Product Engineer

Product Engineer (Backend) — 0 to 1 builder wanted

Are you a backend engineer who thinks in systems, owns their decisions, and has the scars to prove it? Have you built something from scratch — as a founder, a founding engineer, or one of the first people in the door at a startup that actually shipped?

A high-growth product team inside a fast-moving fintech is looking for a Backend Product Engineer to help build a new product line from the ground up. This team moves like a startup — lean, fast, and focused on getting things into users' hands. They're language-agnostic, but think primarily in Go. More importantly, they think in outcomes.

What you'll do

▸ Architect and build the core — own the backend systems, APIs, and infrastructure that power a new product line. No one will hand you the design. ▸ Ship fast, then make it right — MVPs in weeks, not quarters. They need someone who can make good trade-off decisions quickly and iterate without fear. ▸ Influence the product — they want engineers who push back, ask why, and bring their own perspective on what should be built and how. ▸ Take full ownership — from design through deployment. This team has no room for ticket-takers.

The team

This is a moonshot team — operating separately from the company's day-to-day, with the mandate to build something genuinely new. The successful candidate reports directly to the head of the organisation. No bureaucracy. No waiting for committee sign-off. Strong people, hard problems, fast pace.

The role is in-office in London, 5 days a week. This team works hard — realistically 50–60 hours a week. They're looking for someone who is genuinely ambitious and wants to build something they're proud of.

What they're looking for

✓ Ex-founder, co-founder, or first-10 engineer at a startup — this is non-negotiable. They need someone who knows what it feels like to own the outcome, not just the ticket. ✓ Backend-strong, comfortable with infra and devops — the team primarily uses Go, but they care far more about engineering quality than language preference. ✓ 5+ years of strong engineering experience, with a track record of shipping production systems — not just prototypes. ✓ Can explain the why behind every product and architecture decision — and the answers get sharper the more you push. ✓ Uses AI dev tools daily and can speak concretely about how it changes their output and velocity. ✓ Genuinely ambitious — they want someone who cares about impact, not just craft.

What they offer

💰 £100,000 – £150,000 base salary

• Meaningful equity — a genuine stake in what you're building
• Private healthcare
• Pension contributions
• Direct access to leadership and real influence on the product from day one
• The chance to build something from zero — in a high-growth fintech with the resources to back it