Senior Software Engineer at inKind

<h1><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Job Title: </strong>Senior Software Engineer<br></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Reports to: Director of Engineering</strong></span></h1> <h2><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Build the infrastructure powering the future of restaurant payments</strong></span></h2> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">At inKind, we’re building the financial infrastructure that connects restaurants, diners, and capital in entirely new ways. Our platform powers real-time financial transactions and operational workflows for restaurants across the country.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">We’re looking for entrepreneurial, forward-thinking engineers who thrive in fast-moving environments and enjoy solving complex technical problems at scale. This is a hands-on role where you’ll design and build systems that support mission-critical financial workflows used daily by restaurants and partners.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Our engineering team works with an AI-first mindset — leveraging modern AI tools to accelerate development, automate workflows, and unlock new product capabilities. We’re looking for engineers who are excited to experiment with emerging technologies while maintaining high standards for reliability and scalability.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">You’ll collaborate closely with product, business, and engineering teams to build systems that directly impact the restaurants and partners who rely on inKind for real-time financial operations.</span></p> <h1><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>What You’ll Work On</strong></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">You’ll help design and operate the systems that power our financial platform.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Distributed Systems &amp; Platform Engineering</strong></span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Design and implement scalable distributed systems supporting financial transactions and real-time events</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Architect services that handle real-world scale, failure scenarios, and performance constraints</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Ensure strong data integrity and consistency across distributed workflows</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Build secure infrastructure protecting sensitive financial data</span></li> </ul> <h3><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>AI-First Engineering</strong></span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Identify opportunities to leverage AI tools to accelerate development and improve engineering workflows</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Contribute to AI-enabled product features and automation across the platform</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Help evolve how our team integrates modern developer tools and AI-assisted engineering practices</span><br><br></li> </ul> <h3><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Reliability &amp; Production Operations</strong></span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Design systems with observability, monitoring, and failure recovery in mind</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Debug complex production issues across distributed services</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Improve reliability and performance of mission-critical systems</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Participate in on-call rotations to maintain platform stability</span></li> </ul> <h3><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Cross-Functional Collaboration</strong></span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Partner with <strong>product and business teams</strong> to translate customer needs into scalable technical solutions</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Lead architectural decisions through hands-on implementation</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Mentor engineers and help raise engineering standards across the team</span></li> </ul> <h1><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Who Thrives Here</strong></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The engineers who succeed at inKind tend to be:</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Builder Mindset</strong><strong><br></strong>You enjoy taking ownership, experimenting with new ideas, and shipping impactful solutions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Systems Thinkers</strong><strong><br></strong>You understand how complex systems interact and can design resilient architectures.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Forward-Thinking Engineers</strong><strong><br></strong>You’re excited about modern development practices and exploring how AI can improve the way we build software.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Pragmatic Problem Solvers</strong><strong><br></strong>You know when to refactor, when to optimize, and when to ship.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Collaborative Teammates</strong><strong><br></strong>You communicate clearly and work well with engineering, product, and business partners.</span></p> <h1><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Minimum Qualifications</strong></span></h1> <ul> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">8+ years of experience building and operating production systems</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Strong distributed systems design experience</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Expertise in at least one major web framework (Rails, Django, Express, Fastify, etc.)</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Strong database knowledge including indexing, query optimization, and transactional integrity</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Experience designing highly available production systems</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Familiarity with authentication, authorization, and secure API design</span></li> </ul> <h1><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Preferred Qualifications</strong></span></h1> <ul> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Experience scaling systems during periods of rapid growth</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Background in payments, financial transactions, or regulated systems</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Experience implementing distributed patterns such as retries, circuit breakers, and event-driven workflows</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Experience working with or evolving large Rails applications</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Experience integrating AI tools into engineering workflows or building AI-powered product features</span></li> </ul> <h1><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Why Engineers Like Working Here</strong></span></h1> <ul> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Work on real-world financial infrastructure used by restaurants every day</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">High ownership and autonomy in architectural decisions</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Opportunity to help shape an AI-first engineering culture</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Collaborative environment working closely with product and business teams</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fast-moving startup environment where your work directly impacts customers</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Some of our Benefits:</strong></span></h2> <ul> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Generous PTO and company holiday policy + company paid Short Term Disability</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">100% employer covered health and dental insurance for our direct employees (a set plan is covered, with higher tier healthcare coverage available at employee's additional cost; dependent coverage is at employee's cost); vision plan available at employee's additional cost</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Child Care Benefits and generous parental leave</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Dog-friendly workspace in a secure building with great views of downtown Austin</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Daily lunches and snacks for in-office team members</span></li> </ul> <h1><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Salary</strong></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>$160,000 – $185,000, DOE</strong></span></p><div class="content-conclusion"><p><strong>Who we are:<br><br></strong>inKind connects passionate diners with exceptional restaurants across the country. inKind partners with thousands of restaurants and has millions of users who want to discover great places, dine confidently, and earn meaningful rewards.</p> <p>Through the inKind app, guests earn 20% back every time they dine, turning everyday meals into something more rewarding. From celebrated restaurant groups like José Andres and Michael Mina to beloved neighborhood favorites, inKind helps diners explore the best restaurants in town while supporting the restaurants and chefs who shape how their cities eat.</p> <p>Rooted in hospitality and built on a win-win philosophy, inKind exists to help great restaurants thrive while inspiring guests to dine out more often. Every meal creates value on both sides of the table, empowering diners to savor more while strengthening the restaurant community.<br><br><em><br><br>inKind is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe that diversity is vital to inKind's ability to provide our clients with the best recommendations and are committed to fostering a varied and inclusive work environment. Your race, color, ancestry, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability status, veteran status, or any other protected category have no bearing on our hiring decisions.<br><br>By submitting this application, you acknowledge that inKind Cards, Inc. may share the information you provide with trusted third-party service providers, including fraud detection and application processing partners, to evaluate your application and ensure the integrity of our hiring process. Your information will be handled in accordance with our <u><a href="http://inkind.com/privacy" target="_blank">Privacy Policy</a></u>. For California residents and others with applicable rights, please review our privacy notice for information about your rights regarding your personal data.</em></p></div>