Backend Developer at Ellington Microfinance Bank - Sewa Assets Management Limited

Sewa Assets Management Limited - Our client, Ellington Microfinance Bank, is recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Backend Developer

Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Summary 

• They are looking for a seasoned Backend Developer with over 5 years of experience to join our team on a high-impact, milestone-based contract.
• We are seeking a professional who thrives in a fast-paced fintech environment and is committed to maintaining our effortless banking standards.
• If you have a passion for clean architecture, an obsession with security, and a deep expertise in the Node.js ecosystem, let’s talk.

The Role

• As a Backend Engineer, you will be responsible for architecting and deploying the mission-critical infrastructure that powers our banking ecosystem.
• You will own the core business logic, high-performance database management, and secure API orchestrations that drive our financial suite, from engineering high-throughput automated payroll systems to developing low-latency, real-time fraud detection engines.
• You will collaborate with Product and Engineering Leadership to ensure our backend services remain scalable, fault-tolerant, and highly secure.
• Your work will be the foundation upon which all client-side experiences are built, ensuring that complex financial operations are executed with absolute precision and speed.

Core Responsibilities

• Architect & Scale: Lead the design and implementation of highly available, distributed systems using Node.js. Engineer scalable server-side logic and microservices architecture capable of handling high-concurrency traffic with 99.9% uptime.
• Financial Engineering: Build and manage mission-critical financial primitives, including ACH, Wire transfers, and Ledgering systems. Ensure strict transactional atomicity and data consistency across distributed databases.
• Infrastructure & Integration: Orchestrate seamless integrations with third-party fintech providers, credit bureaus, and payment gateways. Design and maintain RESTful/gRPC APIs that serve as the backbone for cross-platform clients.
• Security & Compliance: Implement rigorous security standards to protect sensitive PII and financial data. Expertise in OAuth2/OpenID Connect, MFA, and envelope encryption. Ensure backend systems adhere to SOC2 or PCI-DSS requirements.
• Performance Optimisation: Conduct deep-dive bottleneck analysis and fine-tune database queries (SQL/NoSQL), caching strategies (Redis), and load balancing to achieve sub-second latency for complex business logic.
• Technical Leadership: Collaborate with Product and DevOps to translate complex banking requirements into resilient technical specifications. Drive the backend roadmap, ensuring code quality through CI/CD best practices and automated testing.

Key Responsibilities

• Engine Development: Design and implement scalable server-side logic using Node.js and TypeScript.
• Financial Workflows: Build and maintain complex modules for business wallets, automated savings, and loan disbursement cycles.
• API Architecture: Develop secure, RESTful APIs and handle third-party integrations with payment gateways and credit bureaus.
• Database Management: Optimise PostgreSQL schemas and queries for high-concurrency financial transactions.
• Security & Compliance: Ensure all endpoints follow strict security protocols (OAuth2, encryption at rest) and maintain data integrity across all banking operations.
• System Reliability: Implement robust error handling, logging, and unit/integration testing (Jest/Mocha) to ensure 99.9% uptime.

Technical Requirements

• Expertise: 5+ years of experience in back-end development with a deep mastery of Node.js.
• Database Mastery: Strong experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL/MySQL) and handling ACID-compliant transactions.
• Cloud Infrastructure: Proven experience deploying and managing services on AWS (EC2, Lambda, RDS).
• Fintech Knowledge: Previous experience building banking, lending, or payment systems is highly preferred.
• Tools: Proficient with Docker, Git, and CI/CD pipelines. Experience with ClickUp or similar project management tools for task tracking is a plus.
• Education/Conduct: Must demonstrate high ethical standards regarding customer data integrity and professional conduct.
• Problem-Solving: A proactive problem-solving ethic is essential, especially when managing third-party API dependencies.
• Performance Obsessed: You know your way around the React Native bridge and can optimise rendering for low-end devices.
• Leadership: You can articulate technical debt to non-technical stakeholders and advocate for the right architectural path.
• AI: You must be able to use AI tools such as chatgpt, copilot to increase your productivity

What Makes You a Great Fit:

• Banking Experience: You’ve worked in Fintech or a highly regulated environment before.
• Problem Solver: You don't just fix bugs; you find the root cause and ensure they never return.
• Communicator: You can explain technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders without losing them in the weeds.
• Quality Obsessed: You believe that if it isn't tested, it's broken.

Why Join Us?

• Opportunity to build the future of business finance.
• Competitive salary and equity packages.
• Flexible remote-first culture.
• A tech-forward environment where we actually prioritise developer experience.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.
 

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to: nengimina@ricchezzafinance.com using "Backend Developer" as the subject of the mail.