At a Glance
- Tasks: Build innovative payment solutions and lead the development of a robust financial infrastructure.
- Company: Join NALA, a fast-growing fintech revolutionising global payments for the next billion users.
- Benefits: Enjoy 35 days off, enhanced parental leave, and a $1000 learning budget annually.
- Other info: Dynamic, collaborative environment with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in the fintech space while working with top industry talent.
- Qualifications: Experience in backend systems and a passion for building reliable financial solutions.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 90000 £ per year.
NALA is building Payments for the Next Billion. Faster, smarter, and fairer transfers for everyone. Since 2022, we've grown our business 120x, grown the team from 9 to 150+, raised $50M+ from top-tier investors, and were named to the Forbes Fintech 50 in 2025 and 2026. We operate two core products: NALA, our consumer app making cross-border payments cheaper, faster and more reliable for the global diaspora, and Rafiki, our B2B payments infrastructure, powering global payments.
Our team includes alumni from Wise, Stripe, Monzo, Revolut, and CashApp — operators who've scaled world-class products. We act with urgency, think deeply, and put our customers first always. At NALA, this isn't just a job. It's ownership, impact, and the chance to change global payments forever.
Your Mission: Collections & Treasury is the squad building a new collections product and the financial backbone other parts of the business will stand on. This includes:
- Building the infrastructure to spin up vIBANs on demand
- Designing customer-facing APIs to collect money through different payment strategies
- Handling the real-world challenge of collections across the African continent
This is not just another product squad. We need a strong Senior / Lead Engineer (ideally with financial systems experience) who can take ownership of figuring out the right ways to build a robust Collections & Treasury foundation that can scale with us.
Your Responsibilities In This Role:
- Own key architecture and implementation decisions for the collections & treasury foundation
- Lead design work (RFCs, diagrams, API and system specs) to align on solutions before building
- Partner with PMs and stakeholders to translate business intent into technically sound requirements
- Design and build customer-facing and internal APIs to support collections and payment strategies
- Build reliable infrastructure for vIBAN provisioning and collections orchestration
- Drive engineering quality across API standards, testing strategy, code review bar, and maintainability
- Manage delivery by breaking down complex work, sequencing milestones, and keeping projects moving end to end
- Make pragmatic trade-offs: move fast where we can, protect correctness where we must
What this role is not:
- We build depth before breadth. Engineers typically start by embedding deeply in a product squad, learning the domain, how we operate as a business, and earning trust through delivery.
- This is a high-pace, VC-backed environment. Priorities can shift quickly and ambiguity is normal.
- Ownership includes alignment. We expect engineers to drive work end to end and collaborate with other engineers.
- Collaboration is part of the craft. We value consultation, design reviews, and feedback loops.
Must-have requirements:
Knowledge:- How to translate business intent into technical requirements and clean system boundaries
- What 'good' looks like in financial-grade systems, including correctness, reliability, auditability, and operational readiness
- Design principles that drive maintainability
- API fundamentals, including consistency, versioning, backward compatibility, and developer experience
- Requirement gathering
- Design-first approach
- Engineering quality
- Disciplined execution
- Proven delivery of complex backend or distributed systems in a production environment
- Experience owning systems end to end
- Experience working closely with PMs and stakeholders
- Experience making pragmatic trade-offs in startup environments
- Calm, decisive, and effective in ambiguous environments
- Collaborative by default
- High ownership with high standards
- Pragmatic, not dogmatic
Nice to have requirements:
- Experience building financial systems
- Familiarity with virtual account concepts
- Experience designing public APIs
- Comfort with operationally-heavy systems
- Experience working with region-specific payment methods
Success in the role looks like:
3-Month Metrics:- Embedded in the squad with strong domain understanding
- Fully onboarded and acquainted with our ceremonies and engineering processes
- Requirements process running well
- One or more high-leverage components delivered end to end
- Core collections & treasury foundation is production-grade and scaling
- Customer-facing APIs and orchestration paths are stable
- Delivery cadence is predictable
- Engineering quality bar is visibly raised
Interview Process: You will need to first submit your application through our ATS Workable. There is no need to submit a Cover Letter. If successful you will be selected for our interview process which has 4 interviewing stages:
- 30mins – Interview with the Talent Team
- 1 hour – Coding Challenge
- 1 hour – Architecture Interview
- 30 mins – Interview with the CTO or Hiring Manager
Benefits: UK / EU / Remote, we have the following benefits:
- 35 Days Off: 35 days of holidays
- Birthday Leave: A bonus day off in your birthday month
- Enhanced Parental Leave
- Global Workspace: Access to WeWork locations worldwide
- Learning Budget: $1000 annually for learning and development
For people who come to our London office:
- Hybrid Working: Canary Wharf Office four days a week
- Sarabi: Themed snacks and Friday lunch to build team relationships
- Monthly Socials: Fun social events every month
- Free Coffee: Barista-style coffee at your fingertips
Senior Backend Engineer employer: Nala
At NALA, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic and inclusive work culture, where every team member is empowered to take ownership and make a meaningful impact in the world of payments. With generous benefits such as 35 days of holiday, enhanced parental leave, and a dedicated learning budget, we prioritise employee growth and well-being. Our London office offers a vibrant environment with hybrid working options, themed snacks, and monthly socials, making it an exciting place to collaborate and innovate.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Backend Engineer
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Nala or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Nala.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Nala.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Nala that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Backend Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Nala.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Nala and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Nala
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Nala uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
