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Work at a Portfolio Company

Backend Engineer

Unit21

Unit21

Software Engineering
San Francisco, CA, USA
Posted on Mar 7, 2025

About Us:

At Unit21, we believe that combating financial crime demands a united front. Through our adaptable risk engine and versatile case manager, we identify and proactively mitigate risks related to money laundering, fraud, and other illicit activities. With a simple API and no-code interface, we empower fraud fighters and AML heroes to proactively detect and prevent fraud–without tapping engineering.

About the role:

We are looking for a backend engineer who is passionate about system and service design and optimization with interest in developer experience and observability. We build products that help our customers catch fraud and keep their customers money safe. This requires detailed analysis of complex systems with innovative solutions and design.

What you will be doing:

Analyzing and identifying poor performing and expensive code

Work with multiple teams to improve inefficient parts of the system

Lead and drive projects to completion

Reviewing pull requests, internal and external to team

Innovating on creative solutions to difficult problems

Work with related data infrastructure technologies

Developing and deploying efficient and elegant code

What we're looking for:

BS, MS or Ph.D in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, or related field is required.

3+ years of experience in Python/Go/Rust.

1+ years of experience in AWS and Terraform

Affinity for refactoring and redesigning legacy code bases

Cost vs performance analysis

Embraces change since this role will be working with different teams for each project

Experience in building and managing distributed systems

Experience in developing and optimizing end-to-end APIs, data-flows, SQL queries and infrastructure for consumer or enterprise products

Advanced knowledge of software engineering principles including software design, source control management, build processes, automated deployments, code reviews, testing methods

Hustle, curiosity, humility

Bonus Points!

Experience managing large-scale critical production systems with minimum SLAs of 4 9's

Compensation:

The standard base pay range for this role is $150,000 - $175,000 Annually. This base pay range does not include variable compensation including potential commissions, bonuses or other financial or equity incentives.

Unit21 is an equal opportunity employer, we encourage all to apply, even if you do not meet each requirement above. We are building a diverse, inclusive workforce and hope you will join us!

What we can offer you:

Competitive salary and pre-IPO stock options

100% company-paid medical, dental and vision insurance (for employee)

Optional HSA and FSA medical reimbursement accounts

Unlimited paid time off

Generous leave programs for life events

401(k)

Charity matching

Annual Learning & Development stipend

One-time Home office set-up stipend

Commuter benefits

Happy hours and team-building events

Great office space in the San Francisco Financial District

Fully stocked kitchen

Lunch provided in SF office multiple times a week

A great company culture with a strong emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion

About Unit21:

Unit21 stops bad actors by leveraging data to deliver justice and safety in the world. We protect businesses against adversaries engaging in money laundering, fraud, and other sophisticated risks by offering no-code infrastructure to model, detect, and remediate suspicious activity. Our customers range from large Fortune 500 companies to high-potential, pre-launch startups. We have reported over USD $2 billion in fraud and laundered money to the US government using our software.

We are a rapidly growing Series C startup, having raised close to $100m from Google, Tiger Global, ICONIQ Capital, Jack Dorsey, Diane Greene, and other leading VCs. Our team believes deeply in fostering individual ownership, iterative product development, and empathetic communication. There are many challenging problems to solve in this industry, and a huge opportunity for our software to empower companies to define a new standard of eliminating bad behavior on their platforms.

We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. Unit21 is committed to creating an inclusive culture, and we celebrate diversity of all kinds.