Software Engineer (Backend)

CoverflexWork changed. Pay didn’t.Coverflex exists to make compensation work for everyone.Pay is still rigid, fragmented, and hard to feel.We turn compensation into choice - one platform, one card, one app - for benefits, meal allowance, insurance and more.Our platform is simple for HR and meaningful for employees.We provide choice, smarter compensation tools and empowerment.⚙️ TL;DR (The Essentials)Role: Backend EngineerSeniority Level: Mid to SeniorType: Individual ContributorLanguages: English (main) / Portuguese, Spanish or Italian a plusMain Tools Elixir, Phoenix and Phoenix LiveView PostgreSQL AWS, Kubernetes Github, Github Actions, ConfigCat, DatadogLocation: Remote (Europe only)CompensationBase Salary: 50K to 80K gross annually Equity: Yes – VSOPsBenefits: See belowContract Type: Permanent💥 Your ImpactYour role will play a major role in our success because…You'll be the builder who crafts the reliable, scalable systems that power Coverflex's compensation platform, enabling thousands of companies to transform how they reward and support their people. Every API you design, every database optimization you implement, and every architectural decision you make will directly impact the financial wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of employees who depend on Coverflex for their benefits, insurance, and flexible compensation.You'll be embedded within a focused product team, working on a specific vertical with clear purpose and ownership. As a product engineer, you won't just write code - you'll shape what gets built. You'll collaborate closely with product managers and designers from discovery through delivery, bringing technical perspective to product decisions, identifying opportunities, and ensuring we're solving the right problems in the right way. You'll own meaningful problems end-to-end and ship features that make complex compensation simple, compliant, and delightful.You’ll know you’re successful when, after 90 days, you’ve…Shipped meaningful features that directly impact your team's key metrics - whether that's processing more transactions, reducing operational friction, or enabling new product capabilitiesBuilt reliable, scalable infrastructure that handles production load with confidence, proper monitoring, and graceful degradationImproved system quality and performance through thoughtful optimisations, reduced latency, better error handling, or enhanced data consistencyEstablished solid foundations by implementing proper testing coverage, observability, documentation, and patterns that set your team up for sustained velocityDemonstrated technical ownership by leading features end-to-end with minimal oversight, making sound architectural decisions, and owning outcomes - not just outputsElevated the team through constructive code reviews, knowledge sharing, pairing with teammates, and contributing to engineering standards and best practicesCollaborated effectively with product by bringing technical perspective to discovery, identifying opportunities, challenging assumptions, and ensuring we build the right thing the right wayHow We’ll Measure SuccessSuccess means shipping features that move the needle on your team's objectives week over week. You'll see measurable impact through the metrics that matter for your vertical - whether that's transaction success rates, processing time, user adoption, or operational efficiency.Your systems will be reliable: stable deployments, comprehensive monitoring with actionable alerts, well-documented runbooks, and architecture that scales with demand.Your team will move faster because of the foundations you build - reusable patterns, clear abstractions, and technical decisions that compound over time.Product won't need to chase you for status updates because you're proactively communicating progress, blockers, and trade-offs.You'll know you've succeeded when your features are live and impacting users, your code is maintainable and well-tested, and your team is stronger because of your contributions.⚡ Reality Check - What Makes This Role HardLet's be real - here's what makes this role challenging:Business and product move fast. You'll need to ship features quickly while maintaining system stability and reliability. Product cycles are tight, but every feature you build must be properly tested, monitored, and resilient from day one. You're handling people's money and benefits, which requires extra care and caution in everything you ship.You're navigating lots of moving parts. Compensation isn't simple - it touches payments, benefits, insurance, compliance, and integrations with external providers. Your changes might affect multiple systems, and you'll need to coordinate across product teams, operations, data, and infrastructure without clear-cut boundaries. Understanding the broader context and anticipating downstream impacts is critical.Every country adds complexity. We operate in Portugal, Italy, and Spain, and each market has different regulations, tax rules, benefit types, and compliance requirements. What works in one country may not work exactly the same way in another. You'll need to build systems that are flexible enough to handle these nuances without becoming unmaintainable or slowing down your ability to ship.