--- title: 'Solutions Engineer at Ascend' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/solutions-engineer-ascend-san-francisco-mjp8akk6k4rb' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-08' --- # Solutions Engineer at Ascend - **Company:** Ascend - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Posted:** 2026-05-08 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ascend21/jobs/5215133008 ## Job description ## What We Do Insurance is a $10T industry still running on PDFs, email threads, and manual reconciliation. Ascend is changing that. We built the first and only complete financial operations platform purpose-built for insurance — combining AI-powered accounting automation, payments, and premium financing in a single vertically integrated solution. In five years, we've become the market leader: over 4,000 businesses, including more than half of the 50 largest brokers in the country, trust Ascend to bring clarity to complex accounting operations — from collection to close. ## How We Do It Ascend automates the financial operations that insurers, MGAs, and agencies run every day — and embeds directly into the transactions where money actually moves. AI is driving the cost of software toward zero. The companies that win won't just sell tools — they'll capture value at the point of the transaction itself. Ascend is built for exactly that moment. Our customers don't just adopt software; they unlock measurable efficiency with a proven 5–7x return on investment. Our ~100 person team is based in San Francisco and Columbus, brings together deep expertise in insurance, fintech, and AI to build infrastructure the industry has never had. ## Why We Do It The insurance industry intermediates trillions of dollars — and almost none of that infrastructure was built for the modern era. Legacy systems aren't just inefficient; they're a ceiling on what the industry can become. Ascend's mission is to become the leading financial automation platform for insurance by 2030 — powering the financial operations of the entire industry and transforming the way trillions of dollars move. We're not building another point solution. We're building the financial backbone of insurance. ## Your Role Ascend is hiring a Solutions Engineer (Contract) to take full ownership of critical AI agentic workflows. You’ll shape how automation powers the insurance industry—improving accuracy, scalability, and customer experience at every step. You’ll dive deep into complex data problems, fine-tune prompts, and refine systems that power the automation layer behind Ascend’s financial infrastructure. This role is a mix of hands-on problem-solving, experimentation, and collaboration with Product, Operations, and Engineering teams to make our automation more reliable and intelligent. This is a contract role based on-site at our San Francisco office, 40 hours per week for six months. ## Responsibilities Own and optimize prompt logic - Build, test, and refine prompts that power AI agents using prompt engineering and analytical problem-solving. - Design systems that enable scalable, high-accuracy iteration on prompt workflows. Technical implementation & tooling - Partner with internal teams to improve testing, monitoring, and refinement processes. - Support new customer and organization onboarding through internal tooling improvements. - Provide feedback and insights to shape the broader product roadmap. Customer & stakeholder collaboration - Work closely with internal and external users to gather context, troubleshoot challenges, and deliver consistent, high-quality results. Quality assurance & reporting - Track and analyze AI workflow accuracy metrics, uncovering trends and root causes. - Recommend process improvements to reduce manual work over time. - Build reusable playbooks and prompt strategies to support future automation efforts. ## Why This Role Matters This is a chance to own a critical piece of Ascend’s AI-powered automation systems and see your work directly impact product performance, customer satisfaction, and company growth. You’ll thrive here if you love solving tough technical problems, moving quickly, and building systems that scale intelligently. This role is perfect for someone who operates at the intersection of data, engineering, and product thinking—and takes pride in turning complexity into clarity. ## What We’re Looking For - Exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills, with a track record of breaking down complex problems into actionable solutions. - Experience with prompt engineering, AI agents, or AI-powered automation workflows. - Proven ability to work with complex, real-world systems to identify patterns and improve reliability. - Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences. - Bonus: Familiarity with large language models (LLMs) and their applications in automation or data systems. Contract Details - Location: On-site in San Francisco (SoMa) - Compensation: $45 per hour (average working week 40 hours) - Type: Contract to hire as a full time software engineer (6 months) Benefits do not apply until contract positions are converted to full-time (not guaranteed). ## Equal Opportunity We are committed to equal opportunity employment and embrace diversity within our organization. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We encourage candidates to apply even if their experience doesn't precisely match this opportunity. We value diversity and are dedicated to equal opportunity employment. ## About Ascend ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Ascend provides a complete financial operations platform purpose-built for the insurance industry, combining AI-powered accounting automation, payments, and premium financing in a single vertically integrated solution. