
• Hybrid/remote working approach.
• Flexible approach to holiday.
• Culture centered around passionate, growth-minded people.
• Opportunities to travel to offices around the world.
• Open and creative working environment with opportunities to contribute to company culture and future direction.
• Opportunity to work on modern cross-border payment infrastructure spanning fiat and digital currencies.
• Collaborative environment with autonomous engineering squads and significant ownership.