Backend Engineer

First Circle is a fast-growing, profitable, credit-led SME neobank in the Philippines, backed by shareholders including the World Bank Group (IFC). Thousands of SMEs use our Business Credit Line and Business Bank Accounts to run and grow their businesses. Our product velocity continues to accelerate, with upcoming launches including SME Corporate Cards, Payroll, Invoices, and Solar Financing - redefining the SME neobank category through software, financial products, and exceptional risk models.

Our culture emphasises building, problem solving, ownership / responsibility, and personal & professional growth. We balance a collegiate atmosphere with free & direct communication which enables us to move very quickly and avoid politics or toxicity. Our team continues to level up quickly, necessary for business to compound more than 100% per year, which we achieve through individual growth and bar-raiser hiring.

What's different about engineering at First Circle? Building in developing markets like the Philippines presents unique challenges, given the state of digital infrastructure. We are building virtually everything in-house, which is not easy, but its a lot of fun. We have a track record of solving seemingly impossible problems that defeated many other start-ups, and the opportunity ahead remains enormous.

We already have a core product that customers love - this is a unique opportunity to do zero-to-one building in a company that has already got a track record of delivering great things. Our exceptional engineering team: we love working together - building, maintaining high standards, and having fun whilst we do it.

Requirements

3+ years of experience building and operating production backend systems in Kotlin, Java, or Ruby. Strong foundations in API design, relational databases, and data modeling, with a clear sense of how to keep data consistent as systems scale. Experience in a startup environment, fintech, payroll, payments, or banking is a strong plus (especially if you’ve shipped products in regulated environments).

Hands-on experience running services in production: debugging effectively, investigating incidents, and making systems more resilient afterwards. Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment where priorities can evolve. Curiosity about AI and practical experience using it, whether you're building LLM-powered features or using AI tools to work more effectively day to day.

What you'll do

Build and evolve backend services and APIs that are fast, reliable, and easy to change. Take features from first idea to production: shape the approach with product and design, ship it, measure what happens, and improve it. Keep your services running smoothly by setting up clear ways to spot issues early, respond quickly, and support users when something goes wrong.

Review code, share what you know, and help other engineers grow. Work across product, design, and business to turn real needs into practical technical solutions—and explain the trade-offs clearly.

Benefits

No fixed budget, we hire globally and adjust offers based on experience and market rate. Flexibility around working hours and location. The role can be worked remotely, with the option to work from one of our offices. We have co-working spaces in London, Hong Kong & Belgrade where other senior engineers are based. Macbooks, private health insurance, training budgets and more!

Opportunity to travel to South East Asia. Disclaimer: all information provided in this advertisement is subject to our terms and conditions.