About the role

Senior Backend Engineer at Ascend, driving AI-enabled transformation in public accounting. Collaborating with teams to enhance tax products and architect AI innovations.

Responsibilities

Get up to speed on the existing codebase and current product requirements.
Partner closely with Product Management to design and build solutions.
Work hand-in-hand with the Frontend Engineer to deliver complete product slices.
Use AI-native development tools (Claude, Cursor, and similar) as the primary engineering environment.
Contribute to the continued development of Ascend’s Agentic Framework.
Drive AI-enabled architecture and infrastructure decisions.
Internalize and improve Ascend’s software builder tenets.
Deliver high-quality code on time and steadily increase delivery capacity.
Unblock teammates by reviewing code and improving documentation.
Drive sustained improvements in product velocity across the broader engineering organization.
Serve wholeheartedly in the “inverted hierarchy”.
Move with the passion, speed, and accountability of an entrepreneur.
Set a high bar because the mission matters.
Collaborate across functions and firms with a spirit of collegiality.
Bring positivity, optimism, and enthusiasm into the work and the team.

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field; equivalent professional experience considered.
Significant experience as a backend or full-stack engineer building and shipping production software, ideally in a high-velocity startup, AI, or enterprise SaaS environment.
Strong proficiency in modern backend languages and frameworks (e.g., Python, TypeScript/Node.js, Go), with a track record of designing scalable APIs and services.
Hands-on experience integrating with foundation model APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar) and building agentic or LLM-powered features in production.
Demonstrated fluency with AI-native development environments (Claude, Cursor, Copilot, or similar) and a clear point of view on how these tools accelerate engineering output.
Strong ROI judgment and the ability to balance close customer collaboration with disciplined prioritization, building toward the long-term vision without getting pulled into low-leverage digressions.
Working knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure), CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and secure coding practices.
Excellent communication skills and the ability to build trust quickly with Product Managers, fellow engineers, and non-technical Partner Firm leaders.
Bias toward delivery, intellectual curiosity, and a genuine excitement about transforming a traditional industry with AI.