Principal Software Engineer

Forward Financing is a financial technology company based in Boston, Massachusetts with team members throughout the United States, Dominican Republic, and Canada. The company is on a mission to unlock the capital that fuels small businesses across America. Recognized as a Best Place to Work by Built In Boston and certified as a Great Place To Work®, Forward is investing in its employees, technology, and customer experience – with long-term success in mind every step of the way.

At Forward, we're building a world-class fintech platform to empower small businesses. Our engineering team isn't just a support function, we're a core driver of the business. We use data from dozens of third-party vendors to fuel our AI/ML initiatives and create a more sophisticated financial ecosystem. We need a seasoned technical leader to own our architectural vision and execution, setting the technical foundation for our next phase of growth.

If you are a builder with a strong architectural mindset and a desire to own the technical roadmap, this role is for you.

Our Engineering team serves as a key driver of innovation at Forward Financing. We build the software that powers a FinTech product that serves Small Businesses across the country. A key part of our strategy involves leveraging data from dozens of third-party vendors to power our AI/ML initiatives and our analytical capabilities. We’re seeking a seasoned Principal Engineer with an architect’s mindset to own the technical vision and execution. As a technical leader, you will be instrumental in building the foundations that support our next phase of growth.

In this role, you will:

• Architect the Future: You will be the primary architect for our core platform, designing and leading the implementation of scalable, reliable, and highly efficient systems. Your decisions will directly impact our ability to grow and innovate. You will design, blueprint, and lead the development of our core platform, ensuring it is scalable, reliable, and efficient.

• Be a Technical Leader: As the lead engineer for your domain, you'll set the technical direction and raise the bar for code quality, design patterns, and operational excellence from conception through deployment.Serve as the lead engineer for the team, driving technical excellence, and raising the bar for quality from design to deployment.

• Lead Cross-Functional Initiatives: You'll lead complex, cross-team initiatives that require technical alignment across multiple engineering teams and business domains. You will be the technical glue that ensures we execute on our most critical strategic priorities.Steer cross-team planning and execution for complex features that span multiple engineering teams and business domains

• Champion Best Practices: You'll be the subject matter expert on our software ecosystem, actively promoting architectural integrity and technical best practices. Your expertise will be crucial in building highly resilient and observable systems. You'll also provide a high-level of engagement across teams to address technical debt and promptly resolve incidents.Act as a subject matter expert on Forward’s software ecosystem, promoting technical excellence, modern design patterns, and architectural integrity across the organization.

• Mentor and Elevate: Improve the quality and efficiency of the engineering team through technical guidance, mentorship, and sponsorship, fostering a culture of ownership and continuous learning.

• Own the Ecosystem: Maintain a high level of engagement across multiple teams, build highly resilient and observable systems, promptly address bugs and incidents, and be a reliable and accessible leader.

Why you should apply:

• Mission-driven company: Forward is a trusted source of fast, flexible funding for small businesses that have often been underserved by traditional financing options. When you join the team, you will help ensure all small businesses have access to the financial support they need to succeed.

• Flexibility is a top priority: Our employees are empowered to choose where they want to work (whether that’s from home, in the office, or a combination of both) with flexible hours.

Role Requirements:

(Even if you don’t check every box, but see yourself contributing, please apply.)

• 10+ years experience in technical leadership, mentorship, and sponsorship

• Deep expertise in designing and implementing complex, distributed backend systems, scalable architectures across multiple software applications and/or languages (Ruby on Rails required)

• Excellent written and verbal communication

• Significant ability to influence others

• Passion for learning and self-development

• Typically has several years of experience in agile software development

• Experience with front-end architecture or a full-stack perspective, with an understanding of how backend services impact the end-user experience.

• Typically has a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field or additional relevant experience

Compensation:

Annual Targeted Salary: $200,000 - $250,000 USD

Annual Target Bonus: 15%

At Forward Financing, we're committed to fair and transparent compensation. We believe in providing a compensation package that recognizes your skills, experience, and the unique value you bring to our team. We take a market-based approach to pay, regularly reviewing benchmark data to ensure our compensation remains competitive, equitable, and aligned with our performance-driven culture.

Final offers are determined by a variety of factors, including the candidate's qualifications, relevant experience, specific skills, and internal equity. This approach ensures that our compensation is competitive and equitable. Your recruiter will provide specific details on the expected base and variable earnings as it pertains to this specific role.

Total Rewards:

Additionally, we offer a comprehensive total rewards package, including but not limited to: medical, dental, vision, commuter benefits, a flexible time-off policy, paid parental leave, 401k match for US employees, wellness reimbursement, volunteering days, annual professional development budget, and charitable donation match.

Forward is proud to be a remote-first company, keeping workplace flexibility a top priority for our employees. As a business, we are focused on impact; we are more concerned with your contributions to the success of the company than where you get your work done. To help facilitate in-person collaboration, employees are welcome to work from one of our premiere office locations.

When we aren’t collaborating to drive business and support our customers, we’re finding virtual and in-person ways to get to know our colleagues, celebrate team wins, and have fun together!

Our Culture: The Forward Compass

The Forward Compass is the standard we hold for ourselves and one another—guiding how we lead, collaborate, and show up every day to move in the same direction.

• Back the Builders: We are wired to fuel customer progress, not just provide support.

• Rooted in People: We create an environment that balances deep connection with the extreme ownership and honesty required to reach our highest potential.

• Flying V: We move through coordinated effort with speed and urgency to achieve what no individual could do alone.

• Always Forward, Never Finished: We pursue growth with a relentless drive that keeps us ahead of the competition.

About Us:

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