Staff Software Engineer, CKD

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Oversee the technical direction and architecture for NerdWallet's financial guidance integrations with third-party AI assistants.

• Design the packaging, exposure, and rendering of guidance, including tool and protocol development, as well as in-conversation UI.

• Develop production code for new integrations and prototype innovative platform capabilities.

• Define reusable abstractions, contracts, and patterns applicable across various AI platforms.

• Monitor evolving platform protocols, SDKs, review processes, and policies, integrating them into roadmaps and architecture.

• Establish evaluation and testing strategies, incorporating automated evaluations, regression suites, and end-to-end testing.

• Collaborate with Security, Legal, and Compliance teams on authentication, consent, sensitive data handling, and financial compliance.

• Set benchmarks for monitoring, latency, cost, and incident response, assisting in the resolution of production issues.

• Lead design reviews, define coding and architecture standards, and perform code reviews.

• Mentor engineers across both full-time and contractor teams.

• Collaborate with Engineering Managers and Product Managers on priorities, efforts, risks, and technical investments.

• Analyze usage and performance data to inform integration decisions.

• Report directly to the Director of Engineering.

⛳️ Requirements

• Minimum of 8 years in software engineering.

• At least 3 years at the Staff level.

• Extensive hands-on experience in building and operating production backend systems.

• Proven track record of architecting complex systems from start to finish.

• Experience leading teams through challenging technical issues.

• Skilled in establishing engineering best practices and mentoring engineers.

• Direct production experience with LLMs, including tool usage/function calling, MCP or similar protocols, prompt and context design, retrieval (RAG), evaluations, and non-deterministic outputs.

• Advanced proficiency in a modern TypeScript stack, such as Node.js, React, GraphQL, Postgres, and Redis.

• Ability to evaluate unfamiliar codebases, SDKs, and vendor tools.

• Experience in designing APIs and shared services, including versioning and backward compatibility.

• Familiarity with building on third-party platforms or ecosystems with external constraints and review processes.

• Strong understanding of authentication and authorization patterns, such as OAuth.

• Knowledge of security best practices for managing sensitive data.

• Comfortable with early-stage, zero-to-one work environments.

• Excellent communication skills for conveying AI system behavior, trade-offs, and risks.

• Preferred: experience in developing apps, connectors, or agents for major AI assistant platforms.

• Preferred: experience in delivering AI features within regulated industries.

• Preferred: familiarity with AWS, CI/CD, containerization, and LLM observability.

• Preferred: experience mentoring mixed full-time and contractor/vendor teams.

🏝️ Benefits

• Industry-leading medical, dental, and vision health care plans for employees and their dependents.

• Rejuvenation Policy – Flexible Vacation Time Off + 11 holidays + holiday company shutdown.

• New Parent Leave for employees welcoming a newborn child or a child placed with them for adoption or foster care.

• Mental health support services.

• Paid sabbatical after 5 years of service.

• Health and Dependent Care FSA and HSA Plan with a monthly contribution from NerdWallet.

• Monthly Wellness Stipend.

• Cell Phone Stipend.

• Wifi Stipend for remote employees.

• Work from home equipment stipend for remote employees.

• Co-working space subsidy for remote employees.

• Employee Resource Groups.

• Hackathons and team-building events.

• Company-wide events.

• 8 hours of volunteer time off each quarter.

• Company match for charitable donations.

• 401K with a 4% company match.

• Early access to new financial products and tools.

• Financial wellness guidance and unlimited access to a Certified Financial Planner through Northstar.

• Disability and Life Insurance with employer-paid premiums.

• Equity offered.