Senior Software Engineer

What we do

Ascend is a fintech company building the financing and payments infrastructure for the $1T insurance market (did you know insurance premiums make up 7.2% of global GDP?). More than 40% of payments are still made with paper checks resulting in poor customer experience and expensive and operationally intensive commercial workflow. Today's solutions were built 40 years ago for pen and paper insurance sales. Ascend is the first modern payments platform for insurance helping to enable the industry's rapid digitalization.

Founded in April 2021, Ascend has achieved the following milestones:

• Annualized run rate of $20 million and growing 15% monthly
• Processing over a billion dollars in transaction volume, originating hundreds of millions of dollars in loans on the platform.
• Acquired over 2,000 customers, including several of the top 25 largest insurance distributors nationally (Acrisure, Insurica, NFP, etc.) as well as leading Inusrtechs (Vouch, Embroker, Founder Shield).
• Operated with an efficiency and profitability mindset - maintaining minimal burn and a balance sheet exceeding $25 million.
• Named a Top 50 Insurtech by CB Insights.
• Built a world-class team of 25 based out of our San Francisco, CA, and Columbus, OH offices.

How we do it

Ascend automates insurance payments end-to-end — from online customer payments and financing to the distribution of commissions and carrier payables — so that insurance distributors can eliminate laborious, expensive processes while giving their customers the great online checkout and financing experience they've come to expect. Think Stripe + Affirm + Modern Treasury for insurance.

Why we do it

We exist to make it easier for people to protect the things they care about by simplifying and modernizing the insurance industry’s financial infrastructure.

Your role

Ascend is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join our team on-site in San Francisco to help us expand our core product. As an Engineer at Ascend, you will be part of a small, but growing team focused on solving complex technical challenges using Ruby. In addition, you will interface directly with our customers and work cross-functionally to continue developing new product features, dashboards, and checkout processes - without any layers!

Responsibilities will include

• Building applications and services using Rails/Javascript
• Working closely with cross-functional teams and customers to define and build products
• Helping design & implement our technical architecture & processes

You might be a good fit if you have

• 5+ years of experience as a Full Stack or Backend Web Developer
• Experience with relational databases
• Experience building and scaling consumer products
• A strong desire to learn new skills and solve business problems

Nice to have

• Familiarity or interest in learning Ruby on Rails and Next.js
• Familiarity with building external APIs & integrations with platforms such as Salesforce
• Experience in building payment, checkout, or insurance products

Tech stack & processes

• Ruby on Rails API hosted on Heroku
• Next.js w/Typescript hosted on Vercel
• Tailwind CSS across all the FE
• Postgres + Redis for Storage
• Continuous integration & delivery

Benefits

• Competitive base salary and meaningful equity in a fast-growing company
• 100% health premiums covered for you and your dependents
• 401k with employer matching options
• Unlimited PTO
• Monthly company-paid commuter benefit options, and fitness stipends
• Parental and family leave
• Lunch provided when in office
• Company outings and offsites

We encourage you to connect with us, even if you think you may not have the exact experience for this opportunity. We know that imposter syndrome is real – and that being outside of your comfort zone often prevents us from meeting candidates we would love to connect with and learn from as we grow.

Equal Opportunity

We're an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We don't discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

In accordance with Ascend policies and our commitment to prioritizing the health and safety of our employees, all positions will require proof of COVID vaccination prior to entering the office. Guests who visit the office must also provide proof of vaccination prior to entry. Our COVID-19 health and safety protocols may change over time as local and national guidance and regulations evolve.