Staff Software Engineer

ONO AI has been engaged as a hiring partner by a Y Combinator-backed AI fintech startup in San Francisco. Fresh off a nearly $20M Series A, they're looking to appoint a Staff Software Engineer to help shape the next phase of their engineering organisation.

A well-funded AI fintech startup automating one of the most manual, neglected functions in enterprise finance. Backed by Y Combinator and a top-tier AI venture arm, this company is moving fast and building software that genuinely works — already trusted by major enterprises to replace broken manual processes with something better.

The Role

We are looking to identify an experienced Staff Software Engineer — the most senior individual contributor on the team. This is a defining role, not just a building role. You will set technical direction for the entire company, own architecture decisions that shape the product for years, and raise the engineering bar for everyone around you.

You'll partner directly with the founders to translate ambiguous business goals into technical roadmaps. The domain is fintech — AR automation for large enterprises — where correctness and uptime genuinely matter. If you thrive in high-stakes, high-ownership environments, this is the opportunity.

What You'll Do

• Set the technical direction for the company as the most senior IC
• Operate across squads and systems, owning architecture decisions that shape the product for years
• Partner directly with founders to translate business goals into technical roadmaps
• Design and build full-stack features across a modern Next.js frontend and backend API layer
• Lead schema design, migrations, and backfills across Prisma and MySQL — safe to deploy at scale
• Drive engineering practices company-wide: system design, observability, incident response, runbooks
• Raise the bar through code review, architectural guidance, and mentoring engineers

What We're Looking For

• 8\+ years of full-stack software engineering experience
• Background at a high-bar tech company or VC-backed early-stage startup
• Strong TypeScript expertise — comfortable across the full stack
• Experience owning architecture at company scale, not just feature scope
• High comfort with ambiguity — can define direction without being given scope
• Based in or willing to relocate to SF Bay Area (on-site 5 days/week; no visa sponsorship)

Stack

TypeScript · Next.js · tRPC · Prisma · Zod · Inngest · MySQL · React

The Opportunity

• Founding engineering team — massive influence over architecture, culture, and product
• Backed by Y Combinator and Google’s AI venture arm
• Near-$20M Series A — funded, focused, and scaling
• Direct access to founders, no layers, no bureaucracy
• Competitive base \+ meaningful equity \+ benefits

Interview Process

• Initial screen (30 min) — background, motivation, and role fit
• Technical interview (45–60 min)
• Onsite (3–4 hrs) — systems design assessment, PR review, and managerial assessment
• Culture fit with founders (30–45 min) — ownership mindset and mutual Q\&A

ONO AI are operating as hiring partners on behalf of our client, therefore this opportunity will be working directly on a full time basis with the client.