Requirements

Backend and distributed systems expertise: A strong track record architecting and delivering complex backend systems in production, ideally at large scale.
Correctness-critical experience: Demonstrated experience designing reliable services with high correctness requirements, where accuracy is non-negotiable.
Strong programming foundations: Deep experience in languages such as Kotlin, Java, or similar.
Architectural judgement with a bias for simplicity: Strong instincts for choosing the most reliable and efficient solution rather than the most elaborate one.
Hands-on delivery: Comfort staying close to the code and contributing significant production work while also setting direction for others.
Cross-team technical leadership: Demonstrated ability to anchor long-running initiatives spanning multiple teams, from direction-setting through to a shipped, dependable result.
Coaching and influence: A history of raising standards and supporting the growth of the engineers around you.

Nice to Have

Regulated-domain experience: Background in fintech, payroll, or other regulated, financially sensitive domains.
Compliance-critical systems: Familiarity with systems where accuracy and compliance are critical.

Set technical direction: Define the architecture and patterns for the backend systems that power payroll processing pipelines, calculations, and workflows, setting standards that other teams adopt.
Solve the hardest problems simply: Find the simplest robust solution to complex challenges around correctness, reliability, and performance, writing meaningful amounts of production code yourself where it matters most.
Drive complex initiatives end to end: Lead long-running technical efforts that span team boundaries within the payroll domain, taking accountability for delivery and quality the whole way through.
Keep money-critical systems trustworthy: Ensure payroll data is processed accurately and reliably across the platform, and that payslips and reporting outputs are generated dependably, treating correctness as the bar rather than a feature.
Raise operational excellence: Set the standard for the reliability, performance, and maintainability of payroll backend services, keeping critical workloads dependable at scale.
Collaborate across boundaries: Partner with product managers and engineers across payroll teams to deliver coherent, well-integrated systems rather than disconnected parts.
Coach and elevate engineers: Mentor senior engineers through design feedback, pairing on hard problems, and the example you set, raising the technical bar across the domain.