Backend Engineer | Hybrid (3 O, 2 H) | Christchurch

Job Overview:

We are seeking an experienced Senior Backend Engineer to join a global fintech organization specializing in cross-border payments technology. This role is ideal for a hands-on engineer who enjoys owning complex backend challenges end-to-end, from API design and data modeling to service architecture, production reliability, and platform modernization. The successful candidate will play a key role in building scalable payment infrastructure while providing technical leadership and mentorship across engineering teams.

What Will You Do:

• Design, develop, and own backend services that support payments, multi-currency balances, onboarding, compliance, settlement, and related financial services.
• Lead the delivery of new platform capabilities from problem definition through production launch.
• Build and maintain partner integrations and settlement infrastructure critical to business operations.
• Own production health within your domain, including observability, reliability, incident response, and on-call support.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Compliance, Operations, Architecture, and Engineering teams to deliver scalable and secure solutions.
• Lead technical design reviews, define architecture decisions, and establish engineering best practices.
• Mentor and support the growth of mid-level engineers through technical leadership and knowledge sharing.
• Drive modernization initiatives, including migration from legacy systems to modern cloud-native architectures.
• Champion the adoption of AI-assisted software development tools and practices throughout the software development lifecycle.

What Makes You a Good Fit:

• 6 to 10+ years of experience building and operating production-grade backend services end-to-end.
• Strong backend development experience, preferably with C#/.NET; candidates with Java, Kotlin, Go, or other object-oriented programming experience are also encouraged to apply.
• Solid understanding of SQL and relational database technologies.
• Experience developing, maintaining, and executing automated tests as part of the software delivery lifecycle.
• Hands-on experience using AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, or equivalent platforms.
• Strong experience with AWS cloud services, CI/CD pipelines, and modern deployment practices, including services such as SQS, DynamoDB, S3, ECS, and Lambda.
• Deep understanding of software architecture, system design, microservices, service-oriented architectures, and event-driven systems.
• Experience working within payments, foreign exchange, fintech, or regulated industries.
• Demonstrated technical leadership experience, including mentoring engineers, conducting design reviews, and making architecture decisions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with financial systems, including ledgers, double-entry accounting, or financial transaction platforms.
• Experience participating in hiring, interviewing, or onboarding technical talent.
• Experience leading platform modernization or migration initiatives.
• Experience with caching technologies such as Redis or Memcached.
• Familiarity with project management and documentation tools such as Jira and Confluence.
• Experience with API testing tools such as Postman or Bruno.
• Experience leveraging AI tools for automated testing and software quality engineering.

What We Offer:

• Competitive remuneration package with annual salary reviews.
• Paid birthday leave.
• Additional annual leave entitlement based on years of service (up to 5 extra days).
• Employer retirement contribution benefits.
• Comprehensive healthcare coverage.
• Employee stock purchase program.
• Paid volunteering day to support a charity of your choice.
• Complimentary office refreshments, including fruit, snacks, beverages, and coffee.
• Access to mental health and wellbeing support resources.
• Opportunity to work with a global fintech organization on innovative payment technologies.

Working Arrangement:

• Hybrid working arrangement.
• Out stationed candidates must be willing to travel to the Christchurch office as required for company meetings, collaboration sessions, and events.
• Opportunity to collaborate with global engineering teams across multiple regions.