Software Engineering Lead, Financial Systems

Who Are We?

Have you struggled to reserve that coveted summer camping spot at a state park? Wondered why you’re still filling out a paper form at the DMV? Or tried (and failed) to book your favorite pickleball court from your phone?

Kaizen Labs is rebuilding the government’s digital front door - bringing modern, people-first software to the public services millions of Americans rely on every day. From parks & recreation and permitting to licensing and payments, we’re replacing outdated systems with intuitive, beautiful technology designed for residents and the public servants who serve them.

Our platform now powers over 50 agencies across 17 states, reaching more than 40 million residents. Recent partners include Maricopa County (AZ), San Bernardino County (CA), and the Cherokee Nation. In Maryland, our platform helped eliminate seven-mile traffic jams at state parks, saving hundreds of thousands in costs and dramatically improving the visitor experience.

Founded in 2022 and based in New York City, Kaizen has raised $35 million from world-class investors, including NEA, Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital.

We’re a team of builders, designers, and operators redefining what it means to serve the public in the digital age - and we’re just getting started.

Location

This is a hybrid role based out of our New York City HQ. Candidates must reside in New York or be able to commute to New York City to work out of our office at least three times a week (Tuesdays - Thursdays).

The Role

As our Financial Systems Engineering Lead, you’ll be building the financial systems that power this mission - ensuring governments and residents alike can trust every transaction, every time. You’ll get to solve some of the hardest technical challenges in fintech and civic tech, shape the foundation of our platform, and play a key role in scaling an early stage startup on its way to nationwide impact.

You will be responsible for owning and building our financial systems - payments, processors, reporting, and accounting infrastructure. These systems are among the most sensitive parts of our product and codebase, and as we scale to larger, more sophisticated customers, they’re holding us to higher standards of accuracy, compliance, and reliability.

This is a highly technical role with leadership responsibility: ~80% hands-on engineering and ~20% people management. You’ll collaborate closely with product and platform teams to design simple, abstracted financial interfaces, while ensuring our systems are accurate, and built to scale.

Technical Challenges Unique to This Role…

• Building and scaling financial systems that reconcile accounting data, power accurate reporting, and support enterprise-grade compliance.

• Owning integrations with payment processors, ERP systems, and financial reporting tools to ensure reliability and trust.

• Designing simple, abstracted payment and reporting interfaces for our customers.

• Ensuring financial accuracy through reconciliation, alerting, and monitoring systems.

• Supporting diverse use cases - everything from permits and public reservations to point-of-sale transactions and large-scale government payments.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the accounting and payments roadmap - defining priorities, building, and executing.

• Own payments, processors, reporting, and financial accounting systems end-to-end.

• Establish rigorous systems for reconciliation, alerting, and financial accuracy.

• Collaborate with product engineering to design clean, abstracted interfaces for payments and reporting.

• Manage and mentor a small team while remaining a strong IC.

• Drive ERP integrations and ensure smooth connectivity between payments, accounting, and inventory systems.

• Contribute to high-level architectural decisions, helping us design scalable, reliable, and auditable financial systems.

What You’ll Bring

• 6+ years of professional software development experience, with deep exposure to fintech, payments, or accounting systems.

• Background at finance-heavy, tech-forward companies or foundational work at an early-stage startup building financial infrastructure.

• Strong backend engineering skills (TypeScript, Postgres, Stripe API experience preferred).

• Experience with ERP integrations.

• Comfortable leading projects and/or teams, or leading complex, cross-functional initiatives.

• Customer-obsessed mindset - you care about providing reliable systems that empower users and earn customer trust.

• Strong written and verbal communication; able to collaborate across product, engineering, and operations teams.

• Familiar with (or excited to learn about) integrating AI-assisted coding and problem-solving tools into everyday development.

Strong Candidates May Also...

• Experience with POS/payment terminals or retail and e-commerce systems.

• Familiarity with compliance-heavy environments.

• Experience balancing IC engineering responsibilities with early management.

• Background in building systems at companies that scaled

Base Salary is $180k - $220k

💚 At Kaizen, we believe that great work starts with taking great care of our people. We’re building something meaningful, and that starts with a culture where people genuinely love to work. Here’s how we support you - in and out of the workplace:

🩺 Comprehensive Health Coverage

We offer Silver, Gold, and Platinum PPO plans through Oxford (United), with 85% of premiums covered for employees on the Platinum plan, with a $0 premium option

🏥 Dental, Vision & Financial Wellness

You’re covered with Guardian PPO dental and Beam vision plans - Kaizen pays 99% of premiums for employees and 50% for dependents. We also offer:

• 💳 Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA & Dependent Care FSA)

• 🛡️ $100,000 in fully paid life insurance

• 🏦 401(k) access through Guideline

🤰🏼 Parental Leave That Supports Families

Because time with your growing family matters.

• 🍼 16 weeks fully paid for birthing parents and 10 weeks paid for non-birthing parents

🗽 Everyday Support & Flexibility

• 🚆 $50/month toward your commute

• 🏡 One-time setup stipend (up to $750) for your home or NYC office

• 💪 $100/month for wellness or productivity

🎡 Perks That Make Life Better

• 🎉 $250/year for recreation - because fun matters

• 📚 $500/year for professional development - because growth does too

• 🍱 Expensed lunch three days a week when you're in the office

• 💻 Company-provided laptop

🌴 Time Off to Recharge

• 🌅 Unlimited PTO

• 🇺🇸 All federal holidays off

• ☃️ A company-wide winter break during the week of Christmas

At Kaizen, we’re building something meaningful, and that starts with a culture where people genuinely love to work. Come build with us.

The salary range listed represents the low and high end of Kaizen’s salary range for this position. Salary will vary depending on various factors, including, but not limited to, location, education, skills, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Kaizen’s total compensation package for employees, and other forms of compensation may include annual bonuses, commissions, and equity grants.

Kaizen provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

We are committed to maintaining a supportive and inclusive environment for people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We respect the varied identities, abilities, cultures, and traditions of the individuals who comprise our organization and recognize the value that different backgrounds and points of view bring to our organization.

If you need assistance or an accommodations due to a disability, please email us at [email protected]. This information will be treated as confidential and used only to determine an appropriate accommodation for the interview process.