Backend / Platform Engineer, Pinwheel
$150-180k
API for payroll connectivity
Be an early applicant
API for payroll connectivity
21-100 employees
Be an early applicant
$150-180k
21-100 employees
Company mission
To help financial institutions win and keep customers by delivering flawless customer experiences.
Role
Who you are
- If you’re excited by the idea of having your work touch and impact the lives of hundreds of millions of consumers, Pinwheel is the place for you
- If you get stoked about building products alongside the biggest brands in the world, Pinwheel is the place for you
- If you want to join a scrappy, hustling team that is obsessed with defining the future of financial services, Pinwheel is the place for you!
- 3–5+ years of backend software engineering experience
- 2+ years of platform, infrastructure, or DevOps experience
- Strong experience with Python and/or Go
- Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure and cloud-native architectures
- Experience running containerized workloads, especially in Kubernetes
- Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform and Helm
- Experience with CI/CD systems and modern delivery practices (GitOps, CircleCI, GitHub Actions)
- Experience with observability tools such as Datadog, Prometheus, or Grafana
- Strong understanding of building reliable, scalable, high-performance systems
- Ability to quickly learn new technologies and work independently in unfamiliar systems
- A curious, self-directed mindset with strong problem-solving skills
Desirable
- Experience with PKI, encryption, mTLS, or security-focused infrastructure
- Familiarity with GitOps tools like Flux or ArgoCD
- Experience integrating AI tooling (e.g., MCP servers) into production environments
- Exposure to compliance-focused systems (PCI, SOC 2, ISO, etc.)
What the job involves
- Pinwheel is looking for a combination Backend / Platform Engineer who thrives at the intersection of backend engineering, infrastructure, and developer enablement
- This role owns the systems our engineering team depends on to build, deploy, and scale products; everything from Kubernetes and CI/CD pipelines to observability and infrastructure-as-code (IaC)
- You’ll work closely with product and engineering teams to enable fast, reliable delivery while designing systems that are secure, scalable, and built for the future
- Build and maintain backend platform services and features that support internal teams and product development
- Develop internal libraries and tooling using Go and Python
- Design and operate systems related to authentication, public key infrastructure (PKI), and secure data storage and transit
- Provision, monitor, and optimize cloud infrastructure for reliability, scalability, and performance
- Support new product initiatives by deploying and managing microservices in Kubernetes environments
- Design and manage infrastructure-as-code and deployment workflows using Terraform, Helm, and GitOps tools (e.g., Flux, ArgoCD)
- Improve CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows using tools like CircleCI and GitHub Actions
- Implement observability solutions (metrics, logging, alerting) to improve system visibility and operational response
- Architect secure, cloud-native solutions across AWS, Azure, and/or GCP
- Partner with engineering teams to deliver production-ready, compliant platform capabilities
Our take
Pinwheel builds an API that helps Neobanks access and modify their customers' payroll services. It's primarily focused on enabling easy direct-deposit switches in order to promote a fairer financial system for all.
Pinwheel is laser-focused on perfecting UX and product integration in this area, which has won the company coverage of over 70% of paid Americans, and nearly half of all Neobank direct-deposit switches. This secure market position will help it comfortably expand its client services into other API offerings like income verification.
As the US begins to competitively adopt the Open Banking methods already popular in the EU, Pinwheel has made some strategic partnerships, including Lumin Digital, Visa and Bankjoy. These collaborations are driving increased account activation and deposit growth for financial institutions, positioning Pinwheel as a key player in Open Banking methods.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-9% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Jan 2022
$50m
SERIES B
Jun 2021
$20m
SERIES A
Total funding: $77m
Company benefits
- Full medical, dental, and vision benefits
- 401K for retirement planning
- Paid parental leave
- Unlimited PTO
- Mentorship opportunities
- Free Citibike membership
- Team building initiatives
- Free mental health support
- Pet-friendly and snack-stocked office
- Pre-tax commuter benefits
- Hybrid-first work model
Company HQ
Kips Bay, New York, NY
Leadership
Kurtis Lin
(Co-Founder & Executive Chair)Having studied at the University of California, Kurtis worked for UBS for a year before roles at Idean and Luxe as a General Manager for 2 years. After a year as Head of Business Operations at Volvo, he co-founded Pinwheel in July 2018, where he has served as CEO since.
Jamieson Rice
(CEO)Previously CFO at Pinwheel, was the Founder & CEO at Vlaris, Board Director at The H Hub and was a Manager at Bain & Company.
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