Gem

Lead Software Engineer - Payments

Gem$215K — $233K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Extensive experience in building or scaling payment processing systems (ACH, Wires, Card Processing, or ideally, RTP/FedNow)
  • Proven track record in designing distributed systems for high-volume financial transactions
  • Proficient in modern tech stack (Python/Django, React, AWS, PostgreSQL)
  • Experience with event-driven architecture technologies (Kafka/RabbitMQ) is a plus
  • 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with 2+ years in leadership roles

Responsibilities

  • Lead the design and scaling of real-time payment infrastructure for 99.99% uptime
  • Define the long-term roadmap for transitioning to event-driven, real-time architectures
  • Embed security and fraud mitigation directly into payment processing
  • Provide technical mentorship and set high coding standards within the team
  • Collaborate with Product and Implementation teams to enhance UX and meet regulatory requirements

Benefits

  • Equity option grant
  • Eligibility for performance-based cash and equity bonuses
  • Comprehensive benefits package
Full Job Description
The Role:

We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer to spearhead the technical evolution of Narmi Now, our flagship instant payments solution. Narmi Now is a direct-to-Fed integration that enables 24/7/365 real-time money movement via the FedNow® Service.

As a Lead Engineer on the Payments team, you won't just be writing code; you will be the architect of a highly resilient, low-latency processing engine. You will tackle the unique challenges of "faster payments," where the margin for error is zero and the need for sophisticated fraud prevention (Narmi Guard) is paramount. And lastly, you'll lead a small, talented team of engineers.

What You'll Do

  • Architect Real-Time Infrastructure: Lead the design and scaling of our direct connection to the Federal Reserve, ensuring 99.99% uptime for instant credit and debit transfers.
  • Drive Technical Strategy: Define the long-term roadmap for Narmi's payment rails, transitioning from legacy batch processing to event-driven, real-time architectures.
  • Integrate Security & Fraud: Work closely with the Narmi Guard team to embed world-class identity decisioning and fraud mitigation directly into the payment flow.
  • Mentor & Lead: Act as a force multiplier for the engineering org, providing deep technical mentorship, setting code standards, and conducting high-impact reviews.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Product and Implementation teams to turn complex regulatory requirements into seamless UI/UX experiences for both financial institutions and their end-users.


What You'll Bring

  • Deep Payments Expertise: Extensive experience building or scaling payment processing systems (ACH, Wires, Card Processing, or ideally, RTP/FedNow).
  • Systems Thinking: A proven track record of designing distributed systems that handle high-volume, mission-critical financial transactions with absolute data integrity.
  • Tech Stack Proficiency: Comfort working across a modern stack (Python/Django, React, AWS, PostgreSQL). Experience with event-driven architecture (Kafka/RabbitMQ) is a major plus.
  • Strategic Execution: The ability to balance "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast" - building for long-term stability while maintaining the agility of a high-growth fintech.
  • Experience: 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 2+ years in a Staff, Principal, or Lead capacity.


The expected annual base salary for this role is $215,000 - $233,000. Base salary is only part of your total compensation. In addition to base salary, you will receive an equity option grant, and are eligible for performance-based cash and equity bonuses. Compensation included in an offer will be commensurate with the candidate's skills, experience and geographic location. Compensation ranges for candidates located outside of New York City may differ. You will also receive a full benefits package.

Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $200,000 - $233,000 per year.

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