About the Company
First Circle is an SME-focused, credit-centric, and multi-product NeoBank in SE Asia which is fast-growing (>100%), profitable, and internationalising soon. We started life as an SME lender in the Philippines in 2016 to solve the SME credit gap by using technology to systemise underwriting, deliver exceptional UX, and automate away delivery costs. We've delivered our clients the fastest, cheapest, most flexible credit line available to businesses anywhere in Southeast Asia.
Responsibilities
•Build and evolve backend services and APIs that are fast, reliable, and easy to change
•Take features from first idea to production: shape the approach with product and design, ship it, measure what happens, and improve it
•Help make architectural decisions, write clear technical proposals, and balance speed with solutions that will hold up over time
•Keep your services running smoothly by setting up clear ways to spot issues early, respond quickly, and support users when something goes wrong
•Review code, share what you know, and help other engineers grow
•Work across product, design, and business to turn real needs into practical technical solutions—and explain the trade-offs clearly
Requirements
•5+ years of experience building and operating production backend systems in Kotlin, Java, or Ruby
•Strong foundations in API design, relational databases, and data modeling, with a clear sense of how to keep data consistent as systems scale
•Hands-on experience running services in production: debugging effectively, investigating incidents, and making systems more resilient afterwards
•Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment where priorities can evolve
•Curiosity about AI and practical experience using it, whether you're building LLM-powered features or using AI tools to work more effectively day to day
Nice to Have
•Experience in a startup environment, fintech, payroll, payments, or banking is a strong plus (especially if you've shipped products in regulated environments)
Conditions
•No fixed budget, we hire globally and adjust offers based on experience and market rate
•Flexibility around working hours and location. The role can be worked remotely, with the option to work from one of our offices. We have co-working space in Belgrade where other senior engineers are based
•Macbooks, private health insurance, training budgets and more!
•Opportunity to travel to South East Asia
