Senior Full-Stack Engineer

**Fence** Senior Full-stack Engineer; EUR 60-80k (flexible for right candidates) + up to 30% bonus + stock options; Europe preferred, Madrid most preferred, hybrid preferred

**About Company** We are a team of business-driven builders with prior experience in building tech (on-chain and off-chain), on a mission to construct internet-native debt capital markets. To put it in simple terms, we are making debt global, efficient, and programmable. As the first step towards our vision, we are developing a debt facility management platform that automates asset-backed debt facility operations. Our product is already live with clients such as Payflow’s €20 million debt facility with BBVA, as well as other fintech platforms in the BNPL, trade finance, real estate, ISAs, and consumer loan segments. From a tech perspective, we digitise credit agreements, integrate dynamic data sources, and design pioneering Automated Bank Accounts. We leverage blockchain smart contracts in our backend to automate capital and asset flows according to legal documentation. Our unique approach provides the benefits of smart contracts while avoiding blockchain complexity. So far, we’ve slashed operational costs by 80% and reduced cost of debt by up to 30%. Learn more about our product here. But we're not just building software; we're crafting the toolkit for the future of debt. Top-tier capital providers and asset originators’ eyes are on us as they await for the next leap forward. With our smart contract infrastructure, we're making complex legal compliance not just simple, but automatic—combining the reliability of traditional contracts with the agility of blockchain technology, without the complexity. Backed by some of Europe's premier VCs and business angels, we have the resources and the runway to bring our bold vision to life. Now, we need you—brilliant minds ready to challenge the status quo and build something truly transformative.

Resources to share with candidates: - -

**Responsibilities** - Architect, develop, and optimize both backend and frontend infrastructure, ensuring seamless integration, scalable systems, and strong multi-tenancy and customization capabilities critical for our product. - Take end-to-end ownership of full-stack development, working across frontend and backend systems—from ideation to launch—ensuring smooth delivery and maintenance of key product features. - Implement modern web development best practices, using cutting-edge technologies to ensure a clean, maintainable, and scalable codebase. - Drive innovation, constantly exploring new frameworks, tools, and methodologies to improve the speed and quality of development. - Build APIs and backend services that institutions depend on, along with institutional-grade interfaces that make complex financial operations intuitive - Own features end-to-end, including measuring outcomes post-launch, and drive engineering quality through clean code, robust testing, and clear documentation

**Required Skills** A. 5+ years of experience in software development, with a proven track record of building and deploying full-stack applications. Backend-leaning: relatively stronger in backend than in frontend. B. Very strong backend skills in absolute terms: real senior-level architecture — domain modeling, layer separation, API design, and data ingestion that can handle changing schemas. C. Production-grade Python (Typing, Pydantic, Fastapi, etc), with a solid understanding of backend services and API development. Backend experience in another language is not sufficient — Python must be the primary backend language. D. Strong development skills in React and Next.js (v14), with a deep understanding of modern development practices. E. Knowledge and provable experience designing data models and using SQL and NoSQL databases F. Knowledge and established experience with AWS services G. Strong startup mindset and motivation for working in a fast-paced, product-first environment aligned with Fence’s culture.

**Bonus Skills** - Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with AWS CDK - EVM blockchain and smart contracts development - Experience in fintech or structured finance

**Logistical Info** - **Location:** Europe preferred, Madrid most preferred, hybrid preferred. Candidates must be located in Europe or compatible time zones. - **Compensation: **EUR 60-80k (flexible for right candidates) + up to 30% bonus + stock options - Number of openings: 1 - **Other:** We are 13 people in the team (2 more incoming): 3 Growth (Marketing + Sales + Strategy) led by Juan (co-founder, CEO); 4 Operations (Onboarding + Customer Success + Customer Support) led by Nacho (co-founder, COO); 7 Product Engineering (Data + Product + Engineering): 1 product & ops (Toni), 1 head of data (Pablo), 3 sr backend (Alberto, Miguel & Carlos), 1 sr full-stack (Álvaro), 1 jr full-stack (Youssef). Frontend has been done through freelance work until recently. Setup: hybrid (4 are mostly remote).

**Red flags:** - Frontend-leaning full-stack candidates — relatively stronger in frontend than in backend. - Candidates whose backend depth is in a language other than Python — production-grade Python is a must. - Candidates from consulting, advisory, or agency backgrounds without substantial ownership of product features at an early-stage startup. - Candidates who do not actively use AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, or equivalent) as a core part of their workflow — AI-native development is part of how Fence works. - Candidates with concurrent employment, active side projects, or other companies — full, undivided focus on Fence is required. - Candidates with under 5 years of total software engineering experience. - Candidates who approach problems purely technically without articulating business context, trade-offs, and product impact — Fence needs engineers who think product-first, not just code-first. - Candidates who do not thrive in async-first, written-first environments. - Candidates with only generic fintech interest — no specific curiosity about asset-backed finance or programmable debt.

**Green flags:** - Senior-level backend architecture ownership: domain modeling, layer separation, API design, ingestion pipelines that handle changing schemas. - Self-initiated projects actually shipped. - Uses AI agentically: specs before code, directs models with intent, reviews output critically. - Right-sizes solutions and can articulate why a simpler approach was the right call.

**Interview Process** 1. 30-45 mins: 2x Culture & Fit interview with 1 engineer each (2 engineers in total) 2. Take home exercise (2-4 hours max) 3. 2x Tech interview with 2 engineers each (4 engineers in total)