Software Engineer - AI Augmented Development

This is not a narrowly defined role. You will work across AWS infrastructure, backend services, data pipelines, and internal tooling. The work is meaningful, visible, and moves quickly. You will have real ownership over what you build. The ideal candidate is someone who thrives with autonomy, communicates proactively, and uses modern AI-assisted development tools as a force multiplier - not as a crutch.

RESPONSIBILTIES:

• Own delivery. Take ownership of development tasks end-to-end - from requirements to deployment - across backend services, data pipelines, and AWS infrastructure.

• Write production code. Write Python and SQL across a variety of use cases: ETL pipelines, backend services, data quality checks, operational scripts, and API integrations.

• Work in AWS. Build, modify, and maintain AWS infrastructure - Lambda functions, ECS/Fargate services, RDS, S3, SQS, CloudFormation stacks - with an emphasis on reliability and cost-efficiency.

• Use AI tools fluently. Use AI coding tools (Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, or similar) actively and effectively to accelerate your work. We expect these tools to be a core part of your workflow, not an afterthought.

• Query and model data. Write clear, well-structured queries across relational databases. Understand schema design, indexing, and query performance. Snowflake experience is a bonus.

• Communicate clearly. Communicate status, blockers, and decisions clearly - in Slack, in tickets, in PRs, and in conversations with both technical teammates and non-technical stakeholders.

• Build with quality. Write tests for what you build. Follow the team’s coding standards and review standards. Leave code in better shape than you found it.

• Collaborate. Participate in code reviews, architecture discussions, and retrospectives. Offer and receive feedback constructively.

You must bring all of the following to be considered for this role:

• Python proficiency. Comfortable writing Python across a range of contexts - scripting, backend services, data processing, AWS Lambda. You do not need to be a framework expert, but you must understand clean, readable, maintainable code.

• AI tool fluency. You actively use AI-assisted coding tools in your day-to-day work - Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, or similar. You know how to prompt effectively, validate output, and integrate AI-generated code responsibly.

• SQL proficiency. Strong SQL skills: complex joins, aggregations, window functions, subqueries, CTEs. You can read a schema you’ve never seen before and write a useful query against it within minutes.

• AWS experience. Hands-on experience building or maintaining systems in AWS. You have worked with at least several of the following: Lambda, ECS/Fargate, RDS, S3, SQS, IAM, CloudFormation or CDK, CloudWatch. You understand how these services connect.

• Relational database experience. You have connected applications to relational databases, designed or modified schemas, written migrations, and debugged data issues under pressure.

• Reliability. You show up. You meet your commitments. When something slips, you say so early and propose a path forward. You do not go quiet when things get hard.

• Communication skills. You can explain a technical decision to a non-technical executive without losing the substance. You can write a clear ticket, PR description, or status update that anyone on the team can act on.

NICE TO HAVE: These are not requirements, but they will make you a stronger candidate and allow you to ramp up faster:

• Snowflake - querying, schema design, data sharing, or Snowpark.
• TypeScript or Node.js experience (our payment middleware stack is TypeScript/Fastify).
• Experience in fintech, lending, payments, or a similarly regulated industry.
• Familiarity with NLS (Nortridge Loan Software) or similar loan management systems.
• Experience writing Infrastructure as Code (CloudFormation, CDK, or Terraform).

• Comfort reading and writing documentation at a professional level - architecture docs, runbooks, API references.

• Experience working in a small, fast-moving team where roles are fluid and self-direction is expected.

PowerPay is growing fast, and our technology team needs a hands-on engineer (reportintg to the Head of Technology) who can own a broad portfolio of development work independently - so our senior leadership can stay focused on product strategy, architecture, and client relationships.