Role description
Zavvis TechnologiesBackend Engineer / Technical Operator
Pre-Funding Role → Paid Full-Time + Equity Participation
Remote · USA · Near Full-Time Commitment
About Zavvis
Zavvis is building a new category of financial infrastructure: a
Financial Data Observability Engine
for corporate finance teams.
We are not building another FP&A tool, BI dashboard, or accounting system.
Zavvis continuously reconstructs financial reality from transaction-level data, monitors business and control signals, detects changes in economic reality and behavior, control breaks, explains root causes, and helps CFOs, controllers, and FP&A teams understand what changed before financial surprises become crises.
A simple analogy:
Datadog for Corporate Finance.
We are approaching MVP launch and are looking for a highly motivated, versatile backend engineer who wants to join early, build seriously, and become part of the foundational technical team.
This is not a normal job posting. This is an early-stage startup opportunity for someone with founder-level energy.
Important — Please Read Carefully
Zavvis is currently
pre-funding and pre-payroll
.
This role begins without cash compensation until we close financing, land first paying customers, or otherwise activate payroll capacity.
The intended structure is:
- Initial unpaid founding-track contribution period
- Near full-time commitment during the next 3 months
- Transition into a paid full-time role once financing or revenue is secured
- Equity participation for the right person based on contribution, ownership, commitment, and long-term fit
Please do not apply if you need immediate salary compensation.
The best candidate is someone who understands the risk/reward profile of joining a company before funding, wants meaningful ownership, and is excited by the possibility of becoming a foundational technical team member before the company scales.
The upside is unusually high because the product is close to MVP launch, but the company is still early enough for the right person to shape core systems, technical direction, and product execution.
The Role
We are looking for a
Backend Engineer / Technical Operator
.
Although the core need is backend engineering, this role is broader than writing APIs. You should be comfortable helping wherever the MVP needs you: backend services, data workflows, integrations, agent coordination, infrastructure, debugging, product logic, customer-readiness, and technical execution.
You will work closely with the founder and technical team to push Zavvis from “almost MVP-ready” to pilot-ready and investor-ready.
This role is ideal for someone who can operate like an early technical cofounder, even if the formal title starts as backend engineer.
What You’ll Help Build
You will help build and harden the backend infrastructure behind Zavvis, including:
- Backend APIs and services powering the product experience
- Financial data ingestion workflows from systems like QuickBooks, NetSuite, Salesforce, Stripe, and other ERPs, platforms, data warehouses, etc.
- Services that connect the frontend to anomaly, RCA, and signal stores
- Data access layers for transaction-level drilldowns and source references
- Backend support for the agentic layer
- Systems that preserve traceability, provenance, and auditability
- Logic that supports financial observability workflows: signals, root cause, evidence, and recommended actions
- Infrastructure needed to support real pilots with real company data
You will not be building generic SaaS features.
You will be helping build the operating backbone of a new financial infrastructure category.
What We’re Looking For
Technical Skills
Strong candidates should have experience with some or most of the following:
- Python backend development
- FastAPI or similar API frameworks
- SQL and database design
- PostgreSQL or similar relational databases
- Data pipelines, ETL/ELT, or financial data workflows
- Cloud infrastructure, preferably Azure
- Docker, containerized services, and deployment workflows
- API integrations with third-party systems
- Debugging complex backend/data issues
- Working with AI/LLM or agentic systems is a plus
- Financial, accounting, ERP, or fintech experience is a strong plus
You do not need to be perfect across everything.
But you must be resourceful, fast, and willing to learn what the MVP requires.
Mindset Required
This role requires more than technical ability.
We are looking for someone with:
- Founder-level ownership
- Strong execution speed
- High personal accountability
- Comfort with ambiguity
- Ability to work without perfect specs
- Willingness to make pragmatic tradeoffs
- Clear communication in a remote team
- Strong debugging instincts
- Interest in product and customer outcomes, not just code
- Entrepreneurial soul and long-term ambition
The right person will not wait to be told every next step.
They will see what needs to be built, clarify quickly, and move.
What This Role Is Not
This is not:
- A corporate engineering role
- A passive internship
- A narrow ticket-taking backend job
- A role for someone waiting for funding before contributing
- A low-urgency side project
- A role for someone uncomfortable with uncertainty
- A visa-first arrangement
- A place to optimize for perfect architecture over shipping
We are moving fast because the company has a limited runway and a clear near-term goal: ship the MVP, run pilots, and close funding.
Why Join Zavvis Now
This is a rare moment to join before the company becomes obvious.
You would be joining when:
- The MVP is close to launch
- The product category is differentiated
- The market pain is real
- The technical foundation is already in motion
- The company is still early enough for meaningful ownership
- The right person can become part of the foundational team
If you prove exceptional, this role can evolve into a long-term leadership path across backend, infrastructure, product engineering, agent systems, or broader technical execution.
We are not looking for someone who only wants a task list.
We are looking for someone who wants to help build the company.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate can dedicate close to full-time effort over the next 3 months and understands that the initial phase is unpaid until financing or revenue is secured.
You may be a great fit if you are:
- An ambitious backend engineer who wants founding-team upside
- A technical builder who wants more ownership than a normal job offers
- A startup-minded operator who can move across backend, infrastructure, data, and product needs
- Someone who wants to build something category-defining from the inside
- Someone who understands that early risk is the price of early ownership
Compensation Structure
Initial phase:
- No cash compensation during the pre-funding/pre-revenue period
- Contribution governed by a written agreement
- Equity participation considered for the right long-term contributor
Upon financing, first revenue, or payroll activation:
- Transition to paid full-time compensation
- Equity participation based on contribution level, role, commitment, and long-term fit
- Potential path into a senior/founding technical role
All final compensation and equity terms will be documented clearly in writing.
How to Apply
Send a short message explaining:
- Why this startup stage fits you
- What backend systems you have built before
- How much time you can realistically commit over the next 3 months
- Whether you are comfortable with the unpaid pre-funding structure
- What areas beyond backend you would be excited to help with
We are moving quickly.
If you want a safe, fully defined role, this is probably not the right fit.
If you want to help ship a serious MVP, join before launch, and earn a place on the foundational team of a potentially category-defining company, we should talk.