Senior Backend Engineer

About Tala Tala is AI-native credit infrastructure for the global majority, combining proprietary risk intelligence with an expanding network of capital and distribution partners to power credit access at scale. Backed by more than $500 million in funding, Tala has distributed more than $7 billion in capital to more than 13 million customers across Africa, Latin America, and Asia—building one of the most robust datasets on thin-file borrowers anywhere in the world. Our mission is simple yet bold: to unleash the economic power of the global majority. We are looking for daring, data-driven leaders passionate about building the trust and credit infrastructure for the global majority. Our pioneering work and proven impact have earned us consistent recognition, including being named to: CNBC’s Disruptor 50 for five years. CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies for two consecutive years. Forbes’ Fintech 50 list for nine consecutive years. Visionary investors, persuaded by the economic power of the global majority, have committed half a billion dollars in equity and debt to Tala’s success. Given the global nature of our team, we operate on a remote-first approach with office hubs in Santa Monica, CA (HQ); Nairobi, Kenya; Mexico City, Mexico; Manila, the Philippines; and Bangalore, India. Most Talazens join us because they connect with our mission. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Tala, we’d love to hear from you! What You’ll Do • Design, develop, and maintain robust backend services, APIs, and data integration layers that power key product features. • Review design documents, perform code reviews, and weigh in on implementation choices from other technical teams. • Write clean, efficient, and easily maintainable code, strictly adhering to established coding standards and best practices. • Enhance overall code quality, performance, and security by participating in thorough code reviews. • Design and optimize database schemas and queries to guarantee high performance and system reliability. • Contribute to the testing infrastructure to increase code coverage for backend modules. • Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues quickly and effectively across both development and production environments. • Advance monitoring and alerting capabilities of backend modules to allow proactive improvements to availability and response times. What You’ll Need • 5+ years of hands-on experience in designing and developing applications using Java, Kotlin, and/or Scala. This includes exposure to a web framework like Spring. • Developed and launched large scale consumer applications with the backend on cloud infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure) using microservices architecture paradigms. • Proven problem-solving abilities and a strong drive for independent learning and work. • Expert knowledge in REST API design and development for mobile/web use. • Expert knowledge in architecture & system design. • Expert proficiency in Agile development process Nice to Have • Exposure to containerization technologies, such as Docker or Kubernetes. • Familiarity with MariaDB. • Familiarity with Kafka. • Familiarity with production monitoring tools, including logging (e.g., SumoLogic, Kibana), basic APM (Application Performance Monitoring) tools, and observability frameworks such as OpenTelemetry. Compensation Additional Information Our vision is to build a new financial ecosystem where everyone can participate on equal footing and access the tools they need to be financially healthy. We strongly believe that inclusion fosters innovation and we’re proud to have a diverse global team that represents a multitude of backgrounds, cultures, and experience. We hire talented people regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.