Staff Software Engineer

Background:

We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to be a key member of the team to help drive and accelerate our growth.

Penelope is a leading retirement savings platform dedicated to simplifying and democratizing wealth building. We empower businesses, especially small and mid-sized companies, to offer robust and accessible retirement plans through our innovative technology.

Our mission is to create the retirement solution we'd want for our own families. We achieve this by automating investing, streamlining administration, and providing transparent, predictable pricing without hidden fees. Penelope delivers turnkey 401(k) plans with comprehensive compliance and regulatory support, making it easy for employers to provide a competitive benefit.

We are a fintech innovator committed to a seamless, next-generation experience. If you're passionate about making a tangible impact on financial well-being, Penelope offers a dynamic environment where your contributions directly shape the future of retirement savings.

Our Technology:

We are a cloud-native, API-first platform that offers both a license solution and white label offering to our clients - who are typically either small businesses looking to offer 401(k) solutions to their employees and increasingly to solution providers who create and administer 401(k) plans for employers.

Expected Skills:

You should be able to:

• Architect and scale our FinTech platform: Lead the design and evolution of our robust, cloud-based platform, ensuring scalability, security, and performance.
• Work with high performing global teams: Collaborate with our Europe-based engineering counterparts, fostering a culture of timely, on-budget delivery and continuous improvement.
• Demand operational excellence: Implement best practices across technical operations, ensuring reliability, efficiency, and seamless execution.
• Ensure platform integrity and compliance: Conduct/lead code audits to guarantee adherence to compliance standards and mathematical precision in all calculations.
• Champion AI-driven innovation: Identify and integrate cutting-edge AI solutions to enhance our platform offerings and optimize development processes.
• Collaborate across the organization: Partner closely with business and client-facing teams to gather insights, define product specifications, and prioritize initiatives to align with business and customer goals.
• Embody decisive leadership: Own critical decisions, demonstrate strong accountability and ethics, and inspire confidence through clear communication and unwavering commitment.

What You'll Bring:

• 6+ years of experience as a Backend Engineer or similar role.
• Strong proficiency in Python and experience with modern Python development practices.
• Hands-on experience with Docker (version 20 or higher) and Docker Compose for local development and deployment.
• Experience with UV for Python package and environment management.
• Solid understanding of database concepts and strong experience with PostgreSQL, including writing efficient queries and managing migrations with Alembic.
• Proven experience designing and implementing RESTful APIs based on OpenAPI specifications.
• Experience with automated testing frameworks, particularly Pytest.
• Familiarity with version control systems (e.g., Git).
• Understanding of micro services architecture and distributed systems (preferred).
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS) is a plus.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, with a focus on creating efficient, maintainable, and well-documented code.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a team environment.

Bonus Points:

• Experience with performance optimization and scaling distributed systems.
• Knowledge of monitoring and logging tools.
• Contributions to open-source projects.
• Experience with CI/CD automation.

What You’ll Get:

• Competitive salary and equity package
• Fully Remote/Flex work 100% of time
• Unlimited PTO + 10 paid company holidays
• Access to best in class medical, dental, and vision plans
• A rare opportunity to join a high-growth startup at a critical inflection point