Job Description: Software Engineer

Our mission:

The problem: In 2017, nearly 60% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash.

How we're solving it: Wave is building what a bank account should be for these people: no account fees, instantly available and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads barely function, we're creating financial infrastructure that "just works." In fall 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments; we're now processing over 200k payments every month. Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent, starting with Senegal.

By the end of next year, we want to realize our cashless vision in Mbour — to let anyone use Wave to pay for anything. That's where you come in...

How you'll help us achieve it:

We’re looking for an engineer who’s independent and excited about getting things done. You'll be responsible for building and maintaining new ways for people to pay with Wave. You'll own every step of the process—from understanding the problem, to shipping your solution for users, to helping the customer support team resolve problems.

Our to-do list changes constantly, but here are some typical projects:
Let people pay their electricity bills with Wave, by integrating with Senelec, the national electrical utility.
Build an app for business owners to pay their employees' salaries using Wave.
Let us safely lend smartphones to thousands of taxi drivers so they can accept payments with Wave, by building software to manage the phones and discourage theft.
Key details:
Location: At least 2/3 time on site in Mbour, Senegal (a coastal city near the capital).
Salary: $120,000 - $170,000 USD, depending on experience, plus equity.
Major benefits:
Wave covers all living expenses in Senegal, with the best possible housing and food
Six roundtrip flights home (or anywhere else) each year, for you plus any family you bring
Unlimited vacation with a 20-day minimum requirement
Relocation and travel health insurance
$10,000 annual charitable donation matching
Requirements:
Minimum of 3 years professional experience as a software engineer.
Native or fluent English.
You might be a good fit if you:
Are excited to deeply understand the inner workings of the tools you use.
Consistently make progress on hard problems without getting stuck or giving up.
Are not afraid to take on complicated systems.
Reflexively ask yourself, “how will this code change affect my users?”
Can communicate clearly with colleagues who work, speak and think differently.
Work to make things easier for the next engineer who will touch your code.
Always try to improve as a programmer and colleague.
Bonus points if you:
Speak French.
Are familiar with our user base.
Have experience with the languages and tools we use (primarily: Python 3, SQL, Kotlin, Kubernetes).
Our team:
We are a group of twelve equity-holding team members (including four engineers) who are deeply passionate about our mission.
We foster autonomy for engineers. We have no project managers—you'll learn to own your own projects at every stage, from understanding the project to monitoring your solution in production.
We prize focus: we try to cut out all non-essential distractions so that you can spend as much time in the zone as possible. Aside from two weekly meetings—an all-hands and a one-on-one with your manager—your schedule is yours.
We care deeply about code quality. We do thorough design and code reviews, and frequently budget time for internal code improvement projects.
Our stack: We have a Python 3 backend and Android (Kotlin) frontend, deployed on Kubernetes and backed by a Postgres database. That said, we don't care about your prior experience with any of these if you're willing to learn.
We’re backed by world-class investors including Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Y Combinator, and the cofounders of PayPal.
How to apply:

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. If interested, please send our Head of Growth, Taryn McKenzie Mohr (taryn@wave.com), a resume as well as a cover letter describing your interest in Wave and the role.

Wave is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Job Email id: taryn(at)wave.com