Software Engineer, Backend Developer, DevOps

Create Pay is building its Payment Facilitator (Pay Fac)/Acquiring platform and is looking for a hands-on, experienced Software Engineer to take full ownership across design, build, and delivery. This is not a traditional engineering role — there is no rigid separation between engineering and product. You will work directly alongside the CTO as a technical peer: shaping the core platform architecture, challenging thinking, and making decisive calls.

You will be expected to define problems, shape solutions, and execute independently in a fast-moving payments and fintech environment.

From day one you will be a key voice in defining the technical domain, bringing the depth of experience needed to set credible architectural direction and drive outcomes without dependency on external product managers. You will own end-to-end delivery across distributed systems, integrations, data, and infrastructure.

This is an excellent opportunity for a seasoned engineer who has been there before — someone who can walk into an early-stage environment, provide immediate technical credibility, and help the CTO build a platform and team that scales.

We value deep, proven engineering experience over academic qualifications. The ideal candidate brings a track record of building and owning complex systems — someone who has seen what good looks like and knows how to get there. They are comfortable operating across multiple domains — backend, data, integration, and infrastructure — and has the product instinct to define scope and prioritise work independently.

Payments or fintech exposure is required; what matters is your ability to design and build reliable, scalable systems and to move fast without sacrificing quality. A generalist mindset — able to deliver in key areas, learn others, outsource/work with 3rd Parties to deliver more. We don't need someone expert in every domain — but the awareness to know how to solve and work with others to bring the full solution to life.

This role is a first hire in a dedicated engineering function — a chance to bring to fruition the output of experience, help create and shape a modern technology operation. We'll use 3rd party teams to do a lot of build, including architecture and infrastructure/Dev Ops; this role will be key to building the in-house knowledge and interface to those teams.

• Design and build distributed systems on AWS using serverless-first principles
• Liaise with 3rd Party Engineering teams on all aspects of the engineering lifecycle
• Architect for high availability, fault tolerance, and resilience by default
• Validate 3rd Party deliverables, workshop solutions, troubleshoot issues
• Design scalable data approaches and reporting structures aligned with business requirements
• Define infrastructure strategies including backup, redundancy, and lifecycle management

• Own the full delivery lifecycle: requirements definition, architecture, implementation, deployment, and ongoing support when required
• Act as de facto product owner: define scope, prioritise work, and drive outcomes without dependency on external PMs
• Ensure outputs are production-ready, maintainable, and observable from day one
• Apply AI and automation tooling to accelerate development, testing, and operations

• Both independently and via 3rd Party Engineering team
• Integrate third-party services, for example payment processors, KYC/KYB providers, fraud platforms, and banking APIs
• Build and maintain robust API layers including validation, orchestration, and workflow logic
• Implement secure, PCI-aware designs aligned with payments industry expectations

• Design and maintain data pipelines and reporting structures using AWS native tooling
• Apply high availability and fault tolerance patterns across all infrastructure
• Ensure codebases and infrastructure are maintainable and transferable across engineers

• AWS (primary platform)
• AWS Data Tooling — with backup, redundancy, and lifecycle strategies
• Infrastructure patterns: high availability, fault tolerance, and resilience by default

• Depth of experience: A…