Job Description

Ascent Funding is an award-winning, rapidly growing private FinTech company that is on a mission to revolutionize the way people pay for college.  We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our team in the heart of downtown San Diego, CA (well, virtually during COVID) to lead key application and platform development initiatives that deliver our innovation to the market.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING: The Ascent PRINCIPAL SOFTWARE ENGINEER is an individual contributor responsible for leading key development initiatives to produce cutting edge, best in-class commercial software.  This high-visibility role supports the critical platform needs of multiple teams, systems and products.

IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL:

• Architect, design and develop cutting edge, highly reliable and scalable distributed systems.
• Work in an Agile/Scrum environment to deliver software.
• Work as a technical lead and principal engineer alongside your engineer team mates.
• Share support of critical systems by participating in on-call rotations.
• Participate in code reviews to ensure ongoing code quality.
• Interact with and articulate solutions to partners, vendors, key business stakeholders.
• Establish best practices and standards for the engineering organization. 
• Stay on top of cutting-edge technology.
• Occasionally travel to the San Diego office for in-person collaboration.

DESIRED SKILLS & EXPERTISE:

• Bachelor's Degree required in Computer Science or another quantitative field. 
• 12+ years of experience in a full stack software engineering role.
• 5+ years of experience as a Principal Software Engineer or other lead role in architecting and designing new software applications.
• Significant experience in agile software development.
• Proven ability to build high-performance, scalable, distributed systems.
• Hands-on expertise in cloud-based software design and development 
• Extensive knowledge and experience with… 
  • Programming languages: PHP, Python, JavaScript
  • Libraries and frameworks: Laravel, React, jQuery, Bootstrap
  • Relational databases (MS SQL Server, MySQL) and NoSQL databases.
• Self starter, able to work independently
• Experience and proficiency with… 
  • AWS cloud services, RESTful Web Services and Microservices based architectures.
  • Encryption theory and utilization of various encryption libraries

BONUS POINTS IF YOU HAVE:

• Past consumer finance experience and / or experience in a highly regulated environment.
• Master's degree in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics or another quantitative field.

QUALITIES WE LOOK FOR IN OUR CANDIDATES:

• Entrepreneurial drive to succeed and win, sense of urgency, and passion for the work.
• Proven ability to think creatively and drive innovation in the market and within our company.
• Willingness/ability to work late hours when faced with tight deadlines.
• All-around good teammate who is cooperative, approachable, and dedicated to helping others succeed.

COMPETITIVE PAY WITH BONUS, AND COMPREHENSIVE BENEFITS PACKAGE THAT INCLUDES, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

• 401(k) + Company Match
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Annual HSA contribution of $1,500
• Life insurance, disability, and critical illness
• Birthday Holiday
• Unlimited snacks and drinks (when we are in the office)
• Tuition reimbursement program
• Generous paid leave policies including unlimited PTO
• $2,000 Vacation Incentive Plan after 3 years + $1,000 Sabbatical day
• Community, Wellness funds and more

Learn more about our benefits by viewing our 2021 Employee Benefits Guide. 

The Job Description is intended to be a general representation of the responsibilities and requirements of the job. However, the description may not be all-inclusive, and responsibilities and requirements are subject to change.

Equal Employment Opportunity

It is the policy of the Company to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants without regard to unlawful considerations of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, sensory, physical, or mental disability, marital status, veteran or military status, genetic information, or any other classification protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, discipline, and termination. Reasonable accommodation is available for qualified individuals with disabilities, upon request.

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