---
title: 'Backend Software Engineer - Evergreen Posting at Self Financial'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/backend-software-engineer-evergreen-posting-self-financial-austin-fksvp7j6q81f'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-05'
---

# Backend Software Engineer - Evergreen Posting at Self Financial

- **Company:** Self Financial
- **Location:** Austin, TX
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-08-10
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-05
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/selffinancial/jobs/6139484004

## Job description

Self Financial is a venture-backed, high-growth FinTech company with a mission to increase economic inclusion and financial resilience by empowering people to build credit and build savings.

We're looking for people who share our passion and are driven to tackle challenges, find solutions and make the financial space better for the communities we serve.

Our team is passionate about challenging the status quo of the credit industry by providing people accessible tools to take control of their credit. Executing on our mission requires deep collaboration across our teams to ensure our products reach the people who can benefit from them the most, particularly the 100 million+ Americans who have no or low credit.

Backend Software Engineer - Evergreen Posting

This posting is evergreen, meaning we're building a pipeline of strong candidates for anticipated openings on this team rather than filling a single, immediate role. We may reach out now or in the future as positions become available. Interviews will be conducted in-person out of our Austin, TX headquarters.

Please note: we are only able to consider candidates who are U.S. citizens or current green card holders, and we are not able to provide visa sponsorship of any kind at this time, including for current or future employment.

## About the role

As a Backend Software Engineer and Self, you'll build and own the services and APIs that power Self Financial's mobile app and web experiences, working alongside a high-performing team of engineers. This role is designed for someone who can operate independently, make sound technical tradeoffs, and mentor engineers earlier in their careers. You'll contribute to backend services and APIs, strengthen the team's approach to distributed systems and scalability, and build high-quality software in a fast-paced, collaborative environment with frequent releases.

We care deeply about creativity, quality, learning, and delivering reliable, secure systems to a large customer base.

## What you'll do

- Design, build, and maintain backend services and APIs using Python, Flask, and FastAPI, with real ownership over your area of the system.
- Design and implement REST endpoints consumed by web and mobile clients, with an eye toward scalability and long-term maintainability.
- Work with relational databases (PostgreSQL/MySQL) to model data, write efficient queries, and make sound schema and indexing decisions.
- Integrate with third-party services such as payment processors, credit bureaus, messaging, and analytics tools.
- Write clean, maintainable code and provide thoughtful, constructive code reviews for other engineers.
- Apply and help reinforce best practices for testing, security, performance, and safe releases across the team.
- Collaborate with Product, Design, Frontend Engineering, QA, and your engineering manager to scope and ship user-focused improvements.
- Debug complex issues, dig into unfamiliar parts of the codebase, and deepen the team's understanding of Self's backend architecture.
- Contribute to team rituals, documentation, and continuous improvement, and help raise the technical bar for those around you.

## What you bring

- 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, including meaningful ownership of backend services in production.
- Strong working knowledge of Python and solid understanding of web application fundamentals.
- Solid understanding of REST APIs and how backend services communicate with clients and other systems, including tradeoffs in API design.
- Comfort with Git and common software development workflows, including code review and collaborative development practices.
- A track record of writing reliable, tested, secure, and maintainable code.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with a cross-functional team.

What makes you stand out

- Professional experience with Flask or FastAPI in production environments.
- Experience using agentic engineering tools (e.g., Claude, OpenAI/Codex, Copilot) to accelerate development workflows.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience preferred.
- Strong experience with SQL and relational database design, including performance tuning.
- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred), containers (Docker), or message queues in production systems.
- A track record of mentoring other engineers or leading technical initiatives, even informally.
- Personal, professional, or open-source projects that demonstrate strong backend craftsmanship and system design thinking.

Anticipated salary range for this level position: $145,000-175,000 annually.  Individual pay and level is based on factors unique to each candidate, including skill set, experience, and other job-related reasons. Benefits and Perks:

We have the compensation and benefits you expect. But there's one thing that Self Financial can offer that many companies cannot: we can positively change the world, while making a profit. We are a team of Builders, empowering our customers to build their dreams.