👤 YouMust-haves (evidence, not years)Strong backend engineering fundamentalsProduction-ready mindset (testing, observability, monitoring)Shipping in small PRs with CI/CDProduct thinking - you care about user outcomes, not just implementationCollaborative and easy to work with - you value team practices, give thoughtful feedback, and care about how we work togetherNice-to-haveElixir/Phoenix professional experienceMulti-market B2B SaaS experienceFintech or regulated industry backgroundAI-assisted development habits and prompt-level fluency🧬 Your DNAWe're looking for engineers who thrive in fast-paced, product-driven environments. You'll need to be comfortable with rapid iteration, shipping small increments frequently, and adapting priorities based on user feedback and team objectives.This role demands strong collaboration across product, design, data, and engineering teams, a pragmatic approach to balancing speed with quality, and deep ownership of both feature delivery and system reliability.If you excel at finding the right technical solution - whether that's elegant architecture or pragmatic shortcuts to unblock progress - embrace trunk-based development with proper testing and observability, and naturally align your work to team goals while maintaining quality through disciplined execution, you'll succeed here.You’ll probably find this frustrating if…You work in isolation, ship large monolithic changes without iteration, over-engineer solutions before validating the problem, avoid ownership of system reliability, struggle to adapt priorities based on impact, deal poorly with direct and transparent feedback, or can't handle the pressure of working in a fast-moving environment where things don't always go as planned.👥 Manager & TeamMeet Your ManagerHiring Manager: Daniel Francisco, Engineering ManagerLocation: PortugalLinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfshred/Profile SnapshotEnergy: Steady and pragmatic with a maker mindset. Comfortable going deep when needed, but optimizes for team autonomy and speed‑through‑quality.Communication: Direct and concise, async‑first. Prioritizes written context so decisions are transparent and durable.Feedback Style: Frequent, specific, and caring. Feedback is framed around outcomes and concrete next steps.How to work with me - in the Manager's own words:Hands‑on Engineering Manager who cares about quality and reliability. Sets clear expectations, unblocks quickly, and holds a high bar while coaching for growth.Your TeamYou’ll Work Day-to-day WithEngineers, Product Manager, Product Designer, Engineering ManagerKey StakeholdersBruno Oliveira, VP EngineeringCarlos Silva, Chief ArchitectJoana Botelho, Head of ProductPedro Cardoso, Head of Product DesignTiago Fernandes, Co-Founder & CTO💜 Access & Belonging (Equal Opportunity)We hire for impact and potential, not pedigree.We welcome applications from people with non-linear careers, career breaks, caregiving gaps, and those changing fields.No discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender identity/expression, marital or family status, pregnancy, neurodivergence, race/ethnicity, religion/belief, gender, sexual orientation, or any other protected ground.Assessment FairnessWe anchor on evidence of outcomes (what you shipped, moved, or influenced).We actively de-bias by using structured rubrics, multiple assessors, and blind screening most of the time (we won’t know your name, gender, or personal info until the interview stage).📬 Application ClarityNo cover letter required.Apply with your LinkedIn or upload your CV.You may be asked a few short, relevant questions.Total candidate time investment: ~3–5 hours end-to-end.🧩 Hiring Stages (What to Expect, Why & How Long) CV / LinkedIn Screen — Signal check vs must-haves You’ll hear from us within 7 business days. Role-Fit Questionnaire (async) Purpose: capture signals your CV can’t (languages, tools, scenario judgement) and calibrate seniority. Format: multiple choice + short answers. Accessibility: prefer a call? Tell us - we’ll swap for a short chat. Hiring Manager Interview - Engineering Mindset deep-dive 45–60 min\ Technical Deep-Dive - Show how you think ≤90 min We assess clarity, decision quality, stakeholder thinking, and ethics. Pairing Session - Walkthrough + Q&A 20–30 min You’ll get actionable feedback either way. Cultural Interview - With People 30 to 45min Final Conversation (CEO / C-Level) — Values, strategy, and your growth 30–45 minOptional: References (2–3 people who’ve seen your recent work) - async.⏱️ Speed & CommunicationDecision: within 4 weeks of your application.Updates: weekly if the process runs longer.Scheduling: interviews between 10:00–16:00 CET (flexible across Europe).Feedback: from the Case stage onwards, you’ll always receive written or verbal feedback - what went well, and what to strengthen next time.