---
title: 'Backend Engineer at Happl'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/backend-engineer-happl-london-qmqvzhned53x'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-06'
---

# Backend Engineer at Happl

- **Company:** Happl
- **Location:** London, United Kingdom
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-02-18
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/happl/352575c7-faf3-4f48-9a91-4b4ccb399e8c

## Job description

We’re building the next generation of employee benefits infrastructure.

At Happl, we help global teams design, manage, and scale benefits that actually work for their people by using AI, across flex allowances, benefits, insurance, recognition, and wellbeing, all in one intelligent platform.

Happl is backed by leading investors such as YCombinator, 6Degrees Capital, and more, known for backing leading companies such as Deel, Rippling, Airbnb, Coinbase, Dropbox, and most recently was awarded a place in the UK’s top 100 startups for 2026.

## About the role

As a Backend Engineer at Happl, your mission is to build the systems that power a global, AI-first benefits platform.

You’ll design, build, and scale backend services that are reliable, secure, and performant, enabling our product teams to move fast while supporting complex real-world use cases across payroll, finance, and employee benefits.

This role is for someone who enjoys ownership, thrives in fast-moving environments, and wants to build foundational systems that directly impact how companies support their people.

This is a hybrid role based in London, with an expectation of working from the office at least 2–3 days per week.

## What you’ll be doing

This role sits within our Engineering team and works closely with Product, Frontend, Data, and Customer teams across the full development lifecycle.

You’ll help shape how we build and scale our backend by focusing on:

- Designing and scaling the backend architecture powering a global, AI-first platform
- Building and owning core services across benefits, allowances, payments, and reporting
- Developing scalable data models and ensure integrity across systems
- Improving platform reliability, performance, security, and observability
- Automating workflows and Go Rules to streamline complex operations
- Collaborating closely with product and frontend teams to ship end-to-end features
- Writing clean, well-tested, production-ready code
- Using AI tools to accelerate development and iteration
- Contribute to architecture, technical decisions, and engineering standards

You’ll play a key role in ensuring Happl’s backend scales as our customer base, features, and global footprint grow.

## What we’re looking for

- 3+ years experience as a Backend or Software Engineer
- Strong experience with modern backend languages and frameworks (must have a working ability in Golang and Typescript)
- Experience designing and consuming APIs (REST, event-driven systems)
- Solid understanding of databases (SQL / PostgreSQL) and data modelling
- Experience building and scaling production systems
- Familiarity with cloud infrastructure and CI/CD workflows
- Comfortable working with integrations and third-party services
- Experience using AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude) as part of your workflow
- Clear communicator who works well with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Proactive, detail-oriented, and comfortable taking ownership

If you don’t meet every requirement but feel this role fits your trajectory, we’d still love to hear from you.

## Why join Happl

- Help shape the future of employee benefits
- Competitive base salary and commission
- Meaningful equity in an early stage growing business
- Flexible hybrid working from day one
- Access to your own Happl benefits platform
- Optional enrolment in Private Health Insurance
- Optional enrolment in Dental insurance, including family cover
- A flexible Wellbeing budget to spend on whatever wellbeing means to you
- Learning & Development (L&D) allowance
- Pension scheme from day one
- Rapid career progression in a scaling engineering team

## About the Interview

- Call 1: 20-min Intro call with Ben (COO & CoS)
- Call 2: 30-min deep dive with Lee (Head of Engineering)
- Short Task
- Call 3: 30-min deep dive with Ben T (CEO & Founder)

Additional Details

Location: London, Holborn Team: Engineering Working arrangement: Hybrid (3+ Days in Office)

#BS-L1

## About Happl

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Happl is an AI-powered global employee benefits platform that automates enrolment, administration, and compliance for HR and finance teams while giving employees personalised, flexible benefits.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A, total funding $18.7M)
- **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom (offices also in New York, USA, and Nigeria)
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Ben Towers (CEO) and Michael Rose (Co-Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Human Resources / Employee Benefits & SaaS
- **Target customers**: B2B – HR and Finance teams at mid-market and enterprise companies with global or remote workforces
- **Mission**: “Benefits should make people feel like they belong at work, not excluded.” – Ben Towers, CEO

## Products & Services
- **Flex Benefits & Expenses**: Customisable benefit allowances and expense management with automated workflows.
- **Salary Sacrifice Schemes**: Tax-efficient perks like cycle-to-work and EV schemes, fully automated.
- **Pension & 401k**: Connect and track contributions in one place for clarity and reduced admin.
- **Rewards & Recognition**: Send gifts, perks, and allowances in seconds with automated reward workflows.
- **Integrated Insurance**: Broker and manage employee insurance policies within the platform.
- **Compliance & Tax Reporting**: Real-time tax calculations, automated deductions, and compliance with local regulations.
- **Happl AI**: AI-powered recommendations and personalised benefit plans for employees, plus instant support for HR and Finance.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: $18.7M total funding (most recent Series A in May 2026)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (seed round), angel investors including Richard Woodward, Graham Baxter, Helmut Schuster, Nick Green. Also listed as approved on the UK Government Benefits Framework.
- **Growth Signals**: 98% retention rate, 90%+ employee engagement, active in 160+ countries, 70+ languages supported. Headcount grew 13.6% YoY (21 employees). 9 open job postings as of mid-2026.

## Competitive Advantages
- **AI-Powered BenefitOS**: Combines automation, AI personalisation, and compliance engine in a single platform.
- **100+ Integrations**: Seamless connections with HRIS (BambooHR, Workday), payroll, and other ecosystem tools.
- **Regulatory Edge**: One of the few platforms approved on the UK Government Benefits Framework, ensuring compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
- **Personalised at Scale**: AI enables truly individual benefit plans without added admin burden.

## Strategic Focus
- **Global Expansion**: Expanding presence in the US and other markets (already in 160+ countries).
- **Automation Depth**: Continuing to reduce manual work for HR and Finance through intelligent automations.
- **Employee Experience**: Driving engagement through hyper-personalised benefits and recognition tools.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Mission**: Founded on the belief that benefits drive inclusion and belonging; team is purpose-driven and collaborative.
- **Work Model**: Hybrid – offices in London (88 Kingsway), New York (1178 Broadway), and a presence in Nigeria.
- **Growth Opportunities**: Young, fast-growing company (Series A, recent funding) with active hiring across engineering, product, sales, marketing, and operations.
- **Engineering Culture**: Small but growing engineering team (backend, product) working on a modern stack with AI integrations. Emphasises autonomy and impact.
- **Perks**: Work on a platform that directly improves people’s work lives; exposure to global compliance challenges.

## Sources
1. [happl.com](https://happl.com)
2. [happl.com/careers](https://happl.com/careers)
3. [happl.com/about](https://happl.com/about)
4. [linkedin.com/company/happl](https://www.linkedin.com/company/happl)
5. [ycombinator.com/companies/happl](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/happl)

## Other roles at Happl

- [Finance Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/finance-manager-happl-london-mq3r1vsa1nr0) — London, United Kingdom
- [Employee Benefits Technical Implementation Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/employee-benefits-technical-implementation-manager-happl-london-zy2s8bqfphcg) — London, United Kingdom
- [Employee Benefits Consultant, US](https://feeny.ai/job/employee-benefits-consultant-us-happl-united-states-mfsemd7gz28p) — United States
- [Sales Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/sales-development-representative-happl-london-schjr4m5ns3b) — London, United Kingdom
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