The Software Engineer will build features across the stack, design AI/LLM-driven workflows, translate requirements, and collaborate closely with the founding team and customers.
About us
The role
What you’ll do
Compensation & benefits
We’re a fast-growing startup rethinking how back-office work gets done in financial services. Our first product helps automotive lenders resolve insurance claims more effectively, delivering better outcomes for both lenders and consumers through automation and AI. Small improvements can unlock significant value for our customers. Along the way, we’ve helped consumers avoid millions in debt.
Our work spans a wide range of engineering challenges — from building core application features and integrations, to designing reliable infrastructure, to creating AI/LLM-driven workflows that automate complex processes.
We’re an early stage venture-backed startup and scaling quickly. We’re scrappy, intentional, and focused on solving real problems for our customers. We bias toward shipping, learning fast, and building solutions that work in the real world.
Our headquarters is in New York City, and our team is distributed.
We’re backed by leading investors including 81 Collection, Better Tomorrow Ventures and Capital One Ventures.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/startwithlevel/
We’re looking for a Software Engineer to join our team. This is a generalist role and you are encouraged to apply no matter your expertise. We have opportunities across the stack. You can expect to own projects end-to-end, have customer facing engagements, and make foundational technical decisions that will shape our product and culture for years to come.
Some of your work will involve AI/LLM-based systems, but just as much will involve building the surrounding product and infrastructure that makes those systems valuable to our customers. If you enjoy tackling different kinds of problems, moving quickly, and taking ownership, this role is for you.
- Build features across the stack based on your strengths and the business’s highest priorities: backend services, frontend interfaces, integrations, agents and infrastructure.
- Design and implement AI/LLM-driven workflows as part of our automation platform.
- Translate ambiguous requirements into clear, functioning software.
- Balance speed with technical rigor, knowing when to optimize for learning and when to invest in durability.
- Help define and evolve our engineering practices and technical culture.
- Collaborate closely with the founding team and customers to shape product direction.
- 7+ years of software engineering experience, ideally with exposure to fast-moving or startup environments.
- Strong technical depth: you can design systems, not just implement them.
- A generalist mindset, with the ability and confidence to work across multiple parts of the stack.
- Pragmatism: you can ship quickly without sacrificing critical quality.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate technical tradeoffs clearly.
- Comfort with ambiguity, and a bias toward ownership and action.
Bonus points for:
- Experience working with LLMs or building AI-driven applications.
- Background in fintech, insurance, or workflow-heavy enterprise products.
- Prior experience as an early-stage engineer or founder
- Contributions to open-source or research projects.
Stack:
- Cloud & Infrastructure AWS
- AWS Lambda
- Amazon ECS
- Backend
- Python
- FastAPI
- Databases & Storage
- Amazon DynamoDB
- PostgreSQL
- S3
- Frontend
- React/Nextjs
- Typescript
- Customer-first – we focus on solving real customer problems.
- Bias to action – more doing and fast learning help us deliver the right solutions.
- Ownership – no silos, no excuses: we all take responsibility.
- Strong opinions, open minds – clear points of view, constructive debate, open to better ideas, learning from each other
- Competitive salary and meaningful equity.
- Health, dental, and vision insurance.
- Unlimited PTO and flexible hours.
- New equipment to support your best work.
- Regular offsites and team travel budget to get together in person
- The opportunity to play a foundational role in shaping both the product and the company.
📍 HQ in NYC, distributed team.
Similar Jobs
Computer Vision • Digital Media • Kids + Family • Mobile • Software • Sports
Develop and enhance features within the Subscriptions Backend, ensuring system stability and observability, and leading architectural decisions.
Top Skills:
AWSNode.jsPostgresRedisTypescript
Artificial Intelligence • Fintech • Healthtech • Software
The software engineer will build full-stack features for Kora's voice AI agent, integrating data, refining prompts, and expanding multi-modal capabilities while mentoring peers and ensuring technical quality.
Top Skills:
AWSGCPPythonReactTypescript
Blockchain • Fintech • Mobile • Payments • Software • Financial Services
As a Software Engineer in Cash App Banking, you'll design, develop, and deliver banking features, collaborating closely with teams to impact consumer banking.
Top Skills:
AWSDatadogDynamoDBGrpcGuiceHibernateHTTPJavaJettyJSONJunitKafkaKotlinMySQLOkhttpPrometheusProtocol BuffersSignalfx
What you need to know about the San Francisco Tech Scene
San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area attracts more startup funding than any other region in the world. Home to Stanford University and UC Berkeley, leading VC firms and several of the world’s most valuable companies, the Bay Area is the place to go for anyone looking to make it big in the tech industry. That said, San Francisco has a lot to offer beyond technology thanks to a thriving art and music scene, excellent food and a short drive to several of the country’s most beautiful recreational areas.
Key Facts About San Francisco Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 365,500; 13.9% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Google, Apple, Salesforce, Meta
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, fintech, consumer technology, software
- Funding Landscape: $50.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins
- Research Centers and Universities: Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; University of San Francisco; Santa Clara University; Ames Research Center; Center for AI Safety; California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
