Staff Backend Engineer (Founding Team) - Remote

Staff Backend Engineer to become the founding engineer at Nola. Build the product from 0-1, own backend architecture, and contribute across the stack in a lean team of fewer than 10 people. Company Details Nola is an early-stage fintech company building an intelligent financial account. The company is based outside India, with the engineering team based in India. Website: https://nola.money/ Requirements 7 to 10 years of software engineering experience primarily with NodeJS (Typescript) Strong backend engineering experience with full-stack capability Primarily worked at product-based organisations Proven experience taking products or major features from 0-1 Strong ownership and ability to work independently in a lean team Experience designing backend systems, APIs, databases, and production services Highly active user of AI in day-to-day engineering workflows Has built personal projects using AI/LLMs or AI-powered tools Curious mindset with strong self-learning ability Personal or open-source projects outside of the day job Comfortable making engineering and product decisions with limited structure Strong problem-solving, debugging, and communication skills Able to translate product requirements into simple, scalable solutions Responsibilities Act as the founding engineer and take end-to-end ownership of the technology Build and evolve Nola's backend systems from 0-1 Design scalable APIs, services, data models, and system architecture Work across the stack when required, while primarily owning backend engineering Use AI effectively across the engineering workflow to improve speed and quality Experiment with AI-native approaches and build AI-powered capabilities where relevant Partner closely with the founding team to shape product and technical decisions Take features from idea to production, including design, implementation, testing, and iteration Make pragmatic technology choices for a small, fast-moving team Own reliability, performance, security, and maintainability of the platform Identify technical problems proactively and solve them without waiting for direction Job Details Full-time contract role Remote role for candidates based in India Compensation is paid as contract income, with no standard employee salary deductions Eligible candidates can potentially claim up to 50% of gross receipts as presumptive business/professional income under applicable Indian tax provisions, subject to eligibility and individual tax circumstances. This setup can result in meaningful tax efficiency compared with a standard salaried employment structure Interview Process Intro round Technical Round 1 Technical Round 2 Culture Round Offer Discussion Important Note ClanX is a recruitment partner, helping Nola hire a Staff Backend Engineer.