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series A) with $285.5M total funding - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States - **Founded**: 2021 - **Founders**: Andrew Wynn (Co-Founder & Co-CEO) and Praveen Chekuri (Co-Founder & Co-CEO) ## Core Business - **Primary industries**: Insurance financial technology (Insurtech) and accounting automation - **Target customers**: B2B – insurance agencies, wholesalers, MGAs, and carriers (serves over 4,000 insurance businesses including 25 of the 50 largest brokers) - **Mission or purpose statement**: “Build the systems insurance runs on” – rebuilding the financial and accounting infrastructure that the insurance industry runs on. ## Products & Services - **Billing & Invoicing**: Automate invoice creation, delivery, and collections to accelerate payment cycles. - **Cash Application**: Turn bank deposits into clean, matched accounting entries inside the ledger, eliminating suspense items. - **Premium Financing & Payments**: Finance and collect premiums in a single, seamless workflow to keep policies in force. - **Carrier Payables**: Reconcile and disburse carrier payables without manual spreadsheets. - **Direct Bill Automation**: Fetch, reconcile, and post commission statements to close books faster. - **Automation & AI**: AI models that learn and parse financial documents to improve accuracy of billing and reconciliation over time, with human-in-the-loop control. All products form a unified “collection to close” platform that connects to existing Agency Management Systems (AMS) and Policy Administration Systems (PAS) without a rip-and-replace migration. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed - **Key Metrics**: - Annual Revenue (estimated): $1.2M (LinkedIn estimate) - Total Funding: $285.5M (Seed $5.5M in Sept 2021, Series A $30M in Jan 2022, and Debt Financing of $250M in Jan 2022) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: The Series A round had 19 investors; the seed round involved 17 investors. Specific investor names are not listed in provided sources, but the company has attracted backing from multiple venture and debt investors. - **Growth Signals**: - Headcount: 68 employees (+55.4% YoY) - LinkedIn followers: 10,288 (+21.3% yearly) - Active job postings: 6 (as of mid-2026) - Trusted by over half of the 50 largest insurance brokers in the U.S. - Expanded presence to Hong Kong, Poland, and Philippines. ## Competitive Advantages - **Purpose-built for insurance**: Unlike generic accounting software, Ascend is designed specifically for insurance workflows (billing, carrier payables, premium financing). - **End-to-end automation**: Covers the full financial operations stack from billing to reconciliation to payables in one platform. - **Seamless integration**: Connects to existing AMS and PAS systems, avoiding the cost and disruption of core system replacement. - **AI that improves over time**: Machine learning models parse carrier statements and financial documents, increasing accuracy continuously while keeping humans in control. - **Single pane of glass**: All accounts receivable and payable resolve into a shared accounting layer for consistent balances and explainable reports. ## Strategic Focus - **Rebuilding insurance financial infrastructure**: The company positions itself as the infrastructure layer for insurance finance, addressing fragmented manual processes that cause silent failures. - **Scaling across the insurance ecosystem**: Targeting agencies, wholesalers, MGAs, and carriers with a unified platform. - **Investing in AI and automation**: Continuing to refine AI models to handle edge cases and complex carrier statements. - **Growing headcount deliberately**: Hiring across go-to-market, engineering, product, and customer success to support rapid customer adoption. ## Why Work Here - **Culture and values**: Emphasis on “deep work, clear communication, and long-term growth — not performative hustle.” Values include “Own it,” “Choose velocity,” “Inspire with humility,” “Know your customer,” and “Stability.” - **Work environment**: San Francisco-based office; roles are listed as San Francisco location. Remote/hybrid policy not explicitly stated but likely office-centric for collaborative roles. - **Benefits and perks**: - Competitive salary and equity with 401k employer match - 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage for employee and dependents - 14 weeks parental leave for primary caregivers, 8 weeks for secondary caregivers - **Engineering culture**: Building systems that handle complex financial transactions at scale; team includes engineers from companies like Instacart, Looker, and Epic Games. The tech stack and specific engineering practices are not detailed but the work involves AI, data pipelines, and high-volume financial data processing. - **Growth trajectory**: 55% YoY headcount growth and active hiring signal upward momentum, offering career advancement opportunities. ## Sources 1. [useascend.com](https://useascend.com/) 2. [useascend.com/careers](https://useascend.com/careers) 3. [LinkedIn (useascend)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/useascend) 4. [Greenhouse careers page](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ascend21) 5. 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