Backend Engineer
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About Outpost
What if going global was as simple as going local?
Outpost is building the AI global trade engine. The accumulated knowledge of every rule you'd need to sell internationally, turned into infrastructure. Tell us what you're selling. We'll tell you how to sell it everywhere.
We operate as Merchant of Record or Tax of Record across 58+ tax jurisdictions. Full liability transfer, or just the tax layer. We do the analysis, we handle the setup, we absorb the liability.
Sell anything, anywhere. Without compromise.
The Role
This is a Backend Engineer role for someone who wants to build complex financial infrastructure from scratch.
You'll work directly with our engineering leadership to implement payment flows, build tax calculation engines, and create the systems that power international commerce. You'll contribute to product and technical discussions, challenge assumptions, and help guide our technical direction.
We're building the infrastructure that lets businesses sell globally without the usual pain. That means payment processing, multi-currency ledgers, real-time tax calculations, merchant onboarding, and AI-powered compliance tools. Hard problems with real scale.
What You'll Get
Yes, the work is intense. But in return, you'll build critical financial infrastructure that handles hundreds of millions in volume.
You'll have significant input into technical direction, work with a small team of experienced engineers, and shape how Outpost scales. If you want to go deep on payments, tax, and fintech infrastructure, this is the role.
What You'll Build
Payment processing infrastructure handling hundreds of millions in volume
Robust ledger and reconciliation systems
Tax calculation engines for multiple jurisdictions
Real-time transaction monitoring and risk systems
Merchant onboarding and integration frameworks
Platform connections with major e-commerce systems
AI/LLM powered taxation tools
AI/LLM powered fraud and risk tools
What You'll Do
Technical Development
Write high-quality, maintainable code
Implement core payment and financial systems
Build secure, scalable backend services
Contribute to system architecture discussions
Help establish engineering best practices
System Design \& Implementation
Design and build robust payment processing flows
Implement internal ledger and reconciliation systems
Create merchant integration frameworks
Develop automated monitoring and alerting
Handle secure financial data processing
Cross-functional Collaboration
Work with product team to refine technical requirements
Contribute to API design and implementation
Collaborate with risk and compliance on system requirements
Example Projects
Implement a multi-currency ledger that handles real-time reconciliation
Create the tax calculation engine for a new jurisdiction
Design the merchant onboarding flow and integration framework
Build AI-powered tools for automated tax classification
Implement real-time fraud detection and risk scoring
Create automated reconciliation systems that catch discrepancies before they become problems
What We're Looking For
Ideal background:
Fluency in a JVM-based language, preferably Kotlin
Track record of implementing complex backend systems
Strong engineering fundamentals and coding practices
Bonus: experience building financial, payments, tax, or compliance systems
Bonus: familiarity with e-commerce platforms
Signals we care about:
You write high-quality code and care about maintainability
You can design systems, not just implement them
You're comfortable with ambiguity and figuring things out
You contribute to technical discussions and challenge assumptions
You want to build from scratch, not maintain existing systems
Bias for action. You ship, you learn, you iterate
What this role is not:
Not maintaining existing systems. You'll build from scratch
Not a role where you wait to be told what to do
Not someone who needs heavy process or detailed specs to be effective
Not pure execution without input into technical direction
Why This Role Is Different
Most backend roles are about maintaining or extending existing systems. This role is about building complex financial infrastructure from the ground up.
You'll tackle challenges like managing multiple currency ledgers, handling card payment flows, building automated reconciliation systems, and creating AI-powered tax tools. You'll have significant input into our technical direction.
If you're excited about building complex payment systems and want to shape the future of international commerce, this is the role.
Outpost Team
Our team were leaders at Revolut, Airwallex, Adyen and Wayflyer, and we're backed by top-tier investors who have built or backed some of the world's leading fintechs.
What We Offer
Equity and salary in a well-funded startup
Ability to own your work and move fast
Direct access to the founding team
A global mission with real impact
Low politics, high output
A culture of builders, not talkers
Working Style
We work together in person in London. We believe the hardest problems are solved in the room.
Learn More
emile@outpostnow.com
Outpost Culture: https://www.notion.so/Outpost-Culture-18aa047bb9af800b8f6ff5f5c83174b1 Outpost founder: http://www.littlegoatlabs.com/
Outpost is where the hard problems are. If you want to build the financial infrastructure for global commerce, we'd love to hear from you.