Software Engineering Lead, Financial Systems

Who Are We

Have you struggled to reserve that coveted summer camping spot at a state park Wondered why youre still filling out a paper form at the DMV Or tried (and failed) to book your favorite pickleball court from your phone

Kaizen Labs is rebuilding the governments digital front door - bringing modern people-first software to the public services millions of Americans rely on every day. From parks & recreation and permitting to licensing and payments were replacing outdated systems with intuitive beautiful technology designed for residents and the public servants who serve them.

Our platform now powers over 50 agencies across 17 states reaching more than 30 million residents. Recent partners include Maricopa County (AZ) San Bernardino County (CA) and the Cherokee Maryland our platform helped eliminate seven-mile traffic jams at state parks saving hundreds of thousands in costs and dramatically improving the visitor experience.

Founded in 2022 and based in New York City Kaizen has raised $35 million from world-class investors including NEA Andreessen Horowitz Accel 776 and Carpenter Capital.

Were a team of builders designers and operators redefining what it means to serve the public in the digital age - and were just getting started.

Location

This is a hybrid role based out of our New York City HQ. Candidates must reside in New York or be able to commute to New York City to work out of our office at least three times a week (Tuesdays - Thursdays).

The Role

As our Financial Systems Engineering Lead youll be building the financial systems that power this mission - ensuring governments and residents alike can trust every transaction every time. Youll get to solve some of the hardest technical challenges in fintech and civic tech shape the foundation of our platform and play a key role in scaling an early stage startup on its way to nationwide impact.

You will be responsible for owning and building our financial systems - payments processors reporting and accounting infrastructure. These systems are among the most sensitive parts of our product and codebase and as we scale to larger more sophisticated customers theyre holding us to higher standards of accuracy compliance and reliability.

This is a highly technical role with leadership responsibility: 80% hands-on engineering and 20% people management. Youll collaborate closely with product and platform teams to design simple abstracted financial interfaces while ensuring our systems are accurate and built to scale.

Technical Challenges Unique to This Role

• Building and scaling financial systems that reconcile accounting data power accurate reporting and support enterprise-grade compliance.

• Owning integrations with payment processors ERP systems and financial reporting tools to ensure reliability and trust.

• Designing simple abstracted payment and reporting interfaces for our customers.

• Ensuring financial accuracy through reconciliation alerting and monitoring systems.

• Supporting diverse use cases - everything from permits and public reservations to point-of-sale transactions and large-scale government payments.

What Youll Do

• Lead the accounting and payments roadmap - defining priorities building and executing.

• Own payments processors reporting and financial accounting systems end-to-end.

• Establish rigorous systems for reconciliation alerting and financial accuracy.

• Collaborate with product engineering to design clean abstracted interfaces for payments and reporting.

• Manage and mentor a small team while remaining a strong IC.

• Drive ERP integrations and ensure smooth connectivity between payments accounting and inventory systems.

• Contribute to high-level architectural decisions helping us design scalable reliable and auditable financial systems.

What Youll Bring

• 6 years of professional software development experience with deep exposure to fintech payments or accounting systems.

• Background at finance-heavy tech-forward companies or foundational work at an early-stage startup building financial infrastructure.

• Strong backend engineering skills (TypeScript Postgres Stripe API experience preferred).

• Experience with ERP integrations.

• Comfortable leading projects and/or teams or leading complex cross-functional initiatives.

• Customer-obsessed mindset - you care about providing reliable systems that empower users and earn customer trust.

• Strong written and verbal communication; able to collaborate across product engineering and operations teams.

• Familiar with (or excited to learn about) integrating AI-assisted coding and problem-solving tools into everyday development.

Strong Candidates May Also...

• Experience with POS/payment terminals or retail and e-commerce systems.

• Familiarity with compliance-heavy environments.

• Experience balancing IC engineering responsibilities with early management.

• Background in building systems at companies that scaled

Base Salary is $180k - $220k

At Kaizen we believe that great work starts with taking great care of our people. Were building something meaningful and that starts with a culture where people genuinely love to work. Heres how we support you - in and out of the workplace:

Comprehensive Health Coverage

We offer Silver Gold and Platinum PPO plans through Oxford (United) with 85% of premiums covered for employees on the Platinum plan with a $0 premium option

Dental Vision & Financial Wellness

Youre covered with Guardian PPO dental and Beam vision plans - Kaizen pays 99% of premiums for employees and 50% for dependents. We also offer:

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA & Dependent Care FSA)

• $100000 in fully paid life insurance

• 401(k) access through Guideline

Parental Leave That Supports Families

Because time with your growing family matters.

• 16 weeks fully paid for birthing parents and 10 weeks paid for non-birthing parents

Everyday Support & Flexibility

• $50/month toward your commute

• One-time setup stipend (up to $750) for your home or NYC office

• $100/month for wellness or productivity

Perks That Make Life Better

• $250/year for recreation - because fun matters

• $500/year for professional development - because growth does too

• Expensed lunch three days a week when youre in the office

• Company-provided laptop

Time Off to Recharge

• Unlimited PTO

• All federal holidays off

• A company-wide winter break during the week of Christmas

At Kaizen were building something meaningful and that starts with a culture where people genuinely love to work. Come build with us.

The salary range listed represents the low and high end of Kaizens salary range for this position. Salary will vary depending on various factors including but not limited to location education skills experience and performance. The range listed is just one component of Kaizens total compensation package for employees and other forms of compensation may include annual bonuses commissions and equity grants.

Kaizen provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race color religion age sex national origin disability status genetics protected veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local laws.

We are committed to maintaining a supportive and inclusive environment for people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We respect the varied identities abilities cultures and traditions of the individuals who comprise our organization and recognize the value that different backgrounds and points of view bring to our organization.

If you need assistance or an accommodations due to a disability please email us at . This information will be treated as confidential and used only to determine an appropriate accommodation for the interview process.