At a Glance
- Tasks: Join our founding team as a backend engineer, shaping our core platform and tackling financial crime.
- Company: Diligent is revolutionising fraud detection for fintechs and banks using AI-driven insights.
- Benefits: Enjoy a competitive salary, equity options, and the chance to work in a fast-paced startup environment.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in combating fraud while collaborating with top industry leaders and innovative thinkers.
- Qualifications: We seek curious, driven individuals ready to take ownership and solve complex problems in a dynamic setting.
- Other info: Experience a unique interview process focused on collaboration and mutual fit, including meet-and-greets with founders.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 110000 ÂŁ per year.
About us
At Diligent, we are on a mission to help fintechs and banks catch fraudulent businesses. We build LLM agents to automate risk investigations during business onboarding and monitoring. For example, we can help investigate the online presence of businesses to detect high-risk activities, identify reputation-compromising signals, comb through news articles to extract new risk insights etc. By turning scattered and unstructured data points into structured, actionable insights, we enable risk teams to make better and faster decisions. Our founders have built fraud and credit risk models protecting billions in transactions at Europe’s top fintechs, and we’re taking that experience to revolutionize how financial institutions verify the legitimacy of businesses. We already work with leading fintech unicorns and banks, are growing fast and we’re looking for ambitious problem-solvers who are excited about using AI to tackle financial crime at a global scale. If you’re passionate about making a real impact in the fight against fraud, we’d love to have you on our team!
The role
You are part of the founding team. You’ll play a crucial role in shaping the future of our company - from hands-on engineering and product work, to high-level strategic decisions. As a Software Engineer at Diligent AI, you’ll be responsible for the development and scaling of our core platform, working closely with enterprise customers, as well as building new zero-to-one initiatives.
What we expect
- Within days: Translate novel LLM capabilities into understandable, intuitive and performant end-user experiences. Release your first code, we believe in the “You Build It, You Run It” principle. Work directly with customers to solve their problems. We need someone who has high empathy and is excited by working side-by-side with financial crime teams to solve critical problems. Build integration and product infrastructure for LLMs. Give Diligent AI agents the infrastructure, data sources and tools they need to automate workflows for financial compliance teams.
- Within weeks: Evolve schemas and bring structure to non-deterministic outputs. Lead customer calls and own customer outcomes. Work directly with the CEO, CTO, and other founding members and mature our engineering practice.
- Within months: Tackle technical and non-technical scaling problems that come with high growth. Hire, onboard, and nurture future teammates.
Our tech stack: NodeJS, Python, Typescript, React, AWS Serverless
About you
- Extremely Curious: We think curious people run the world. We love those who have an insatiable hunger for more knowledge… about the customer problems, domain knowledge, technical innovations or new ways to approaches to challenges.
- Hungry and driven: We are an early stage startup… this is hard and intense work that requires you to be ready to move fast, take bets and find solutions to problems that haven’t really been solved before. It will be tough but extremely rewarding.
- A true owner: We don’t expect you to be just an employee, you will be part of the founding team. A strong sense of ownership and autonomy is essential - you’ll take full responsibility for your projects from start to finish and you’ll be expected to deal with ambiguity getting things done without overcomplicating solutions.
- Humble: You listen actively, embrace feedback and foster a collaborative environment where ideas are shared openly. You are confident in your expertise while recognizing the value of learning from others and adapting to change.
Budget: Base salary ÂŁ80k-ÂŁ110k Equity: 0.5-2.0%
The interview process
We are seeking to make our interview as experiential as possible in order for both sides to get the most signal on what it would be like to work together.
- Initial application: Submit your LinkedIn (or CV) in the application link below
- CTO meet-and-greet (30 mins): Introductory call with Ahmed — get to know each other a little
- Technical interview (60-90 mins): Deepdive interview with Ahmed focusing on problem solving, coding proficiency, systems design and architecture.
- CEO meet-and-greet (30 mins): Introductory call with Edo — get to know each other
- References and offer: Ideally over dinner!
Founding backend engineer employer: Diligent (YC W24)
Contact Detail:
Diligent (YC W24) Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Founding backend engineer
✨Tip Number 1
Familiarise yourself with the latest advancements in LLM technology and how they apply to financial crime detection. Being able to discuss specific use cases or innovations during your interviews will show your genuine interest and understanding of the role.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare to demonstrate your problem-solving skills through practical examples. Think of scenarios where you've tackled complex issues, especially in a fast-paced environment, as this aligns with the startup culture at Diligent.
✨Tip Number 3
Engage with the fintech community online. Join forums or social media groups where discussions about fraud detection and AI take place. This will not only expand your knowledge but also help you network with potential future colleagues.
✨Tip Number 4
Showcase your ownership mentality by preparing to discuss projects where you took initiative from start to finish. Highlighting your ability to work autonomously and handle ambiguity will resonate well with the founding team at Diligent.
We think you need these skills to ace Founding backend engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Understand the Company Mission: Before applying, take some time to understand Diligent's mission and how they aim to combat financial crime using AI. This will help you tailor your application to reflect your alignment with their goals.
Highlight Relevant Experience: In your CV and cover letter, emphasise any experience you have with backend engineering, particularly in NodeJS, Python, or Typescript. Mention any projects where you've worked on AI or risk management systems, as this will resonate with their needs.
Showcase Problem-Solving Skills: Diligent is looking for ambitious problem-solvers. Use your application to provide examples of challenges you've faced in previous roles and how you overcame them, especially in high-pressure environments.
Express Your Curiosity and Ownership: Convey your curiosity and desire to learn in your application. Discuss how you take ownership of your projects and your approach to dealing with ambiguity, as these traits are highly valued by Diligent.
How to prepare for a job interview at Diligent (YC W24)
✨Show Your Curiosity
Diligent values curiosity, so be prepared to ask insightful questions about their technology and approach to tackling financial crime. Demonstrating your eagerness to learn and understand the challenges they face will set you apart.
✨Emphasise Ownership
As a founding backend engineer, you'll need to show that you can take full responsibility for your projects. Share examples from your past experiences where you've successfully managed projects from start to finish, highlighting your ability to work independently and handle ambiguity.
✨Prepare for Technical Challenges
Expect a deep dive into your technical skills during the interview. Brush up on your coding proficiency, systems design, and architecture knowledge, especially in NodeJS, Python, and AWS. Be ready to solve problems on the spot and explain your thought process clearly.
✨Foster a Collaborative Mindset
Diligent seeks humble team players who value collaboration. During your interviews, demonstrate your ability to listen actively and embrace feedback. Share instances where you've worked effectively in teams and how you've adapted based on others' input.