Co-Founder

Role Summary We’re building a payment platform that lets businesses accept and settle funds while leveraging blockchain (Polygon/zkEVM) for backend traceability. As our Technical Co-Founder/CTO, you’ll own the architecture, lead development of our MVP, and shape our long-term tech strategy. Success in this position looks like: Launching a fully functional MVP within 4 months. Demonstrating live GBP flows via Open Banking, with fees auto-split and logged on the Polygon testnet. Building a production-ready codebase (Node.js/TypeScript backend, Next.js frontend, Solidity contracts) and DevOps pipelines. Establishing automated on-chain logging, fee-swap microservices, and CI/CD so that every transaction is auditable and future-proof for Web3 integrations. Laying the technical groundwork for FCA EMI license applications and scalable operation. In this founding role, you’ll report directly to the CEO/founder, set sprint cadences, hire and mentor engineers (onshore/offshore), and collaborate with compliance, product, and operations to ensure we hit aggressive milestones. Key Responsibilities 1. Technical Strategy & Architecture Define and evolve the end-to-end system architecture: Open Banking integration, EMI sponsor APIs, fee-splitter microservice, on-chain audit contracts, and dashboards. Choose frameworks, languages, and cloud services (AWS/GCP) that balance agility, security, and cost-efficiency. 2. MVP Delivery & Hands-On Development Build critical components: o Open Banking payment initiation and webhook handlers. o Sponsor EMI integration for virtual accounts and payouts. o Fee-split microservice that calculates fees, triggers fiat→USDC swaps (Transak/Ramp), and calls our Polygon audit contract. o Smart contract development and deployment on Polygon zkEVM (Solidity Hardhat). o Frontend modules (Next.js) for merchant onboarding, customer checkout widget, and real-time dashboards. 3. Team Leadership & Collaboration Recruit, onboard, and mentor a small engineering team (remote/offshore), setting coding standards, CI/CD pipelines, and code-review processes. Coordinate closely with product, design, and compliance, ensuring feature requirements, UI/UX designs, and regulatory checklists are implemented in sprint cycles. Delegate tasks effectively while remaining hands-on for critical path items, especially around payment flows and on-chain logic. 4. DevOps & Security Architect and maintain secure, scalable infrastructure: Dockerized services, Kubernetes or AWS Fargate/ECS, managed PostgreSQL, Redis, and S3. Implement robust ESLint/Prettier (JS/TS) in CI, automated tests (Jest, Hardhat), and vulnerability scanning (Snyk or GitHub CodeQL). Ensure all API keys and secrets live in AWS Secrets Manager or GCP Secret Manager, with least-privilege IAM roles. Set up monitoring, logging, and alerts (CloudWatch, Sentry, Datadog) for payment failures, on-chain errors, and low-gas wallet balances. 5. Compliance & Regulatory Support Work with the CEO and legal advisors to translate FCA licensing requirements into technical specifications: data encryption, audit trails, KYC/KYB integrations (Sumsub, ComplyAdvantage), and GDPR compliance. Help draft and maintain documentation (architecture diagrams, runbooks, security policies) required for FCA sandbox applications and EMI license submissions. 6. Roadmap & Scalability Continuously refine the technical roadmap, balancing immediate MVP requirements with long-term scalability (batching on-chain logs, multi-chain support, loyalty tokenization). Evaluate emerging Layer 2 solutions (zkSync Era, Arbitrum Nova) and modular SDKs for potential future cost or performance gains. Qualifications & Skills Technical Skills Blockchain/Web3 Expertise (Required): 2 years or more in writing, testing, and deploying Solidity contracts (0.8.x) on Ethereum or EVM-compatible Layer 2s (Polygon, zkEVM). Experience with Hardhat (or Truffle) for contract development, testing (Waffle/Chai), and on-chain verification. Proficiency with Ethers.js (or Web3.js) for building on-chain services and reading/writing events. Open Banking & Fintech Integration ( Strongly Preferred) : Hands-on experience integrating TrueLayer, Yapily, or similar PSD2 APIs for Payment Initiation. Familiarity with sponsor EMI partners (Modulr, Railsr) and their REST API workflows: virtual account creation, payments, payouts, webhooks. Backend Development (Required): 3 years or more in building scalable backend APIs with Node.js TypeScript (Express.js or NestJS) or FastAPI (Python). Expertise in relational databases (PostgreSQL), caching/queues (Redis, BullMQ or Celery), and advanced SQL (joins, indexes, migrations). Experience building microservices architectures, Docker, and CI/CD. Frontend Development (Strongly Preferred): Proficiency in Next.js (v13), React (Hooks), TypeScript, and TailwindCSS (or equivalent CSS framework). Experience building dynamic dashboards with data-fetching libraries (SWR or React Query). · Leadership & Soft Skills Entrepreneurial Mindset: You thrive in high-uncertainty environments, move fast, and continuously iterate. Communication: Excellent verbal and written skills to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders (investors, compliance, product). Collaboration: Proven track record of leading or mentoring remote/offshore teams; fosters a culture of code quality, documentation, and shared ownership. Problem-Solving: You proactively identify gaps in architecture or security, propose solutions, and drive implementation. Domain Knowledge: Passion for fintech and Web3—able to stay on top of FCA regulations, PSD2 guidelines, and evolving Layer 2 ecosystems. Education & Experience Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience. 4 plus years of professional experience in software engineering, with at least 2 years in blockchain/Web3. Previous startup or early-stage experience is a plus (you know how to build MVPs with lean teams). Prior leadership roles or evidence of scaling engineering processes. How This Role Fits Into the Organization As CTO and co-founder, you’ll be the technical force multiplier for our company. You will: Set the Technical Vision: Drive all engineering decisions, from MVP architecture to production maturity. Build the Core Team: Recruit, mentor, and inspire engineers who share our mission of frictionless, Web3-powered payments. 3. Align Tech & Business: Work hand-in-hand with the CEO/founder on fundraising, product iterations, and go-to-market strategy. Your success directly impacts our ability to raise subsequent rounds (Series A) by demonstrating that we can handle regulated money flows, maintain compliance, and deliver a superior customer/merchant experience. Compensation & Equity Equity-First Structure: This is an equity-based, co-founder role. You will receive a meaningful ownership stake commensurate with a founding CTO position. Deferred Salary: Until we close our pre-seed round, there will be no cash salary for this position. Post-Raise Compensation: A competitive CTO salary (market rate for UK fintech CTOs) will be initiated upon successful funding. Salary progression and performance bonuses will be defined in your co-founder agreement. Equity Vesting: Standard 4-year vesting schedule with a 1-year cliff. Additional equity grants may be awarded based on performance and milestones. Benefits (post-raise): Full medical coverage, pension contributions, and budget for training and conferences. To Apply If you’re excited to co-found a fintech startup that marries Open Banking and blockchain, please send us an email to [email protected], attaching the following : Your LinkedIn profile and CV A brief note on why you’re passionate about payments and blockchain Links to GitHub repos or code samples (smart contracts, APIs, dashboards) We look forward to building the future of payments with you.