Senior Backend Engineer — Node.js & TypeScript

About the role

We are seeking an exceptional Senior Backend Engineer to join our fast-growing fintech platform that is reshaping how millions of Kenyans save, invest, and transfer money. This is a pivotal role where you will own the architecture, development, and reliability of mission-critical services that process tens of thousands of transactions daily. As our Senior Backend Engineer, you will design and implement RESTful and GraphQL APIs using Node.js and TypeScript, building services that are performant, observable, and secure. You will work closely with product managers, frontend engineers, and data teams to deliver features that directly impact our customers' financial lives. Your work will touch everything from real-time transaction processing and M-Pesa integration to fraud detection pipelines and customer notification systems. You bring a deep understanding of distributed systems and know how to design for failure. You have strong opinions about database design — whether it is optimising PostgreSQL query plans, designing efficient Redis caching layers, or choosing the right storage engine for event-sourced data. You understand that every millisecond of latency matters when a customer is waiting for payment confirmation at a till. On a day-to-day basis you will lead technical design reviews, mentor mid-level engineers, conduct code reviews, and drive best practices across the team. You are comfortable owning incidents end-to-end — from diagnosis through resolution to post-mortem — and you treat reliability as a first-class product feature. Our stack: Node.js 20, TypeScript 5, Fastify, PostgreSQL 16, Redis 7, Docker, Kubernetes on AWS EKS, GitHub Actions for CI/CD, Datadog for observability, and Terraform for infrastructure. You do not need to be an expert in everything, but you should be deeply comfortable in Node.js, TypeScript, and PostgreSQL, and have meaningful experience with containerised deployments. We are a remote-friendly but Nairobi-anchored team. You will be expected in our Westlands office two to three days per week for collaborative work. We offer a competitive salary, comprehensive medical cover, pension contributions, annual learning budget, and genuine equity participation as we scale across East Africa. If you are energised by the idea of building infrastructure that powers the financial inclusion of millions of Africans, we want to hear from you. Apply with your CV, a link to a project you are proud of, and a short note about the most complex backend system you have designed.