Sr. Backend Engineer, Infrastructure team

About the role

Pinwheel - Building the future of financial services in partnership with the biggest brands

“I love my banking app!” said no one, ever.

Pinwheel is on a mission to change that. We believe banks and financial service providers represent the greatest opportunity to build 10x better experiences, especially in the AI age. We’re building the next generation of financial products alongside some of the biggest names in the market including Robinhood, DoorDash, Chime, Cash App, Credit Karma, American Express, Discover, Intuit, Acorns, Visa and more.

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!

Pinwheel has raised $77M from top-tier investors such as Coatue, Notable, First Round, Upfront, Primary, American Express, Franklin Templeton, Indeed, Semper Virens and more.

Who are we looking for?

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.

What will you do?

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

What qualifications are necessary?

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

Nice to Have

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.)

At Pinwheel, total compensation is made up of salary + equity + benefits. We recruit motivated and high performing talent, and work to compensate people in line with the value they can bring to the organization in delivering outsized results. The talent market is competitive, and maintaining our ability to recruit and retain the best team possible is a top priority for Pinwheel. When creating an offer, we consider interview performance, candidate experience, external market competitiveness, and internal equity in thoughtfully assessing compensation. The expected cash salary range for this role is $150,000 - $200,000 base.

Why join Pinwheel?

Best time to join - Our company is small but well-funded, meaning you are joining at a time where you can impact and shape the company.

Be a cultural builder - You will have an active hand in molding the company culture and being a part of the entrepreneurial journey.

Build something revolutionary - Help build the products on the bleeding edge of financial services!

Benefits included:

Great compensation & equity packages

Full medical, dental, and vision benefits

Life & short-term disability insurance

Flexible PTO policy that prioritizes recharge and balance

Paid parental leave

401K for retirement planning

Mentorship opportunities

Free Citibike membership

Pet friendly offices and Zoom spaces

Diversity & Inclusion at Pinwheel

At Pinwheel, we are committed to building an environment that is diverse and inclusive. We believe that having people across different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives enables us not only to build the best financial products, but to help us realize the best versions of ourselves. Pinwheel is an equal opportunity employer, and we aim to be an open and supportive place to work.