Full Stack Engineer

About the Role

We are looking for a senior Full Stack Engineer to join the founding team of BlackAlpine.ai, a digital lending platform tailored for Nigerian banks. This platform, regulated and nearing production readiness, handles credit scoring, ETL processes, loan origination, servicing, collections, and customer interaction portals. As the founding engineer, you will fully own the codebase, implementation, and infrastructure, working with a strong AI-first mindset and broad autonomy.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and manage backend services using Python 3.12 and FastAPI (async), implementing scoring engines, ETL and feature pipelines, loan lifecycle management, and API services with SQLAlchemy and PostgreSQL.
• Maintain and fix infrastructure and deployment processes with Terraform on Azure Container Apps, Docker, CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, and observability tools.
• Build and integrate critical services including NIBSS/GSI, BVN, CAC, credit bureaus, and payment systems from initial stages to live certification.
• Support frontend development primarily using React 18 and Vite, although this is a less central focus.
• Ensure strong authentication and security practices, managing Keycloak for OIDC/FIDO2-based access control, personally identifiable information encryption, and audit trails.

Candidate Profile

• Extensive backend Python experience, particularly asynchronous FastAPI and SQLAlchemy, with expert knowledge of SQL and PostgreSQL performance optimization.
• Proficient in infrastructure management, capable of troubleshooting and repairing broken Terraform deployments and maintaining CI/CD workflows.
• Experienced with data engineering, including ETL pipelines, feature stores, and handling large database tables efficiently.
• Comfortable working in an AI-first environment, familiar with tools like Claude, and demonstrating critical judgment in reviewing AI-generated code to ensure correctness.
• Knowledgeable about regulatory and financial environments, especially Nigerian regulations such as NDPA, NDPR, CBN, FCCPC, GSI, NIBSS, BVN, NIN, AML, and KYC requirements.
• Bonus points for experience as a founding or early engineer in fintech or data-focused startups, particularly with Nigerian lending and regulatory systems.

Additional Information

• This position is full time and hiring is based in Lagos, Nigeria, though fully remote work is acceptable.
• The hiring procedure involves an initial introductory call, followed by a trial project, and a collaborative working session for project review prior to an offer.