Principal Software Engineer; Ruby on Rails

Principal Software Engineer (Ruby on Rails) Location

Remote - Alberta, Canada

Full time

Remote

Technology

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 Fin Tech 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…