Staff Engineer — Payroll Engine & Data Systems in London

Ebury helps ambitious businesses unlock global growth, and we take the same approach with our people. We encourage innovation and movement, collaboration and problem-solving, and foster an environment where everyone can feel they belong, are valued, supported and empowered to succeed. If you’re a collaborator who wants to help transform how businesses operate globally, get in touch - we’d love to discuss how Ebury can accelerate your career so you can shape the future.

The Mission

Global payroll is a data-mapping nightmare. We are building an AI-native engine that requires perfectly structured, validated, and bitemporal data to function. As a Staff Backend Engineer, your mission is to build the robust infrastructure that ingests "messy" data from the world’s HRIS systems, Clients’ APIs and CSV transforms it via AI-driven pipelines, and orchestrates the complex output to global payment rails. You are the bridge between the Probabilistic world (AI parsing and 3rd-party APIs) and the Deterministic world (Our Core Payroll Engine).

The Stack

• Primary Languages: Python, FastAPI micro-services and Node.js/TypeScript.
• Data Layer: PostgreSQL, BigQuery, DynamoDB.
• Orchestration: Event-sourced architecture.
• Workflow: AI-augmented development using Claude Code.

What You’ll Own

• AI-Driven Ingestion: Build the RAG and extraction pipelines that take statutory PDFs and "Human-Readable" tax laws and convert them into our machine-readable PayrollRuleSchema.
• The Connector Framework: Build and maintain the surface area of our product—normalising varied input formats from clients either via CSVs, via integration to their APIs or robust, resilient integrations with HRIS giants like Workday, HiBob, BambooHR, Personio, SAP SuccessFactors or an API to our own FE where clients input data into our SaaS tool.
• Data Normalization (The ETL): Design the transformation layer that maps fragmented, often-broken external data models into our unified, bitemporal Source of Truth.
• Payment & Output Rails: Own the output —generating payment files, GL reports, and encrypted payslip artifacts that leave our system. You build payroll reporting capabilities that are self-serve for clients.
• Operational Resilience: Implement the Outbox Pattern and sophisticated retry logic to ensure that a 3rd-party API failure never results in a missed payroll deadline.

Your Pedigree

• The "Data First" Mindset: You treat data integrity as a core tenet. You understand that in payroll, a missing decimal or a misaligned Effective Date is a catastrophic failure.
• Integration Veteran: You have spent years in the trenches of OAuth, Webhooks, and messy REST/SOAP APIs. You know how to build abstractions that make 3rd-party messiness invisible to the core engine.
• Fintech/Payroll Experience: You’ve worked at a high-growth scale-up and understand the stakes of payroll data and moving real money.
• SQL Power User: You don't just use an ORM. You can write complex, performant SQL and understand how to model time-series data at scale.
• Collaborative Builder: You enjoy working in a tight-knit pair with an Architect, taking high-level designs and turning them into scalable, production-grade code.

The Hard Requirements

• 7+ Years of backend engineering experience with a focus on data pipelines and integrations.
• Polyglot Proficiency: You can switch between Python (for data/logic) and TypeScript (for integration/API) without friction.
• Location: London (Preferred), Madrid, or Malaga (4 days/week in-office).

About us

Ebury delivers sophisticated, integrated solutions — business accounts, hedging, and financing — on a single platform with a seamless workflow. Our success is built on a simple premise and singular purpose: To help businesses operate and scale globally. Since its founding in 2009, Ebury has always been a fast-growing leader in fintech. Today, we bring together 1,800+ Eburians across nearly 70 cities and we’re always looking to add to our team. At the heart of our offering is a proprietary platform, purpose-built to help businesses seamlessly streamline and manage global cash flow. We focus on continuous product evolution and innovation to build the infrastructure for borderless growth and help our clients scale at every stage. The opportunities at Ebury are as diverse as our people, ranging from business development to engineering roles across our tech pillars. We believe in inclusion. We stand against discrimination in all forms and are against the intolerance of differences that makes us a modern and successful organisation. At Ebury, you can be whoever you want to be and still feel a sense of belonging no matter your story.