Our perks include:

- Company equity in the form of Stock Options
- Performance-based bonuses
- Generous employer-paid health, vision and dental insurance coverage
- Flexible vacation policy
- Educational assistance
- Free gym membership
- Casual dress code
- Team building events and activities
- Hybrid work arrangements/schedules
- Paid parental leave

Self Financial requires all employees hired to successfully pass a background check.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

At this time, we are only able to consider applicants who are U.S. Citizens or Green Card Holders for employment opportunities. We appreciate your understanding.

## About Self Financial

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Self Financial is a credit-building platform that helps people build credit and savings simultaneously through accessible financial products.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series E, raised $127M total funding)
- **Headquarters**: Austin, Texas, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: James Garvey

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Financial Services (Fintech – Credit Building)
- **Target customers**: B2C – individuals with low or no credit history, often underserved by traditional credit systems
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "We believe everyone should have the ability to improve their financial future. We exist to enable people to build credit, build savings, and reach their goals."

## Products & Services
- **Credit Builder Account**: A secured loan that builds credit history and savings simultaneously. Users make monthly payments into a savings account; after the term, the savings are returned. (SaaS/Fintech)
- **Self Visa® Credit Card**: A secured credit card issued by partner banks, designed to help customers build credit through responsible use. (Financial product)
- **Rent & Bills Reporting**: Free reporting of on-time rent payments to three major credit bureaus and utility payments to TransUnion, helping customers boost their credit scores without additional cost. (Feature)
- **Self App**: Mobile app (iOS & Android) for account management, with 250k+ App Store reviews averaging 4.9 stars and 80k+ Google Play reviews averaging 4.6 stars.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue: $85M (LinkedIn estimate); Total Funding: $127M (Series E, Sep 2021, led by Altos Ventures)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Altos Ventures (lead in multiple rounds), Conductive Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners (led Series D). Partners include San Antonio Spurs (Official Credit Building App).
- **Growth Signals**: 4 million customers served; headcount of 341 employees (+10.7% YoY); acquired RentTrack in 2022; operates in 30 countries; strong app store ratings; recognized as a top fintech workplace by American Banker (2020-2022) and Built In Austin (2020, 2022).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Low barrier to entry**: No credit history required to start building credit, addressing the "catch-22" of needing credit to get credit.
- **Dual-benefit model**: Credit Builder Account builds both credit and savings, a unique combination.
- **Free rent & utility reporting**: Differentiator that helps customers improve credit through everyday expenses.
- **High customer satisfaction**: 4.9-star rating on App Store indicates strong product-market fit.
- **Mission-driven focus on financial inclusion** with strong DEI commitment internally.

## Strategic Focus
- Continued innovation in credit-building tools to make financial inclusion more accessible.
- Expansion of reporting features (rent, bills) to further democratize credit building.
- Product development aimed at helping customers achieve larger financial goals (home, car, life).
- Scaling the platform while maintaining high customer satisfaction and regulatory compliance.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Values**: Core values include "Be Your Authentic Self", "Builders First", "Transparency Matters", "Own and Deliver", "Do the Right Thing", and "We're Better Together". Strong emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion with dedicated DEI program and employee resource groups (ERGs).
- **Work Environment**: Hybrid work model based in Austin, TX. Flexible Time Off, paid parental leave for primary and secondary caregivers.
- **Perks**: Healthcare (medical, dental, vision, life, disability, FSA/HSA), 401(k) investment plan, equity incentive plan, wellness programs, professional development reimbursement, reward and recognition programs.
- **Engineering Culture**: Described as having "endless learning opportunities from fellow engineers", continuous learning and skill expansion, and a supportive environment. Active tech stack and engineering roles visible (Staff Data Engineer, Senior DevOps Engineer).
- **Awards**: American Banker’s Best Places to Work in Fintech (2020, 2021, 2022), Built In Austin Best Places to Work (2020, 2022), Austin Inno Fire Awards 2021.
- **Current Openings** (as of search): Staff Data Engineer, Senior Financial Reporting & Technical Accountant, Senior DevOps Engineer, Principal Information Security Engineer, Technical Revenue Accountant, Senior Information Security Engineer.

## Sources
1. [self.inc/careers](https://www.self.inc/careers)
2. [self.inc/about](https://www.self.inc/about)
3. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/selffinancial](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/selffinancial)
4. [linkedin.com/company/self-financial](https://www.linkedin.com/company/self-financial)
5. [self.inc](https://www.self.inc/)

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