Principal Architect

Job Description We are looking for a high-impact Architect to join our engineering leadership team. In this role, you will define and drive the long-term backend architecture that powers our core product experiences. You'll work closely with founders, product managers, and engineering leaders to ensure our backend systems can support rapid product innovation while scaling reliably and securely. You won't just design services you'll shape how we build products: creating frameworks, patterns, and decisions that empower engineers to move fast without compromising on robustness. We're looking for someone with 10+ years of experience in building and scaling backend systems for high-growth products, with the ability to operate as a force multiplier across multiple product teams. On the Job - Define and evolve the backend architecture to support product growth APIs, services, data models, and integrations. - Partner with Product and Engineering leads to translate user and business goals into scalable, reliable backend systems. - Own architecture for major product initiatives: payments, onboarding, user engagement, growth, and monetization. - Establish frameworks and reusable patterns that improve developer velocity, product experimentation, and feature rollout. - Evaluate trade-offs across speed, cost, security, and user experience when making system design decisions. - Mentor and guide senior engineers building strong architectural thinking and decision-making across the org. - Collaborate with infra, data, and security teams to ensure backend systems remain compliant, observable, and cost-efficient. - Stay ahead of emerging technologies, patterns, and practices relevant to backend and product engineering. - Be a strong voice in product architecture decisions: build-vs-integrate, synchronous-vs-asynchronous, schema-vs-event driven, etc. Must-haves (Min. qualifications) - 10+ years of engineering experience, with 3+ years in Staff/Principal Engineer or Architect roles. - Proven experience in designing and scaling backend systems for high-growth, user-facing products. - Deep knowledge of API design, distributed systems, and service-oriented architectures. - Expertise with backend stacks (e.g., Node.js/Java/Go/Python), databases (PostgreSQL, Redis, etc.), and messaging/event systems. - Experience driving large technical decisions across product teams. - Strong systems thinking with a product-first mindset: balancing user experience, speed, and robustness. - Exposure to fintech or regulated domains is a plus. - Excellent collaboration and communication skills able to align both product and engineering stakeholders. Good to have - Experience in early-stage or high-growth product companies. - Background in experimentation frameworks, feature flagging, and rapid product iteration at scale. - Experience with domain-driven design (DDD), event-driven systems, and asynchronous communication. - Knowledge of real-time systems, payments, or growth-focused architectures. - Contributions to open source, public tech talks, or blogs showcasing thought leadership. Why join us - Strategic ownership: Architect systems that power the future of fintech for 250M+ Gen Z users. - Org-level impact: Directly influence technical direction and culture across all engineering teams. - Modern stack, meaningful scale: Solve high-scale problems with modern infrastructure and freedom to innovate. - Mission-driven: Help shape India's first payments product built specifically for teenagers and young adults. - Team & backing: Work alongside top talent from the industry, backed by world-class investors like Elevation Capital, Y Combinator, Peak XV (Sequoia), and more. - Collaborating directly with Sambhav (Co-founder) and Chirag (Founding Team Head, Engineering) to design scalable architecture and technical solutions that support product innovation and engineering. Perks That Go Beyond the Paycheck Relocation assistance to make your move seamless. Free office meals (lunch & dinner). Generous leave policy, including birthday leave, period leave, paternity and maternity support, and more. Salary advance and loan policies for any financial help. Quarterly rewards and recognition programs, and a referral program with great incentives. Access the latest gadgets and tools. Comprehensive health insurance for you and your family, mental health support. Tax benefits with options like food coupons, phone allowances, car/device leasing. Retirement perks like PF contribution, leave encashment and gratuity.